Looks, Lineage, and Lost Limbs: Giants and Dismemberment in the Translated Riddarasögur

Abstract

Within the translated riddarasögur there are many violent encounters between giants and knights. In every encounter, the giant is dismembered or maimed. In many cases, the giant is also beheaded. Human beings in the translated riddarasögur are almost never dismembered, maimed, or beheaded. This difference in violent treatment comes from anxieties surrounding the monstrous bodies of giants, the vulnerability of the consciously constructed identity of knighthood within the texts, and the antisocial capabilities of chivalric violence.