Iconografia svedese e materia volsungica

This paper wants to focus on some witnesses of The Völsungs’ legend spread in Sweden in the period immediately before and after Christianity had reached the land. In particular three runic iconographic stones are considered: Ockelbo, Österfärnebo and Årsunda, all recently found in the region of Gästriksland (an area situated North of Uppsala, very well-known for iron trade since the early Middle Ages). In particular I will stress the high value of runic paintings concerning the story of Sigurðr as a link between pre-literate and literate culture. By a comparison with Old Norse literary sources (e.g. Eddic lays, Völsungasaga and kennings in skaldic poetry) it will be shown that these sequences of images, where the story of the most famous Germanic hero is not reproduced in a chronological order, indicate a pattern similar to that of kennings in skaldic verses, which also present a strong iconographic character, emphasizing a few salient moments without developing any consequent plot.