Att se och tänka med ritual: kontrakterande ritualer i de isländska släktsagorna

To make it possible to classify an action as a ritual act we need to know exactly what constitutes it. In this thesis I try, with the aid from literature of the field called ritual studies and the sagas of Icelanders, to sort out what these constituent elements best should consist of if we want to use the term ritual as an analytical tool in the production of knowledge with scientific criteria. Rituals have a transformative capacity to change the social status of people or objects. Perhaps the most obvious example of the transformative quality of a ritual is the circumcision of boys. In the thesis I will proceed from the sagas of Icelanders, and especially Njáls saga, to discuss the possibility of sorting out ritual actions that establish a social contract. Three rituals of contracts are in focus, the oath, the handshake and giving gifts. The ritual acts in the sagas of Icelanders established a social contract between people with a moral and a political duty to fulfil. When discussing the sagas of Icelanders I will also show how rituals, alliances, contracts, places, and important social values interact in an intricate way in the society of the saga. When focusing on rituals in social sciences, one needs to know what a ritual is, and hopefully this thesis will be a small contribution to that purpose.