Abstract

In this article, I discuss how masculinity is constructed in Old Icelandic Egils saga and Njáls saga through various kinds of unmanliness (impotence, lack of facial hair, baldness, effeminacy, cowardice, old age). Both sagas demonstrate the restrictiveness of gender roles in medieval Iceland and how men become their captives. The ideal of masculinity is so exaggerated that it becomes oppressive, because everything may be used against men. It leads to failed marriages and feuds. However, Egils saga’s and Njáls saga’s treatment of gender is critical.