Take a Seat: The high-seat as a dual-gendered space in pre-Christian Scandinavia

Hásæti (“the high-seat”) may represent more of a shared gender space in pre-Christian Scandinavia than previously understood. The connectivity between gender and space has been re-analysed in both archaeology and history, but usually as separate disciplines. This paper approaches hásæti using both archaeological and historical analyses to explore the mingling of authoritative space and gender. Such an approach is paramount in creating a clearer image of pre-Christian Scandinavia, from the people who believed in the Old Norse pantheon to the gods themselves. //The mythological material in both Snorra Edda and Eddukvæði demonstrate cases where a male sits alone in the high-seat position with a female approaching him or the male and female are sitting in conference as equals on hásæti. Further, in Heimskringla, a female and male share hásæti as a means of bond-making. Both the mythological and historical accounts suggest that space transforms as both male and female intermingle on hásæti together. In the archaeological material, the Lejre figurine has been interpreted as masculine or feminine but rarely seen as a conjoining of both, although the image has a dual-gendered expression. With this inter-disciplinary approach, the dual-gendered seated image further suggests hásæti to be a shared gender space, and this shared gender suggests the granting of god-like authority. //With this approach, an expansion of our understanding of hásæti reveals not only that authoritative space was shared by male and female genders, but that it transformed the space and the abilities of individuals when both take seats as equals.