Fate Is a Hero’s Best Friend: Towards a Socio-political Definition of Fate in Medieval Icelandic Literature

Fate in medieval Scandinavia is generally defined as a religious category. The present article argues, however, that a socio-political analysis of fate as it is used both in Íslendingasögur and Eddic poetry offers an alternative, more effective definition. This definition is further refined by placing fate in a structural relationship with magic.