Sustainability and Post-Natal Abortion in Medieval Iceland: ENTANGLED HISTORIES II-4

Join us for the next session of the Entangled Histories Seminar Series 2026–2027 with Lorenzo Lozzi Gallo (Pegaso University, Naples, Italy).

Explore how early Icelandic society navigated severe ecological crises, resource scarcity, and demographic control through practices of exposure and post-natal abortion, tracing the transition from Old Norse pagan customs to Christian legal frameworks.

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Abstract

Post-natal infanticide was deeply ingrained in Icelandic society from its pagan origins—a practice that may have been customary across ancient Germanic tribes. Old Norse texts state that Icelanders converted to Christianity on the condition that they could still practice post-natal infanticide. However, Icelandic jurisprudence soon aligned itself with the Christian principle of the sanctity of human life, remaining so until 1935, when legal reforms began to diverge from Christian ideals. The earliest laws of the Icelandic Commonwealth do not explicitly mention abortion, but a child was not considered an heir (i.e., a legal person) until it had been fed, which in pre-Christian times occurred only after the father's official acceptance of the newborn.

Exposing or abandoning newborns was a method used to maintain balance on an island severely lacking in resources, where early settlers had triggered an ecological crisis by turning original vegetation into wasteland. Consequently, Old Norse texts frequently recount how people were forced to rely on driftwood or timber imported from mainland Scandinavia.

Icelandic society later relied on different mechanisms to manage population growth, such as emigration to other lands, particularly within the Scandinavian sphere of influence. The travels of Icelanders across the world became a central motif in Old Norse literature, whereas pre- or post-natal abortion ceased to be mentioned—likely due to social stigma, though it remains unclear to what extent it was still practiced de facto. In theory, abandoned children were fostered by local communities, as formal orphanages remained unknown in Iceland until modern times.

About the Speaker

Lorenzo Lozzi Gallo is Full Professor of Germanic Philology and Linguistics at Pegaso University, Naples. He previously held professorships at the University of Messina and a research post at the University of Bari "Aldo Moro". He earned his PhD in Old and Medieval Germanic Literary Traditions from Roma Tre University and has completed visiting research stays and fellowships at the Universities of Copenhagen, Bergen, Lund, and Charles University in Prague. His research focuses on pre-modern Germanic philology, Old and Middle English, Old Norse-Icelandic literature, linguistic standardization, translation dynamics, and cultural contacts between the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean. In 2013, he was awarded the "Mario di Nola" Prize by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He has served on Italy's National Scientific Qualification (ASN) committee and actively participates in various international research societies.