Liminaridad y licantropía: sobre los ritos de paso y la ascendencia en Vǫlsunga Saga.

Vǫlsunga Saga is one of the sources of the greatest literary wealth produced in the medieval Nordic context. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the ways in which identity is configured within the family of the Volsungs during the representation of a rite of passage. During this process, some characters behave like wolves. It will be argued that the metamorphosis is determined by the structural pressure exerted on the body. It affects not only the transformed individual, but also the enemy group that will become its prey. Prior to that, we illustrate the conditions and the development of the rite of passage in which ancestors have the power to influence their offspring. Moreover, we will demonstrate how the definitions and obligations imposed by kinship structure characterize the enemy group as the «other» and legitimize the acts of violence committed upon them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]