Abstract

Figure skating’s origin story relates the sport to Norse mythology, but this claim does not stand up to a careful analysis. Its roots can be traced to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century antiquaries interested in the old north. The popularity of skating and early scholars' imperfect understanding of Old Norse led to skating appearing in translations and adaptations of medieval Scandinavian literature despite being absent from the original. The origin story's development can be traced through manuals and popular histories of figure skating from the eighteenth century to the present. This paper exposes figure skating's origin story as the invention of a privileged class to elevate a popular leisure activity and explains its enduring function in supporting the upper-class image of figure skating.

摘要

花样滑冰的起源故事将这项运动与北欧神话联系起来，但这种说法经不起仔细分析。它的根源可以追溯到对古老北方感兴趣的 18 和 19 世纪古董。滑冰的流行和早期学者对古诺尔斯语的不完全理解导致滑冰出现在中世纪斯堪的纳维亚文学的翻译和改编中，尽管原著中没有。起源故事的发展可以通过手册和从十八世纪到现在的花样滑冰流行历史来追溯。本文将花样滑冰的起源故事揭露为特权阶层的发明，以提升一项流行的休闲活动，并解释其在支持花样滑冰的上流社会形象方面的持久作用。