WHEN THE ORGANIZERS of the 1st Jómsborg Conference at Wolin pondered what name to give it, they perhaps did not have in mind the perception of a proud bulwark, a segregating stronghold that kept a sworn league of male warriors. They may rather have considered letting themselves be inspired by Adam of Bremen, who described its mythical successor Jumne (also known as Julin) as a multicultural meeting place where all kinds of merchandise of the North, both material and immaterial, were exchanged in a most thriving atmosphere.

It appears that the latter is not exactly the first thing a typical German a couple of decades ago would see rising before his inward eye when the name of Jómsborg struck. Instead, two different images would be trying to merge: First, plainly romantic, a somewhat aesthetically fortified representative residence of noble knights with feathered helmets who then get replaced by heroic Viking raiders (with or without horned helmets), commonly supposed to be constantly on the move, but now settled down with a permanent address. This results in an exotic allurement which is zealously exploited in the titles of several German retellings of Jómsvíkinga saga published in the first half of the twentieth century: these adaptations appeared between the early 1920s and the early 1940s, culminating in the mid-and late 1930s, and consisted frequently of more or less freely copied translation excerpts in thematic anthologies or ideological treatises, but there also exists a significant number of complete retellings in a narrative manner— that is, with plenty of liberties and embroideries applied, of a page range between pamphlet and small book size. However, as will be shown, those “liberties” are manipulative rather than artistic after all.

The overall reception of Jómsvíkinga saga is mostly detached from any scientific awareness or scholarly opinions. It is confined to dramatizations of the saga text or at least exegetically seeking confirmation in scenic excerpts.