DOCSLIB.ORG

Stories from Sagas of Kings

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Stories from Sagas of Kings STORIES FROM SAGAS OF KINGS STORIES FROM SAGAS OF KINGS Halldórs fláttr Snorrasonar inn fyrri Halldórs fláttr Snorrasonar inn sí›ari Stúfs fláttr inn meiri Stúfs fláttr inn skemmri Völsa fláttr Brands fláttr örva WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND GLOSSARY BY ANTHONY FAULKES VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON First published 1980 as Stories from the Sagas of the Kings ©Viking Society for Northern Research New edition, with introduction, notes and glossary corrected and reformatted and minor additions 2007 ISBN: 978-0-903521-72-7 Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter CONTENTS Abbreviated references ............................................................ vi Introduction ............................................................................ vii Halldórs fláttr Snorrasonar inn fyrri ......................................... 3 Halldórs fláttr Snorrasonar inn sí›ari ...................................... 15 Stúfs fláttr inn meiri ................................................................ 31 Stúfs fláttr inn skemmri .......................................................... 41 Völsa fláttr ............................................................................... 49 Brands fláttr örva .................................................................... 63 Notes ....................................................................................... 69 Glossary .................................................................................. 88 Index of names ..................................................................... 152 ABBREVIATED REFERENCES AM: Árni Magnússon’s collection of manuscripts (Reykjavík and Copen- hagen). CPB: Corpvs Poeticvm Boreale I–II, ed. G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, 1883. Flb: Flateyjarbók I–III, ed. G. Vigfusson and C. R. Unger, 1860–68 (facsimile in Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi I, 1930). Fms: Fornamanna sögur I–XII, 1825–37 (the contents of vols I–III are re-edited in ÓTM; there is a facsimile of the chief manuscript used in vols VI–VII in Hulda, Sagas of the Kings of Norway 1035–1177, Early Icelandic Manuscripts in Facsimile 8, 1968). GkS: The Old Royal Collection of Manuscripts in the Royal Library, Copenhagen. Heusler, A., Altisländisches Elementarbuch, 4th edn, 1950. Hkr: Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla I–III, ed. Bjarni A›albjarnarson, 1941–51 (ÍF XXVI–XXVIII). ÍF: Íslenzk fornrit I ff., 1933 ff. MRN: E. O. G. Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North, 1964. Msk: Morkinskinna, ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1932 (facsimile in Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi 6, 1934). NION II: A New Introduction to Old Norse II: Reader. 4th edition, 2007. NN: E. A. Kock, Notationes Norrœnæ, 1923–44. Oddr ÓT: Oddr Snorrason, Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar, ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1932. ÓTM: Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta I–III, ed. Ólafur Halldórsson, 1958–2000. PE: [Poetic] Edda. Die Lieder des Codex Regius I, ed. H. Kuhn, 1962. Skj: Den norsk-islandske Skjaldedigtning A I–II, B I–II, ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1912–15. SnE: Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1931. Two Icelandic Stories. Hrei›ars fláttr, Orms fláttr, ed. A. Faulkes, 1967 (Viking Society Text Series IV). INTRODUCTION The stories and their background The six texts in this book are all short stories, or flættir as they are generally called. Except for the longer Stúfs fláttr they are all found as parts of or appendices to Icelandic sagas about Nor- wegian kings, though it is likely that they were originally com- posed as independent stories and only later incorporated into the sagas; thus they may in some cases be older than the sagas in which they are preserved, though none is likely to have been written before about 1200. The longer Stúfs fláttr may be an example of one of these stories in its independent form, though the actual texts of the separate version that survive are rather later than those of the shorter version found as part of the saga of King Haraldr. Both the flættir and the sagas in which they are preserved are anonymous. The stories all concern one of the kings of Norway, who is Haraldr har›rá›i (1046–66) in all cases except Völsa fláttr, where it is St Óláfr (1015–30); Óláfr Tryggvason (995–999 or 1000) also appears in the enclosed story in the first Halldórs fláttr. The historical context of the stories can probably best be discovered from reading the sagas of these kings in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla, though Snorri did not include any of the flættir in this book in his compilation. Haraldr har›rá›i was particularly popular as the subject of stories in medieval Iceland, many of which seem designed to illustrate one or other of two contrasting sides to his character as it was traditionally remembered: his kindness and sense of humour (particularly when dealing with Icelanders and poets), and on the other hand his arbitrariness and harshness. In some stories he is viii Stories from Sagas of Kings contrasted with Magnús the Good (1035–47), with whom he reigned jointly for a while. With the stories in this book may be compared Hrei›ars fláttr (Two Icelandic Stories 47–62) and Au›unar fláttr (NION II, Text XVI). Many of the characters in these flættir besides the kings were historical persons (including Halldórr, Stúfr and Brandr) and are mentioned in various Icelandic sources including Heimskringla and other versions of the sagas of kings, though it is always impossible to know whether individual stories told of them are true, or at any rate based on genuine tradition, or just fictional accounts composed in the thirteenth century. Except for Völsa fláttr, where the only Icelander is fiormó›r, the chief character in every story in this book is Icelandic, though in the first Halldórs fláttr the most prominent character in the enclosed story, Einarr flambarskelfir, is a Norwegian. There are many stories extant about the dealings of Icelanders with kings of Norway, and they were evidently popular. (Most of them are collected in Fjörutíu Íslendinga-flættir, ed. fiórleifr Jónsson (1904).) They gave Icelandic authors an opportunity both for humorous self-criticism of the Icelandic character and for showing Icelanders distinguishing themselves in a foreign court, in many cases getting the better of the king himself. Such stories could thus become a vehicle for the expression of the developing sense of national Icelandic identity and independence, like the sagas of Icelanders generally, though on a smaller scale. Indeed some of the sagas too are concerned largely with Icelanders abroad, like Egils saga and Fóstbrœ›ra saga. In parts of Heimskringla an important theme seems to be the deliberate asser- tion of Icelandic independence and hostility to any Norwegian claim to sovereignty over Iceland. In subject-matter, therefore, Introduction ix the flættir can be seen as a bridge between the sagas of Norwegian kings and the sagas of Icelanders. But the flættir distinguish themselves from sagas of kings and sagas of Icelanders both in scale and in the simplicity of their structure, though the first Halldórs fláttr does have a story within a story, which relates to a time many years before the main action, a complexity rare in any kind of Icelandic narrative, where the story usually progresses in direct chronological order. But though the flættir generally have a simple structure, they are carefully composed with great concern for narrative shape and characteri- sation, and are particularly successful in constructing witty and dramatic dialogue. See the two articles by J. Harris, ‘Genre and Narrative Structure in some Íslendinga flættir’ and ‘Theme and Genre in some Íslendinga flættir’, in Scandinavian Studies 44 (1972), pp. 1–27, and 48 (1976), 1–28. There is a didactic element in Brands fláttr and the first Halldórs fláttr, so that they can be interpreted as moral exempla, and Völsa fláttr too, in rather a different way, is evidently intended to be edifying. But in spite of this, all the stories in this book are lightweight both in tone and content (none is about events of political importance), and most have a tendency to comedy. They are anecdotes rather than serious stories, and the closest contem- porary European genre is the fabliau (though fabliaux were written in verse). Both fabliaux and flættir are examples of a phenomenon that was new in western Europe in the twelfth century: the writing down of stories that were important neither as myth nor as history, in which the point lies within the story itself, rather than in any significance, historical or moral, outside itself. The effects aimed at were aesthetic ones; the neatness and wit of the story itself was its justification. This tendency towards story for story’s sake is x Stories from Sagas of Kings accompanied both in Iceland and elsewhere by an increased interest in character and individualisation, in everyday settings and in comedy. The flættir thus mark the extension of what was considered possible matter for prose narrative in Iceland to include the secular as well as the religious, the Icelandic as well as the Norwegian, the everyday as well as the historically significant; and the beginning of interest in heroes neither saintly nor royal. The six texts in this book are reproduced from offprints from Íslendinga sögur I–XII, ed. Gu›ni Jónsson (Reykjavík, Íslendinga- sagnaútgáfan, 1946–47), where the corresponding texts are in volume IV, pp. 265–92 and 305–21, and volume V, pp. 373–85 and 399–403. The explanations of verses in modern Icelandic at the foot of the pages in Völsa fláttr are here omitted. The spelling and punctuation of this edition were heavily
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Heimskringla III.Pdf
    SNORRI STURLUSON HEIMSKRINGLA VOLUME III The printing of this book is made possible by a gift to the University of Cambridge in memory of Dorothea Coke, Skjæret, 1951 Snorri SturluSon HE iMSKrinGlA V oluME iii MAG nÚS ÓlÁFSSon to MAGnÚS ErlinGSSon translated by AliSon FinlAY and AntHonY FAulKES ViKinG SoCiEtY For NORTHErn rESEArCH uniVErSitY CollEGE lonDon 2015 © VIKING SOCIETY 2015 ISBN: 978-0-903521-93-2 The cover illustration is of a scene from the Battle of Stamford Bridge in the Life of St Edward the Confessor in Cambridge University Library MS Ee.3.59 fol. 32v. Haraldr Sigurðarson is the central figure in a red tunic wielding a large battle-axe. Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ vii Sources ............................................................................................. xi This Translation ............................................................................. xiv BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ............................................ xvi HEIMSKRINGLA III ............................................................................ 1 Magnúss saga ins góða ..................................................................... 3 Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar ............................................................ 41 Óláfs saga kyrra ............................................................................ 123 Magnúss saga berfœtts .................................................................. 127
    [Show full text]
  • The Hostages of the Northmen: from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages
    Part IV: Legal Rights It has previously been mentioned how hostages as rituals during peace processes – which in the sources may be described with an ambivalence, or ambiguity – and how people could be used as social capital in different conflicts. It is therefore important to understand how the persons who became hostages were vauled and how their new collective – the new household – responded to its new members and what was crucial for his or her status and participation in the new setting. All this may be related to the legal rights and special privileges, such as the right to wear coat of arms, weapons, or other status symbols. Personal rights could be regu- lated by agreements: oral, written, or even implied. Rights could also be related to the nature of the agreement itself, what kind of peace process the hostage occurred in and the type of hostage. But being a hostage also meant that a person was subjected to restric- tions on freedom and mobility. What did such situations meant for the hostage-taking party? What were their privileges and obli- gations? To answer these questions, a point of departure will be Kosto’s definition of hostages in continental and Mediterranean cultures around during the period 400–1400, when hostages were a form of security for the behaviour of other people. Hostages and law The hostage had its special role in legal contexts that could be related to the discussion in the introduction of the relationship between religion and law. The views on this subject are divided How to cite this book chapter: Olsson, S.
    [Show full text]
  • Royal Ideology in Fagrskinna
    Háskóli Íslands Íslensku- og Menningardeild Medieval Icelandic Studies Royal Ideology in Fagrskinna A Case Study of Magnús inn blindi. Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs Joshua Wright Kt.: 270194-3629 Leiðbeinandi: Sverrir Jakobsson May 2018 Acknowledgements I owe thanks to too many people to list, but I would be remiss if I did not mention Julian Valle, who encouraged and advised me throughout the process, and Jaka Cuk for his company and council at numerous late night meetings. Dr. Sverrir Jakobsson’s supervision and help from Dr. Torfi H. Tulinius were both indispensable help throughout the process. I owe my wife, Simone, a special thanks for her input, and an apology for keeping her up in our small room as I worked at strange hours. I cannot fully express my debt to my father, David Wright, and my uncle Harold Lambdin, whose urging and encouragement pushed me to try academia in the first place. I dedicate this to my mother, Susanne, who would have loved to see it. ii Abstract: When looking at the political thought of the kings’ sagas, scholarship has overwhelmingly focused on Heimskringla, widely regarded as the most well-written compilation, or on the older Morkinskinna because it is more proximal to the ‘original’ sources. An intermediate source, Fagrskinna, is almost always overlooked, mentioned only in passing by scholars that are more interested in other texts. The limited work that has been done on this source, most prominently by Gustav Indrebø, attracts little attention and Indrebø has remained mostly unchallenged nearly a century after his writing. While there have been systemic analyses of the ideology of these sagas (by Bagge and Ármann Jakobsson, among others) they are only tangentially interested in Fagrskinna, with the result that this work and its unique ideology have been largely unexplored, although its subject matter predisposes it towards contributing to the discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnus Barefoot from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Magnus Barefoot From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the second Norwegian king named Magnus Olafsson. For the earlier Norwegian king, see Magnus the Good. Magnus Barefoot Drawing of a coin from the reign of Magnus Barefoot (with confused legend)[1] King of Norway Reign September 1093 – 24 August 1103 Predecessor Olaf III Successor Sigurd I, Eystein I and Olaf Magnusson Co-ruler Haakon Magnusson (until 1095) King of Dublin Reign 1102–1103 Predecessor Domnall Gerrlámhach Successor Domnall Gerrlámhach Born 1073 Norway Died 24 August 1103 (aged 29–30) near River Quoile, Downpatrick Ulster, Ireland Burial near St. Patrick's Church, Downpatrick, Ulster, Ireland Consort Margaret of Sweden Eystein I of Norway Issue Sigurd I of Norway Olaf Magnusson of Norway Ragnild Magnusdotter Tora Magnusdatter Harald IV Gille (claimed) Sigurd Slembe (claimed) Magnus Raude (claimed) Full name Magnús Óláfsson House Hardrada Father Olaf III of Norway Mother Tora?; disputed (see below) Religion Roman Catholicism Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: Magnús Óláfsson, Norwegian: Magnus Olavsson; 1073 – 24 August 1103), better known as Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse: Magnús berfœttr, Norwegian: Magnus Berrføtt),[2] was King of Norway (as Magnus III) from 1093 until his death in 1103. His reign was marked by aggressive military campaigns and conquest, particularly in the Norse-dominated parts of the British Isles, where he extended his rule to the Kingdom of the Isles and Dublin. His daughter, Ragnhild, was born in 1090. As the only son of King Olaf Kyrre, Magnus was proclaimed king in southeastern Norway shortly after his father's death in 1093. In the north, his claim was contested by his cousin, Haakon Magnusson (son of King Magnus Haraldsson), and the two co-ruled uneasily until Haakon's death in 1095.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Written Sagas of Kings and Chieftains
    chapter 3 The First Written Sagas of Kings and Chieftains In his monograph Fyrsta sagan Bjarni Guðnason preempted the title of “fi rst saga” for Eiríkr Oddsson’s *Hryggjarstykki, a lost text referred to and paraphrased in Morkinskinna and Heimskringla and written sometime in the middle of the twelfth century.1 This text is diffi cult to reconstruct even in outline and may have been narrowly focused on the ill-fated pretender Sigurðr slembir (died 1139), as Bjarni Guðnason thought. If he is right, *Hryggjarstykki was a contemporary saga in the style of Sturlu saga or Guðmundar saga dýra rather than a historical narrative with an oral prefi guration. Another saga with a claim to be “fi rst” was the saga of King Sverrir Sigurðarson (died 1202), Sverris saga, which appears to have been begun by Abbot Karl Jónsson of the northwestern Icelandic monastery of Þingeyrar in the late 1180s but may not have been completed until a good many years later.2 It too was a contemporary saga. If we cast about for the “fi rst saga” in the sense of a long traditional narrative with biographical proportions, the choice might well fall on the so-called Oldest Saga of Saint Olaf or on Oddr Snorrason’s (origi- nally Latin) Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar. At one time there was a solid consensus that the former antedated the latter. Gustav Storm dated the Oldest Saga to 1155–1180, and Sigurður Nordal not much later (1160–1185).3 Oddr Snorrason’s saga is most often dated ca. 1190, but the priority is nonetheless diffi cult to resolve.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Information
    Gen 24 FAMILY INFORMATION Father: King Olaf Kyrre (King Olaf III), King of Norway Date Place Birth c. 1050 Reign 1067-1093 Marriage Death 22 Sept 1093 Hakeby, Tanum, Sweden Burial Nidaros Cathedral Parents King Harald III Hardrada and Tora Torbergsdatter Mother (Maiden Name): ? Date Place Birth Marriage Death Parents Children: Name Event Date Place Magnus Barefoot Birth 1073 (Magnus III), King of Marriage Norway Death 1103 Spouse Birth Marriage Death Spouse Birth Marriage Death Spouse Pg. 1 Olaf III of Norway From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Olaf Kyrre (the Peaceful) Gerhard Munthe: illustration for Olav Kyrres saga in Heimskringla (1899) King of Norway Reign 1067 – 22 September 1093 Predecessor Magnus II Successor Magnus III (Barefoot), Haakon Magnusson Born c. 1050 Died 22 September 1093 (aged about 43) Haukbø, Rånrike, Norway (now Håkeby, Tanum, Sweden) Burial Nidaros Cathedral Consort Ingerid of Denmark Issue Magnus III (Barefoot) of Norway Pg. 2 Full name Óláfr Haraldsson House Hardrada Father Harald III of Norway Mother Tora Torbergsdatter Religion Roman Catholicism Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse: Óláfr Haraldsson, Norwegian: Olav Haraldsson; c. 1050 – 22 September 1093), known as Olaf Kyrre (Old Norse: kyrri, English: Peaceful), ruled Norway as King Olaf III from 1067 until his death in 1093.[1] He was present at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England in 1066 where his father, King Harald Hardrada, saw defeat and was killed in action, an event that directly preceded his kingship. During his rule, Olaf made peace with regards to earlier royal conflicts with the church, strengthened the power of the monarchy, and is traditionally credited with founding the city of Bergen circa 1070.
    [Show full text]
  • Heimskringla III, and Egils Saga
    c h a p t e r 5 Political Subtexts in Morkinskinna, Heimskringla III, and Egils saga To extract an underlying political attitude from the Olafs saga helga that forms the second part of Heimskringla is problematical because we do not have the original version from which the author worked. It is therefore not possible to extrapolate a point of view by comparison. When it comes to the third part of Heimskringla, however, we are in a much better position because we have the immediate source for most of the narrative after 1030 in the compilation known as Morkinskinna. Internal criteria suggest that Morkinskinna was written around 1220, and we may begin by reviewing the situation in Iceland at that time.1 The period 1215-1220 was in fact characterized by consider­ able hostility between Iceland and Norway, a degree of tension that amounted to not much less than a trade war.2 In 12 15 Smmundr Jonsson at Oddi and horvaldr Gizurarson at Hruni had set prices on the goods of some Norwegian merchants. In 12 16 Smmundr’s son Pall went to Bergen and was treated to such retaliatory abuse that he left Bergen and was drowned on the way to Trondheim. In 12 17 Smmundr gave vent to his wrath by exacting fines from Bergen and Greenland merchants. In 12 18 the Greenland traders killed Smmundr’s brother Ormr in reprisal. In 12 19 Norway appears to have imposed an embargo on shipping to Iceland, and in 1220 Jarl Skuli actually contemplated a naval expedition against Iceland.3 These events have been seen in the context of the long-standing designs on Iceland by the Norwegian kings, a view that is, as we will see, borne out by the underlying suspicion of Norwegian motives in Morkinskinna.4 120 The Partisan Muse The trade war originated in southern Iceland, but there is evidence of a traditional opposition to foreign intrusion in northern Iceland as well, specifically in EyjafjorSur.
    [Show full text]
  • Representations of English History in Icelandic Kings‟ Saga: Haraldssaga Hardrada and Knytlinga Saga
    REPRESENTATIONS OF ENGLISH HISTORY IN ICELANDIC KINGS‟ SAGA: HARALDSSAGA HARDRADA AND KNYTLINGA SAGA A Master‟s Thesis By DENĠZ CEM GÜLEN Department of History Ġhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara August 2015 REPRESENTATIONS OF ENGLISH HISTORY IN ICELANDIC KINGS‟ SAGA: HARALDSSAGA HARDRADA AND KNYTLINGA SAGA Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of Ġhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by DENĠZ CEM GÜLEN In Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ĠHSAN DOĞRAMACI BILKENT UNIVERSTY ANKARA August 2015 Abstract REPRESENTATIONS OF ENGLISH HISTORY IN ICELANDIC KINGS‟ SAGA: HARALDSSAGA HARDRADA AND KNYTLINGA SAGA Gülen, Deniz Cem Gülen MA, Department of History Supervisor: Assistant Professor Dr. David Thornton August, 2015 The Icelandic sagas are one of the most important historical sources for Viking studies. Although there are many different types of saga, only the kings‟ sagas and family sagas are generally considered historically accurate to some extent. Unfortunately, because they were composed centuries after the Viking age, even these sagas contain a number of historical inaccuracies. In this research, I will try to discuss this problem by focusing on the Heimskringla version of King Harald‟s saga and the Knýtlinga saga, and how English history is represented in them. After discussing the nature of the sagas and the problems of the Icelandic sources, I will consider the saga accounts of certain events that occurred in England during the reigns of Harald Hardrada and Cnut the Great. In order to show the possible mistakes in these sagas, primary sources from outside of Scandinavia and Iceland, notably the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as well as modern studies, will be used to assess these possible errors in the Heimskringla and Knýtlinga saga.
    [Show full text]
  • HIS EXPEDITION AGAINST the PECHENEGS* Harald Hardrada
    K RIJ NIE CIGGAAR HARALD HARDRADA: HIS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE PECHENEGS* Harald Hardrada, half-brother of St. Olaf, had travelled far and wide before he became king of Norway in 1046. As A mercenary he served in the Varangian guard in Constantinople. First the Russians had formed the main element in this regiment, but gradually their role was taken over by the Scandi­ navians in the first half of the eleventh century (cf. note 52). Harald’s arrival in Miklagarth, the regular name for the Byzantine capital, took place about 10341. Here he served three successive emperors: Michael IV the Paphlagonian (1034-41), Michael V Calaphates (1041-2) and Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-55). When serving the Byzantine emperors he took part in many expedi­ tions of which only A few are known of2. Sometimes he campaigned under the command of Georges Maniakes, the famous Greek general, sometimes he went out with his own men3. In this article we hope to throw some more light on one of the expeditions Harald undertook with his band of Norther­ ners. The activities of the Norwegian prince are testified by several sources, Greek and Scandinavian. The Greeks, understanding^ enough where A foreign military commander was concerned, are very sparse with information on his military achievements. In the Admonition to the Emperor, an eleventh century *1 am greatly indebted to Andrea van Arkel—de Leeuw van Weenen and Christopher Sanders for their very valuable criticism and their suggestions. 1. J. Shepard, A Note on Harold Hardraada: the Date of his Arrival at Byzantium, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 22, 1973, p.
    [Show full text]
  • The Succession and Coronation of Magnus Erlingsson
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives UNIVERSITY OF OSLO INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, CONSERVATION AND HISTORY Dissertation for the degree of Master of Arts: Norwegian Kingship Transformed: the Succession and Coronation of Magnus Erlingsson (Depiction of Magnus Erlingsson, by Gerhard Munthe, 1899) Thomas Malo Tollefsen Spring 2015 1 2 Abstract This dissertation is an exploration of the succession and coronation of Magnus Erlingsson based upon three themes: Norwegian kingship in theory, Norwegian kingship in practise, and Norwegian kingship in context, and a search for points of similarity and contrast with European trends. In the first theme the focus of the analysis will be the coronation of Magnus Erlingsson, exploring this in two parts: the rules of kingmaking and the narration of Snorre in the Saga of Magnus Erlingsson, and motivations behind the coronation. In the second theme the focus will again be on the coronation of Magnus Erlingsson. First, this dissertation attempts to put together a workable timeline from when Magnus is acclaimed king in 1161 to his coronation in either 1163 or 1164. Then the analysis shifts to the coronation itself, before it falls on the coronation oath and the Letter of Privileges to see what they can tell us about Magnus’s kingship, and the Law of Succession and what it meant for the future. In the third theme this dissertation attempts to contextualise Magnus’s kingship and this chapter will focus on two things: acquisition, and by extension how to legitimise your rule once it has been acquired, and succession to kingship.
    [Show full text]
  • ISL 1483738855 51 73 Pdf.Pdf (11.40Mb)
    c h a p t e r 3 The Character of Kings Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna “Ahugi a manniysingum hefur ahrif a formgerSi sogunnar; lysing konunganna verSur saga Noregs.” Armann Jakobsson, Stadur t nyjum heimi [2002], 181) (Attention to personal characterization determines the shape of the saga; the characterization of the kings becomes the history of Norway.) Morkinskinna Beginning a little after 1030, Morkinskinna covers the same span of history, at least up to 115 7 , as Heimskringla III, and was in fact the chief source for the last part of Heimskringla.1 It is nonetheless distinctly different because of a series of stories usually referred to as p&ttir (strands). These stories most frequently focus on Icelandic visitors to the Norwegian court and are typically lively and humorous. They are often thought to be later interpolations into the text because they do not recur in the sibling redactions in Fagrskinna and Heims­ kringla, but Armann Jakobsson has urged us to view them not as separate stories but as integral parts of the narrative as a whole.2 Their placement suggests that they have a summarizing or distilling function. Thus the “ Story of HreiSarr” is positioned near the end of the life of King Magnus the Good and illustrates the king’s common touch, his protectiveness, and his popularity with all classes. Similarly, the “ Story of Halldorr Snorrason” is positioned near the beginning of Haraldr harSraSi’s reign in Norway and pinpoints the striking conrast between King Haraldr and his predecessor King Magnus. Like the “ Story of HreiSarr” it focuses on a king and an Icelander, 51 52 The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130-1265) but it is considerably more pointed.
    [Show full text]
  • Morkinskinna and Icelandic Identity, C
    i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 1 — #1 i i THE VIKING COLLECTION Studies in Northern Civilization Founding Editors Preben Meulengracht Sørensen Gerd Wolfgang Weber General Editors Margaret Clunies Ross Matthew Driscoll Annette Lassen Mats Malm Volume 22 i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 2 — #2 i i i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 3 — #3 i i Ármann Jakobsson A SENSE OF BELONGING Morkinskinna and Icelandic Identity, c. 1220 Translated by Fredrik Heinemann UNIVERSITY PRESS OF SOUTHERN DENMARK 2014 i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 4 — #4 i i © The Viking Collection and Ármann Jakobsson Typesetting by Florian Grammel, Copenhagen Printed by Special-Trykkeriet Viborg a-s ISBN 978-87-7674-845-6 ISSN 0108-8408 i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 5 — #5 i i To Jakob Ármannsson (1939–1996) and Signý Thoroddsen (1940–2011) i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 6 — #6 i i i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 7 — #7 i i Contents Prologue 9 Introduction 11 I. ORIGINS 21 1 The Morkinskinna Manuscripts 23 2 The Search for the Origins of Morkinskinna 35 II. STRUCTURE 71 1 Medieval Structure 73 2 The Quest for Medieval Narrative Structure 77 3 Strands in the Saga Web 93 4 Dramatic Narrative 113 III. PORTRAITS OF A SOCIETY 137 1 The Courtly Cosmos 139 2 Courteous Brutality 169 3 A History of Private Life 195 7 i i i i i i “VC22” — 2014/9/8 — 11:41 — page 8 — #8 i i IV.
    [Show full text]