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On the Authorship of Hrafnkels Saga
KIRSTEN WOLF On the Authorship of Hrafnkels saga i A number of literary works have in the course of time been attributed to the Icelandic bishop Brandr Jónsson (d. 1264), though it may well be that his fame (“Hann ... var ágætr höfðingi, klerkr góðr, vitr ok vinsæll, rikr ok góðgjarn. Ok í þann tíma hafði hann mesta mannheill þeira manna, er þá váru á íslandi” [Svínfellinga saga-, Sturlunga saga 2:87]) as well as our fairly limited knowledge about his life and activities (see Tryggvi Þórhallsson 1923) have led scholars to credit him with more works than he actually composed. Brandr Jónsson is commonly held to be the author of Gyðinga saga (GS);1 this assumption is based on the epilogue of GS, which says that it was originally translated into Latin by Jerome and thence into Norse by the priest Brandr Jónsson, later bishop of Hólar, at the request of King Magnús Hákonarson.2 As there are no other documents extant or no other evidence to prove that anyone else wrote GS, one is obliged to place some credence in the testimonial of the epilogue. Moreover, there appears to be no reason to dismiss the epilogue, appearing as it does in a codex (AM 226 fol.) written within a century of Brandr Jónsson’s death in a community where he was likely to be remembered. Since it is known that both Brandr Jónsson and King Magnus spent the winter 1262-3 in Trondheim, it has been argued that the saga was written by Brandr Jónsson or under his supervision during this year. -
The Proverbial Heart of Hrafnkels Saga Freysgoða: “Mér Þykkir Þar Heimskum Manni at Duga, Sem Þú Ert.”
The Proverbial Heart of Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða: “Mér þykkir þar heimskum manni at duga, sem þú ert.” RICHARD L. HARRIS ABSTRACT: This essay considers the thematic force of a proverbial allusion in Hrafnkels saga when the political dilettante Sámr Bjarnason reluctantly agrees to help his uncle Þorbjǫrn seek redress for the killing of his son by Hrafnkell Freysgoði. “Mér þykkir þar heimskum manni at duga, sem þú ert” [I want you to know that in my opinion I am helping a fool in helping you], he comments, alluding to the traditional proverb Illt er heimskum lið at veita [It’s bad to give help to the foolish] setting one theme of this short but complex and much studied narrative. Examination of the story suggests that nearly all of its characters behave with varying degrees of foolishness. Further, it can be seen that Sámr’s foolishness dictates his fall after defeating Hrafnkell in legal proceedings and that, conversely, Hrafnkell’s rehabilitation is the result of correcting that unwise social behaviour which led to his initial defeat. RÉSUMÉ: Cet article examine la force thématique derrière une phrase proverbiale trouvée dans l’œuvre Hrafnkels saga. Lorsqu’un dilettante politique, Sámr Bjarnason, accepte à contrecoeur d’aider son oncle, Þorbjǫrn, à obtenir réparation pour le meurtre de son fils aux mains de Hrafnkell Freysgoði, il déclare, « Mér þykkir þar heimskum manni at duga, sem þú ert » [je veux que vous sachiez que, selon moi, j’aide un abruti en vous aidant]. Son commentaire fait allusion au proverbe traditionnel, Illt er heimskum lið at veita [il est mal d’offrir de l’aide à un sot]. -
The Waning Sword E Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in Beowulf DWARD the Waning Sword Conversion Imagery and EDWARD PETTIT P
The Waning Sword E Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in Beowulf DWARD The Waning Sword Conversion Imagery and EDWARD PETTIT P The image of a giant sword mel� ng stands at the structural and thema� c heart of the Old ETTIT Celestial Myth in Beowulf English heroic poem Beowulf. This me� culously researched book inves� gates the nature and signifi cance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely rela� ves within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fi elds of Old English and Old Norse language and literature, liturgy, archaeology, astronomy, folklore and compara� ve mythology. In Part I, Pe� t explores the complex of connota� ons surrounding this image (from icicles to candles and crosses) by examining a range of medieval sources, and argues that the giant sword may func� on as a visual mo� f in which pre-Chris� an Germanic concepts and prominent Chris� an symbols coalesce. In Part II, Pe� t inves� gates the broader Germanic background to this image, especially in rela� on to the god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr, and explores the capacity of myths to recur and endure across � me. Drawing on an eclec� c range of narra� ve and linguis� c evidence from Northern European texts, and on archaeological discoveries, Pe� t suggests that the T image of the giant sword, and the characters and events associated with it, may refl ect HE an elemental struggle between the sun and the moon, ar� culated through an underlying W myth about the the� and repossession of sunlight. ANING The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celesti al Myth in Beowulf is a welcome contribu� on to the overlapping fi elds of Beowulf-scholarship, Old Norse-Icelandic literature and Germanic philology. -
REVIEWS Chieftains and Power In
REVIEWS as many as 50-60 chieftencies. Jon Vidar Sigurdsson After that their number started decreasing, and by 1118 there Chieftains and Power in the were no more than c. 30 left. Icelandic Commonwealth "There was a similar reduction in numbers in the period from 1118 Translated by Jean Lundskrer to 1220, when about 20 Nielsen disappeared" (p. 64). So early in the thirteenth century there were Odense University Press, Odense, only nine or ten chieftains in the 1999, pp. 215 entIre country controlling as many 'domains', instead of the thirty-six chieftencies back in The book under review is a 930. The original power system translation of a Ph. D. thesis from had in fact collapsed. the University of Bergen, and JSV's account of this betrays its ongins in a number of development is partly based on ways. Like so many other theses conjecture, but on the whole it is of its kind it is brimming with lucid and well-argued. My enthusiasm for its subject and principal criticism of his book is devoid of the cynicism we often abouthis treatment of the Sagas of find in the works of older Icelanders, which tell us much scholars. On the other hand, the more about the goaar and ideas author's (hereafter referred to as relating to them than his book JVS) perception of early Icelandic serves to indicate. Vatnsdrela saga literature is somewhat vague at which has seen called hofOingja times. skuggsjd "a mirror for chieftains" The essential Eurpose of the presents porsteinn Ingimundarson book is to is descnbe the nature and evolution of political power as an ideal gooi: he is moderate, in Iceland, in particular the fair-minded, patient, shrewd, system of gOOar (sg. -
John Lindow Professor Emeritus Department of Scandinavian University of California Berkeley CA 94720-2690 USA [email protected]
John Lindow Professor Emeritus Department of Scandinavian University of California Berkeley CA 94720-2690 USA [email protected] Curriculum Vitae Education: Harvard University, A.B. magna cum laude 1968, Ph.D. (Germanic Languages and Literatures), 1972 Research Focus: Old Scandinavian myth and religion Old Norse-Icelandic literature and culture Nordic folklore (Scandinavian, Finnish, Sámi, Greenlandic) Elections and Honors: Knights Cross of the Order of the Falcon, Republic of Iceland, 2018 Honorary Doctorate in Folkloristics, University of Iceland, 2018 Annual lecture, Viking Society for Northern Research, 2018 Elected to Society of Fellows, American Folklore Society, 2014 Fellow, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala, 2013 Archer Taylor lecture, Western States Folklore Society, 2007 UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award, 2006 Richard Beck lecture, University of Victoria, 2004. Fulbright lecturer, University of Iceland, 2000 Sigurður Nordal lecture, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2000 UC Berkeley Humanities Faculty Fellowship, 2000-2001 Triebel lecture, The Australian Academy of the Humanities, 1993 President's Fellowship in the Humanities, University of California, 1989-90 Regents Faculty Fellowship, University of California, 1977-78 Memberships American Folklore Society International Society for Folk Narrative Research Gustav Adolfs Akademi för Folklivsforskning Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study Western States Folklore Society (President 2015-19) Bibliography of Academic Publications 2018 Article “The Challenge of Folklore to Medieval Studies.” In The Challenge of Folklore to the Humanities, ed. Dan Ben-Amos. special issue , Humanities 7 (1), 15; doi:10.3390/h7010015. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/7/1/15 Article “Nordic Legends of the Churchyard.” In Storied and Supernatural Places: Studies in Spatial and Social Dimensions of Folklore and Sagas, ed. -
Hrafnkels Saga and Other Icelandic Stories Free Download
HRAFNKELS SAGA AND OTHER ICELANDIC STORIES FREE DOWNLOAD Hermann Palsson | 144 pages | 29 Jan 1976 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140442380 | English | London, United Kingdom Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Icelandic Stories He refuses and rides back home. Stay in Touch Sign up. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. For these reasons, it has served as a test case in the dispute on the origins of the Icelandic sagas. These fascinating tales deal with powerful human emotions, suffering and dignity at a time of profound transition, when traditional ideals were gradually yielding to a more peaceful pastoral lifestyle. There are great moments of sacrifice, honour, and a subtle sense of humour in some of these stories. This is the book I ought to have started with when I began to dip into Icelandic sagas again recently. I was especially drawn to the sense of place in these tales, and how places became tied to events when Freyfaxi the horse is killed on a bluff, it is forever after known as Freyfaxahamar. Fulk, R. Hrafnkell longs for power Hrafnkels Saga and Other Icelandic Stories soon establishes himself as a chieftain by bullying people in neighbouring valleys. Copenhagen: G. Several of the other stories have similar themes but have a somewhat different tone, being more like a cross between a short biography of an individual and the anecdotes about him that would get told down the pub on a long winter's night. Scholars have identified the likely author as Abbot Brand Jonson, a 13th century intellectual, church leader, teacher, and mediator. Bogs and moors are described in great detail, as if the reader were being told how to get to Thorkel's farmstead. -
Terry Gunnell. Scripta Islandica 66/2015
SCRIPTA ISLANDICA ISLÄNDSKA SÄLLSKAPETS ÅRSBOK 66/2015 REDIGERAD AV LASSE MÅRTENSSON OCH VETURLIÐI ÓSKARSSON under medverkan av Pernille Hermann (Århus) Else Mundal (Bergen) Guðrún Nordal (Reykjavík) Heimir Pálsson (Uppsala) Henrik Williams (Uppsala) UPPSALA, SWEDEN Publicerad med stöd från Vetenskapsrådet. © Författarna och Scripta Islandica 2015 ISSN 0582-3234 Sättning: Ord och sats Marco Bianchi urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-260648 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-260648 Innehåll LISE GJEDSSØ BERTELSEN, Sigurd Fafnersbane sagnet som fortalt på Ramsundsristningen . 5 ANNE-SOFIE GRÄSLUND, Kvinnorepresentationen på de sen vikinga- tida runstenarna med utgångspunkt i Sigurdsristningarna ....... 33 TERRY GUNNELL, Pantheon? What Pantheon? Concepts of a Family of Gods in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions ............. 55 TOMMY KUUSELA, ”Den som rider på Freyfaxi ska dö”. Freyfaxis död och rituell nedstörtning av hästar för stup ................ 77 LARS LÖNNROTH, Sigurður Nordals brev till Nanna .............. 101 JAN ALEXANDER VAN NAHL, The Skilled Narrator. Myth and Scholar- ship in the Prose Edda .................................. 123 WILLIAM SAYERS, Generational Models for the Friendship of Egill and Arinbjǫrn (Egils saga Skallagrímssonar) ................ 143 OLOF SUNDQVIST, The Pre-Christian Cult of Dead Royalty in Old Norse Sources: Medieval Speculations or Ancient Traditions? ... 177 Recensioner LARS LÖNNROTH, rec. av Minni and Muninn: Memory in Medieval Nordic Culture, red. Pernille Herrmann, Stephen A. Mitchell & Agnes S. Arnórsdóttir . 213 OLOF SUNDQVIST, rec. av Mikael Males: Mytologi i skaldedikt, skaldedikt i prosa. En synkron analys av mytologiska referenser i medeltida norröna handskrifter .......................... 219 PER-AXEL WIKTORSSON, rec. av The Power of the Book. Medial Approaches to Medieval Nordic Legal Manuscripts, red. Lena Rohrbach ............................................ 225 KIRSTEN WOLF, rev. -
Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context.” New Literary History 16(1984-1985): 153-173
Jesse Byock. “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context.” New Literary History 16(1984-1985): 153-173. Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context Jesse L. Byock HE Icelandic family sagas (the Íslendingasögur) are anonymous prose stories.1 They are not heroic epics, folktales, chronicles, or romances T but plausible vernacular tales about often real people who lived in Iceland in the period from the settlement in the 980s until about 1030. More than thirty major family sagas are extant; there are also many short stories called Þættir (sing. Þáttr). As a written literary form the sagas suddenly appeared at the end of the twelfth century, and their production ended abruptly in the early decades of the fourteenth century.2 Although no one denies a mixture of oral and literary elements, theories differ widely as to how much the sagas reflect an oral compositional prehistory and how much they reflect the artistry of a literate self-conscious author. The bitter controversy in the first half of the twentieth century over the extent of orality evidenced in the family sagas polarized scholars into "freeprosists" believing in the oral origin of saga narrative and "bookprosists" advocating a written origin.3 The two groups debated the issue of whether the family sagas were factually accurate arid hence memorized and essentially fixed texts or whether they were nonhistorical, late literary fictions. By the mid-1950s the bookprosists, led by the Icelanders Sigurður Nordal and Einar Ól. Sveinsson, had prevailed.4 In their view the sagas, though owing a small and undetermined debt to an oral prehistory, were literary stories created by Icelanders of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries.5 In recent decades many saga scholars have bogged down in their attempts, largely frustrated, to prove that the family sagas as sophisticated narratives stemmed from some discernible European narrative model. -
NINE NORSE STUDIES by Gabriel Turville-Petre
VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH TEXT SERIES General Editors G. Turville-Petre and P. G. Foote VOLUME V NINE NORSE STUDIES By Gabriel Turville-Petre NINE NORSE STUDIES BY GABRIEL TURVILLE-PETRE Vigfusson Reader in and Professor of Ancient Icelandic Literature, History, and Antiquities, in the University of Oxford Honorary Life Member of the Society VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON Made in Great Britain and printed by Western Printing Services Ltd, Bristol © 1972 Gabriel Turville-Petre © 1972 Modern Humanities Research Association (Chapter viil, first published in the Modern Language Review and here reproduced by permission of the Editors). PREFACE The nine studies selected for publication in this volume were written over a number of years, although nothing that has ap peared since 1962 is included. Various minor amendments have been made, some references updated, and bibliographical and other conventions normalized throughout, doubtless not with perfect consistency. Postscripts have been added to five of the papers, showing that in some cases I have revised my opinions slightly. Two of the articles were first published in Icelandic. 'The Cult of 09inn' has been translated by me, 'Drottkvatt and Irish syllabic measures' by Professor Gearoid Mac Eoin, to whom I am most grateful, as I am also to Professor David Greene for re moving errors and suggesting improvements after the paper had been put into English. My thanks are also due to Mr P. Cahill who checked references in papers V, VI, and VII, and to Mr M. P. Barnes who read a proof of the whole book. Mr David Thomas, Honorary Member of the Society, has given unstinting help in designing the book and seeing it through the press. -
ÍSLENZK FORNRIT Öndvegisútgáfa Íslenskra Fornbókmennta Með Formálum Og Skýringum
Bókaskrá ÍSLENZK FORNRIT Öndvegisútgáfa íslenskra fornbókmennta með formálum og skýringum HIÐ ÍSLENSKA FORNRITAFÉLAG 90 ára HIÐ ÍSLENSKA FORNRITAFÉLAG – Stofnað 1928 – Hið íslenska fornritafélag 90 ára Á þessu ári fagnar Hið íslenska fornritafélag níræðisafmæli sínu, en stofnfundur þess var haldinn 14. júní 1928. Þannig er greint frá upptökum félagsins á fyrstu síðu fundagerða- bókar þess: Jón Ásbjörnsson hæstarjettarmálaflutningsmaður skýrir frá upptökum Fornritafjelagsins á þessa leið: Sumarið 1926 dvaldi jeg um hríð á Staðarfelli hjá Þorsteini sýslumanni Þorsteinssyni. Skemtum við okkur þá einatt með samræðum um fornrit vor og afrjeð jeg þá að reyna að safna fje, er jeg kæmi suður, til vandaðrar útgáfu þeirra, eða merkustu fornritanna. Færði jeg þetta í tal við Þorstein og hjet hann styrk sínum til þessa. Þegar jeg kom suður, byrjaði jeg á fjársöfnun og fjekk góðar undirtektir. Í aprílmánuði 1927 var jeg búinn að fá loforð ca. 30 manna um styrk til slíkrar útgáfu og kvaddi jeg þá á fund, að mig minnir, seint í þeim mánuði. Umræddur fundur var haldinn 28. apríl 1927. Þar voru kosnir í nefnd til að undirbúa stofnun félagsins Jón Ásbjörnsson, Pétur Halldórsson bóksali og Ólafur Lárusson prófessor, og síðan var bætt við tveimur mönnum, Tryggva Þórhallssyni forsætisráðherra og Matthíasi Þórðarsyni þjóðminjaverði. Nefndin efndi til samskota og sendi boðsbréf til allmargra manna víðs vegar um landið, dagsett 1. desember 1927. Þar eru kynnt stórhuga áform um nýja og vandaða útgáfu íslenskra fornsagna. Fyrir hverju riti verður saminn inngangur, er skýri stöðu þess í bókmentunum, heimildar- gildi þess og listargildi og ýmislegt annað, sem lesendum má verða til leiðbeiningar. Einstök atriði verða jafnóðum skýrð neðanmáls: vísur, torskilin orð og orðatiltæki, fornir siðir og menning; athugasemdir verða gerðar um söguleg sannindi og tímatal, vísað í aðrar heimildir til samanburðar o.s.frv. -
The 15Th International Saga Conference Sagas and the Use of the Past 5Th –11Th August 2012, Aarhus University Preprint of Abstracts
The 15th International Saga Conference Sagas and the Use of the Past 5th –11th August 2012, Aarhus University Preprint of Abstracts Edited by A. Mathias Valentin Nordvig and Lisbeth H. Torfing with Pernille Hermann, Jens Peter Schjødt and Ulla Loumand Sponsored by: A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal; 15. juni Fonden; Forskningsrådet for Kultur og Kommuni- kation (FKK); Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur; Letterstedtska Föreningen; Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University; The De- partment of Aesthetics and Communication, Aarhus University; The Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University; Salling; Bryg- geriet Sct. Clemens. MB Published by Department of Aesthetics and Communication Department of Culture and Society Faculty of Arts SUN-Tryk Fællestrykkeriet for Sundhedsvidenskab og Humaniora, Aarhus Universitet All rights reserved. Copyright © 2012, the Contributors. ISBN: 978-87-995444-0-0 http://sagaconference.au.dk/fileadmin/sagaconference/Pre-print.pdf The cover image is the so-called “Aarhus Mask”, a depiction on a ru- nestone found in the district of Hasle in Aarhus. It has been dated to the period 970-1020. Design by Nichlas Tougaard, Det Nye Sort. Preface The theme of the 15th International Saga Conference, the 5th to the 11th of August, 2012, Aarhus University, is Sagas and the Use of the Past. Papers at the conference will be presented in one of the following categories: Memory and Fiction, Myth and Reality, Textuality and Manuscript Transmission, Genre and Concepts of History, Oral Tradi- tion, The Christianisation of Denmark and Eastern Scandinavia, The Use of Sagas and Eddas in the 21st Century and Open Session Apart from the keynote lectures, orally-presented papers are organized in up to 6 parallel sessions on each day of the conference, in addition to which there are poster presentations, which are presented on Thursday afternoon. -
Saga-Book 2003 Final.P65
SAGA-BOOK VOL. XXVII VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 2003 ISSN: 0305-9219 Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter CONTENTS TROUBLESOME CHILDREN IN THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS. Ármann Jakobsson ......................................................................................... 5 LOF EN EIGI HÁÐ? THE RIDDLE OF GRETTIS SAGA VERSE 14. Russell Poole ................................................................................................ 25 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YORK VIKING POETRY? MEMORY, TRADITION AND THE TRANSMISSION OF SKALDIC VERSE. Matthew Townend ............... 48 HERMANN PÁLSSON .............................................................................. 91 REVIEWS ORDBOG OVER DET NORRØNE PROSASPROG. A DICTIONARY OF OLD NORSE PROSE. 2: BANDA. Edited by James E. Knirk, Helle Degnbol, Bent Chr. Jacobsen, Eva Rode, Christopher Sanders, Þorbjörg Helga- dóttir; ONP 12: NØGLE // KEY. (Ian McDougall) ............................. 94 NORSKE DIPLOM 13011310. Edited by Erik Simensen. (Else Mundal) 98 RUNES AND GERMANIC LINGUISTICS. By Elmer H. Antonsen. (Michael Barnes) ............................................................................................. 100 CORPUS OF ANGLO-SAXON STONE SCULPTURE. VI: NORTHERN YORKSHIRE. By James Lang. (James Graham-Campbell) ....................................... 104 HISTORIA NORWEGIE. Edited by Inger Ekrem and Lars Boje Mortensen. Translated by Peter Fisher. (Carl Phelpstead) .............................. 105 SKRIFT OG HISTORIE HOS ORDERIK VITALIS. HISTORIOGRAFI