120 Rezensionen known world served a common mythical heodore M. Andersson and function in both cultures. In the illuminat- Kari Ellen Gade, translators ing “Über die Vergangenheitsbilder einiger and editors. Morkinskinna: ‘Problemsagas’ und die Stellung dieser Sagas The Earliest Icelandic Chroni- in der Literatur Altislands” (215–33), Alois T cle of the Norwegian Kings (1030–1157). Wolf proposes that some Íslendingasögur consciously depict the settlement period as Islandica 51. Ithaca: Cornell University the heroic age of Icelandic history, whereas Press, 2000. 572 pages. other sagas view the settlement period typo- logically (i.e., as being the pagan forerunner When thinking of medieval historiography, of the Christian period). After commenting it is Snorri’s Heimskringla that leaps to the on the tendency towards heroicization in mind of a readership versed in medieval Egils saga, Gísla saga, and Grettis saga, he history and literature, for the clarity and examines the nature and operation of ill vivid ness of its narrative crowds out aware- fortune in Njáls saga, which he argues shows ness of, and interest in, earlier epitomes the interaction between the fi rst, heroiciz- or near-contemporaneous chronicles, rel- ing view of the settlement period and the egat ing their study to scholars. We owe, later, typological view of it. In “Parodistische therefore, considerable debt and gratitude Transgression in der Hœnsa-Þóris saga” to Andersson and Gade for their expert, (235–62), Stefanie Würth offers a closely absorbing translation of Morkinskinna argued reading of Hœnsa-Þóris saga as a (Gks 1009 fol., ca. 1275, archetype composed parody of the Íslendingasögur; that is, she ca. 1220), the earliest vernacular chronicle of asserts that the saga uses literary tradi- Norwegian kings reigning from 1030 to 1157. tions and conventions as a source of humor, To date, it represents the sole translation of rather than aspects of real life, as a satire a manuscript that has long provided much would. In the process, several issues arise pleasure, although its inherent unreliability that are important for the current debate as a historical source has elicited a measure regarding the fi ctionality of the sagas, such of disparagement. Nevertheless, Morkin- as the audience’s historical knowledge and skinna has served as an exemplar. It invited the author’s use of historical fi gures rather the study of transmission, the incorporation than invented ones. Acknowledging that a and adaptation of historiographical matter literary response to literature is ultimately a and phrasing in later compendia, including literary response to social realities, she con- Heimskringla and Fagrskinna. cludes that as Icelandic society changed, the Still, Morkinskinna was considered genre of the Íslendingasögur became out-of- of such little merit to the general reader- date and that alternative kinds of narrative ship of medieval sources, even to students therefore became of interest. of Old Norse, that it has never been edited As can be seen from the brief summa- as a normalized text. The translation of ries here, this volume provides a number of this monumental work in the prestigious interesting and solidly researched essays. Islandica series should revise this erro- The eminent contributors have done a neous notion. Despite the history of its more-than-respectable job of honoring neglect, Morkinskinna mirrors the culture their colleague. Although the question of of a sophisticated, literate society with an the contemporaneity of the sagas is far from abiding love for history and the dynamics exhausted, Die Aktualität der Saga advances of power. our understanding of the issues, sometimes An ambitious and magisterial under- in unexpected ways. taking as well as a labor of love—it surely is this also—the volume addresses a wide Elizabeth Ashman Rowe public: scholars, students, and an educated readership. All are served by the careful examination of questions relating to the Morkinskinna manuscript. In accordance with common practice, the translators fi ll

Alvíssmál 11 (2004): 120–24 Rezensionen 121 the manuscript’s lacunae with phrasing Norse prose paraphrase for complex stan- from other compendia. Some are known zas. For those unskilled in the reading or to have incorporated quires from Morkin- appreciation of skaldic verse, the Old Norse skinna manuscripts at a date later than their paraphrases serve a useful purpose. They composition, others, sections or passages of disentangle the often tortuous syntax of various length. In pursuing their objective of the stanzaic text and allow insight into the completeness and usefulness, the transla- formal, intellectualized diction of skalds. tors have devoted much thought and toil to The lengthy introduction—it occupies textual notes, which present in lucid detail more than one-sixth of the total pages textual variants in related manuscripts and allotted to the translation and its criti- in the standard editions (Morkinskinna: Per- cal apparatus — is an erudite exposition gamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende of standard, if complex, questions in saga aarhundrede, indeholdende en af de ældste scholarship. The detail provided in argumen- optegnelser af norske kongesagaer, ed. C. R. tation thus constitutes a reliable repository Unger [Oslo: Bentzen, 1867]; Morkinskinna, of facts on the contents of this manuscript ed. Finnur Jónsson, Samfund til udgivelse and on historiographic epitomes and com- af gammel nordisk litteratur, Skrifter 53 pendia in Latin or Old Norse. [København: J. Jørgensen & Co., 1932]). As a historical work, Morkinskinna is Felicitously, the notes on both the narrative situated among, and distinguished from, and the poetry are appended rather than the historiographies that preceded and affi xed as lengthy footnotes to the translated succeeded it. While it also proceeds chrono- text. This allows linguists, textual critics, logically, the imbalance in the space allotted and historians an easy overview of all or any to two of the monarchs, King Magnús Óláfs- textual diffi culties in individual chapters son and King Haraldr Sigurðarson, reveals while sparing the general readership from the author’s idiosyncratic character. Fasci- perusing matter essential only to scholarly nated by the perils of a reign shared for some debate. The notes to the stanzas, fuller than years by men of dissimilar, if strong, person- those to the prose text, record not only all alities, he allocated about sixty percent the manuscripts in which the verses appear of his text to a narrative that intertwined but also their standard editions. The com- their lives. The structure favored was epi- ments contain general information as well sodic. This lent itself to recreating the many as specifi cs on attribution, context, textual encounters of Icelanders with kings, to por- cruxes, and emendations. traying sharply delineated characters, and Other than the knotty matter of manu- to neglecting the activities of peaceful kings. script tradition, the translators faced a The disinterest in peaceful reigns or kings second problem: skaldic poetry interspersed disinclined to war is, however, also typical of in the text. Writers of Old Norse chronicles saga narrative: “this . . . says much about the and of other sagas have traditionally treated action-dependence of saga narrative and the skaldic poetry as a source for the historical limitations of that literary form” (3). In this accuracy and authority of their accounts. respect, Morkinskinna’s style is generic. Thus, Morkinskinna cites copious stanzas The discussion of the manuscript is as as evidence of, or elaboration on, what the complete as one would fi nd in an authorita- writer assumed to be the historical truth tive edition, including a physical description of his accounts. One editorial diffi culty of the manuscript, its date and number of Gade, the translator of verse, confronted scribes, orthography, scribal corrections (Andersson is responsible for the narrative) and marginal notes, descriptive matter on was the lack of a critical edition by which to related historiographic works and their check the accuracy of the translated stan- manuscripts, argumentation for the con- zas. She therefore included the verses in Old jectured existence of earlier versions of Norse, while the notes to the stanzas include Morkinskinna, their exemplars and deriv- references to readings in other manuscripts. atives. From the study of the verses within While the collaborators provide translations the context of the narrative, Gade and of all the verses, they also provide an Old Andersson suggest that the manuscript’s

Alvíssmál 11 (2004): 120–24 122 Rezensionen skaldic poetry and many þættir “refl ect the diffi culties Magnús was to face in his deal- interests and knowledge of the same author, ings with his intelligent, if devious, and wise namely the author of ÆMsk,” the present but venturesome coregent-to-be. manuscript’s archetype (57). The discussion of the number and type In saga studies, the question of inter- of verses original to Morkinskinna is exem- polation looms large, for the practice of plary in its methodology and in the caution borrowing and adapting prose and verse, with which the editors sift the evidence for indulged in by writers and scribes, illumi- interpolations. The procedure consists of nates the interrelationship of cognate works. several steps. The basic units investigated In this part of the introduction, discussion are the individual kings’ sagas, so that the of the postulated existence of prose interpo- number of verses, the poems from which lations is brief (11–24), that of interpolated many were quoted, and the þættir with verse substantial (25–57). This imbalance in stanzas can be easily ascertained. The data the length of commentary refl ects, on the from each unit is compared with that found one hand, the lack of prior studies on the in Heimskringla and Fagrskinna as well as narrative and, on the other, the signifi cance with that in other related manuscripts. This of verse for Norse historiographers. establishes which stanzas were retained Andersson is careful, as is his wont, in and which omitted, permitting occasional the discussion of Morkinskinna’s incorpora- insight into the reasons for the retention or tion of narrative matter from extant and omission. The comparison will be of con- lost sources, Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sogum, siderable interest to literary scholars as it þættir, *Hryggjarstykki, Hákonar saga lifts the veil on the editorial policies of both Ívarssonar, Orkneyinga saga, only some of Snorri, in his composition of Heimskringla, which the author of Morkinskinna refers to and the author of Fagrskinna. explicitly. At times, however, this endeavor The matter of retention or elimina- is fraught with uncertainty, as it relies heav- tion rested, for the most part, on the ily on a critic’s sense of structural logic and historiographical principles that Snorri on a perception of narrative consistencies. and the author of Fagrskinna applied to Thus, at least one posited interpolation is the weighing of evidence transmitted over tenuous (12), for the argument rests on a a span of one hundred and fi fty years. They retelling considered to be infelicitous. I am included informative stanzas but frequently referring to Ágrip chap. 38, Morkinskinna excluded verse that was nonspecifi c. They chap. 8, King Haraldr’s disguise as a mes- omitted the ornamental verse in the þættir senger to King Magnús’s advisor Úlfr stallari. and avoided citing as historical verifi cation Andersson accepts Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson’s any stanza that was cast in fornyrðislag, a thesis that this interpolation is placed out meter intimately associated with oral tradi- of context. Yet another interpretation is pos- tion. Still, some decisions are obscure. For sible. Morkinskinna’s chap. 7 had ended on a unknown reasons, the author of Fagrskinna positive note. Magnús had reached an ethical was less liberal in the citation of verse after decision, to forego the conquest of England. the beginning of Magnúss saga ber fœtts. King Haraldr’s reconnoitering, a discrete The author of Morkinskinna, however, inquiry into Magnús’s possible reaction to delighted in the poetic imagery of skaldic his prospective claim to half the kingdom, verse, quoting verses for the beauty of their hence serves to reaffi rm Magnús’s ethical phrasing rather than for their value as a constraint on the reach of his power, in this means of verifi cation. These were often case, his inherent willingness to assume the descriptions of fi erce battles or of ships in risk of sharing the kingdom with his uncle. perilous seas. He even introduced verses to That the brief recitation of Haraldr’s foreign an extract taken from *Hryggjarstykki, that, adventures follows rather than precedes the in its original written form, had contained encounter is likewise sound rather than none. Foremost, he loved verse, not solely incongruous. In a summary occupying fi ve for its own sake, but also for the narrative chapters of about twenty pages (130–51, possibilities it afforded him. His knowledge chaps. 9–13), the narration foreshadows the of skaldic poems allowed him to fabricate

Alvíssmál 11 (2004): 120–24 Rezensionen 123 or structure narrative sections, establish the answers, although some illuminate authorial sequence of events, summarize an account, beliefs and experiences by an analysis of the or provide it with a conclusion. Skaldic verse events described and the ethos conveyed. also furnished some of the few chronological Which sentiments, for instance, does the details of a history that failed to situate author express repeatedly in the words and events within the framework of years. The actions of the protagonists and actors in his days, however, to which stanzas linked deeds history? Where in Iceland might we local- or happenings turn up in the narrative, as do ize him? The many þættir, accounts that a few dates probably derived from annals. relate adventures or depict interactions of But above all, the stanzas reveal his passion Icelanders with Norwegian kings, bespeak for, and understanding of, an intellectually his interest in the personal and political and metrically demanding poetic tradition. relationship of Icelanders with the Norwe- In saga studies, it is traditional to gian court. To him, Icelanders were thanes record and to discuss named informants as were the Norwegians who served their and to seek putative authors, in this case kings. Yet there was a difference caused to sketch a provisional profi le of Morkin- and actuated by the geographic separation skinna’s anonymous writer. It is obvious that fostered Icelandic independence and from the names cited that the author drew a deep-seated sense of equality that often on an oral tradition that spanned the period went hand in hand with loyal service. Loyal he chronicled. Some were prominent, such service to the last king featured in the com- as King Haraldr Sigurðarson, who appears to pendium, Ingi Haraldsson (d. 1161), anchors have assiduously promoted his reputation in the search for the region that might have literary form. Others belong to well-known nurtured its author, a writer interested not families in Iceland as well as in Norway and only in historical events but also in commer- testify to the cultivation of historical knowl- cial enterprise. Scholars have also noted his edge in anecdotal form. About some, little is tendency to cast a religious interpretation known except for the sources of their knowl- on royal decisions that illustrated restraint edge, informants who elicited information on either the reach of power or its unbridled from family members whose ancestors were exercise. It is this profi le, in a section written entangled in bloody political struggles. with verve and authority, that permits the The type of information conveyed is also positing of authorship and of the origin of varied. Some is connected to objects still in the manuscript in a scriptorium in north- the possession of contemporaries (62). An ern Iceland (67–71). Suggested as author is unusual feat of intelligence and technologi- Þorvarðr Þorgeirsson, a remarkable chief- cal expertise is tied as a noteworthy event to tain in the Eyjafjörður district, known also Haraldr Sigurðarson (63). A bishop remem- for his unswerving loyalty to King Ingi. Upon bered in a scene from his youth the ire of a hearing of Ingi’s death, he swore that he Norwegian king when censured by a bishop would never serve any other king. Likewise, for his divorce (61). While this is not com- he persuaded his brother Ari to join only mented upon, it constitutes an analogue to factions loyal to Ingi’s memory and to follow controversial ecclesiastical efforts to reform only those candidates with claims to Ingi’s conjugal life in Iceland during the author’s succession. His was also a family with strong life. This matter might well be a springboard religious convictions, interest in trade and from which to investigate more broadly in literature, and close ties to a nearby mon- the cultural background that spawned the astery, Munkaþverá. Two family sagas that remembrance of this type of knowledge, mention Þorvarðr, Ljósvetninga saga and a fi eld left largely unexplored in a tome Reykdœla saga, may have been written in remarkable for its scope. Munkaþverá, suggesting an active scripto- It is usually diffi cult to identify saga rium in the monastery. authors. By its very nature, oral literature The lengthy preface and compendious is generally anonymous. The questions notes, the careful sifting of evidence on posed attempt only to narrow the gap of questions for which authoritative and our ignorance. They normally yield narrow defi nite answers are often elusive, enable

Alvíssmál 11 (2004): 120–24 124 Rezensionen scholars and students to revert to the mono- lrike Sprenger. Sturla graph for balanced opinions and copious Þórðarsons “Hákonar saga details on the composition and infl uence Hákon ar sonar”. Texte und of Morkinskinna. Literary scholars will wel- Unter suchungen zur Germa- come the concordance of episodes described U nistik und Skandinavistik 46. Frankfurt also in Heimskringla and Fagrskinna. The bibliography is useful, although restricted am Main: Peter Lang, 2000. 143 sider. in its citations of works on ecclesiastical matters. The two indexes, one covering the For første gang er der nu skrevet en mono- introduction and explanatory notes, the grafi over sagaen om Håkon Håkonsson. other keyed to Morkinskinna itself, mirror Forfatteren er den schweiziske litteratur- Andersson and Gade’s concern to provide forsker Ulrike Sprenger, som har en ease of reference, a collegial gesture toward betydelig forskning bag sig inden for især their readership. Still, the major accom- den oldgermanske litteratur. Hákonarsaga plishment is the vivid translation of the er en biografi sk beretning om kong Håkon manuscript itself, a work too long neglected og omfatter tiden 1203–1264. Den er skrevet in modern times. Obviously, the work’s sig- af den islandske historiker Sturla Þórðar- nifi cance was recognized immediately in son under dennes ophold ved det norske medieval Iceland. Within the brief time span hof. Mindre end et år efter kongens død er of perhaps fi ve years, the authors of Heims- Sturla gået i gang med pen og pergament kringla and Fagrskinna, major historians, i den kongelige skrivestue. Her har han incorporated much of its phrasing. This kunnet gøre brug af et varieret kancelli- adaptation and sifting of Morkinskinna’s materiale samt mundtlige meddelelser fra text for the years 1035–1157 testifi es to the både norske og islandske fortællere. Sagaens deep effect that the narration of the manu- samtidige affattelse har givet den en særlig script’s author exercised on their thinking, høj kilde værdi. Den tidsalder, som Hákonar- both positively and negatively, about the saga omhandler, er en storhedstid i norsk nature and presentation of history. historie; for Island derimod knytter der sig bitter vemod hertil på grund af republikkens Marlene Ciklamini undergang og drabet på landets mangeårige lovsigemand Snorri Sturluson på foranled- ning af kong Håkon. Hákonar saga forlener de to lande med modsatrettet nostalgi. Det indebærer en fordel, at en bog om denne saga udarbejdes af en forsker uden person- ligt tilhørsforhold til noget af de to lande. Den litterære analyse, som Sprenger giver sin læser, er på sine steder nyskabende; dette gælder ikke mindst når hun anvender en litterær metodik på sagaens fremstil- ling. For recensenten som historiker af den socio-politologiske skole er det ikke blot spændende, men også velgørende at bevidne, at en af ens gamle “ikoner” — Hákonar- saga — nu får en behandling af en litterat af fag. Sturlas selvbeherskelse over for stof- fet kan ikke skjule, at der her står følelser på højkant. Dramaet, som ulmer under den fortælletekniske saglighed, blev opfanget af Henrik Ibsen da han gjorde sagaens første to tredjedele til tema for sit berømte skue- spil Kongsemnerne. I sin fordeling af lys og skygge mellem hovedpersonerne — kong

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