Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...

Scandinavian History in the Viking Age
Kings’ sagas (konungasögur)
The composition of material concerning the kings of Norway and Denmark in particular took off in
Iceland towards the end of the twelfth century and flourished particularly in the early thirteenth. For
bibliographical guidance to older research see:
[B285] H. Hermansson, Bibliography of the sagas of the kings of Norway and related sagas and tales,
Islandica 3 (1910), plus suppl. 26 (1937) [UL 752:4.c.1.3, suppl. 752:4.c.1.26]
Guides and general studies
For the broader context, see general works on Icelandic literature (B230 ff.), the synoptics (B270 ff.) and
the family sagas (B350 ff.), also Ari’s early ‘lives’ of the kings of Norway, Denmark, and England
(B255).
[B290] B. Aðalbjarnarson, Om de norske kongers sagaer, SDNVAO 1937:4 (1937) [UL 500:01.b.4.50]
[B291] J.E. Knirk, Oratory in the Kings’ sagas (1981) [UL 752:37.c.95.21]
[B292] T.M. Andersson, ‘Kings’ sagas (Konungasögur)’, in (B233):197-238
[B293] D. Whaley, ‘The kings’ sagas’, (O72):43-64
[B294] S. Bagge, ‘Icelandic uniqueness or a common European culture? The case of the Kings’ sagas’,
SS 69 (1997), 418-42
[B295] Á. Jakobsson, Í leit að konungi: konungsmynd íslenskra konungasagna (1997) [UL
752:37.c.95.54] (E.s.)
Origins and development
The question of how kings’ sagas developed is an extremely vexed one. On the one hand, it is clearly
likely that foreign historiographical models were adapted, and even used as sources; see (B382) and:
[B300] P. Foote, ‘Aachen, Lund, Hólar’, (O22):53-76
[B301] P.A. White, ‘The Latin men: the Norman sources of Scandinavian kings’ sagas’, JEGP 98 (1999),
157-69
On the other hand, it can be seen that as the kings’ saga tradition developed in the course of the twelfth,
thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, the amount of material these texts contained steadily grew. Skaldic
verse (B483 ff.) has often been held responsible for at least some of this additional material, and this can
probably be supplemented by indiscriminate conflation of separate traditions or plain invention. It has
also often been supposed that much material was derived from older, independent kings’ sagas that have
since been lost. This can occasionally be demonstrated, as in the case of *Hryggjarstykki (B460), but
becomes a decidedly more dubious procedure when considering sagas relating to events from the
eleventh century or earlier. Most editions or discussions of kings’ sagas debate these topics, cf. (B292)
and more recently:
[B305] T.M. Andersson, ‘The continuation of *Hlaðajarla saga’, JEGP 97 (1998), 155-67
Individual kings’ sagas
The composition of royal biographies is most clearly represented by the two heroes of the conversion
movement, Olaf Tryggvason and Olaf Haraldsson of Norway.
Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar or The saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Although it can be suspected that much of the impetus for recording the lives of the Norwegian kings in
detail came from the development of the cult of saint Olaf Haraldsson (E70 ff.), it is now widely held that
the first individual king’s sagas which deserve the name were composed in Iceland for Olaf Tryggvason
(E60 ff.).
[B310] The earliest independent lives of Olaf Tryggvason were put together in the monastery of
Þingeyrar in Iceland around the end of the twelfth century. The life by Odd Snorrason is now only
preserved in an Old Norse translation of the Latin original. Text: F. Jónsson, Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar af
Oddr Snorrason munk (1932) [UL 752:34.d.90.14]. T.M. Andersson, ‘The first Icelandic King’s saga:
Oddr Snorrason’s Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar or the Oldest saga of Saint Olaf?’, JEGP 130:2 (2004), 147-
155. Odd’s prologue presents Olaf Tryggvason as fulfilling the role of John the baptist to Olaf
Haraldsson’s Christ, which can perhaps be seen as an attempt to justify the attention paid to him by
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