Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
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<strong>Scand<strong>in</strong>avian</strong> History <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>g Age<br />
Orig<strong>in</strong>s, composition, and transmission<br />
The vexed questions <strong>of</strong> how sagas were transmitted as oral narratives (roughly ‘freeprose’) or freely<br />
composed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> thirteenth century (roughly ‘bookprose’) have largely fallen out <strong>of</strong> debate on <strong>the</strong><br />
grounds that <strong>the</strong>y are effectively <strong>in</strong>soluble.<br />
[B365] K. Liestøl, The orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Icelandic family sagas, transl. A.G. Jayne, Institutt for<br />
sammenlignende kulturforskn<strong>in</strong>g A:10 (1930) [UL 499.b.39.13]<br />
[B366] W. Baetke, ‘Über die Entstehung der Isländersagas’, Berichten über die Verhandlungen der<br />
sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, philos.-historische Klasse 102:5 (1956), 1-108; a<br />
classic article<br />
[B367] E.Ó. Sve<strong>in</strong>sson, Dat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Icelandic sagas: an essay <strong>in</strong> method, transl. E.O.G. Turville-Petre,<br />
VSNR TS 3 (1958) [UL 752:1.d.2.3]<br />
[B368] T.M. Andersson, The problem <strong>of</strong> Icelandic saga orig<strong>in</strong>s: a historical survey, Yale Germanic<br />
studies 1 (1964) [UL 752:37.c.95.10]<br />
[B369] H.S. Joseph, ‘The þáttr and <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> saga orig<strong>in</strong>s’, ANF 87 (1972), 89-96<br />
[B370] H. Röhn, Untersuchungen zur Zeitgestaltung und Komposition der Íslend<strong>in</strong>gasögur, Beiträge zur<br />
nordischen Philologie 5 (1976) [UL 752:01.c.7.5]<br />
[B371] J. Kristjánsson, ‘The roots <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sagas’, (O42):183-200<br />
[B372] T. Danielsson, Om den isländska släktsagans uppbyggnad, Skrifter utgivna av Litteraturvetenskapliga<br />
<strong>in</strong>stitutionen vid Uppsala universitet 22 (1986) (E.s) [UL 700:01.b.1.22]<br />
[B373] A. Krist<strong>in</strong>son, ‘Lords and literature: <strong>the</strong> Icelandic sagas as political and social <strong>in</strong>struments’, SJH<br />
28:1 (2003), 1-17<br />
[B374] T. Túl<strong>in</strong>íus, The matter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> North: <strong>the</strong> rise <strong>of</strong> literary fiction <strong>in</strong> thirteenth-century Iceland, tr. R<br />
C. Eldevik. The Vik<strong>in</strong>g collection: studies <strong>in</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn civilization 13 (2002)<br />
The historicity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sagas<br />
Questions <strong>of</strong> ‘historicity’ are similarly difficult to tackle, but a particularly strik<strong>in</strong>g recent approach treats<br />
<strong>the</strong>m from a socio-anthropological perspective as expressions <strong>of</strong> ideals or mentality that can, to some<br />
degree at least, be considered timeless.<br />
[B375] G. Jones, ‘History and fiction <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sagas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Icelanders’, SBVS 13 (1946-53), 285-306<br />
[B376] S. Nordal, ‘The historical element <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Icelandic family sagas’, SI 10 (1959), 9-24<br />
[B377] V.W. Turner, ‘An anthropological approach to <strong>the</strong> Icelandic saga’, The translation <strong>of</strong> culture:<br />
essays to E.E. Evans-Pritchard, ed. T.O. Beidelman (1971), 349-74 [UL 460:2.c.95.129]<br />
[B378] J. Harris, ‘Saga as historical novel’, (O44):187-219<br />
[B379] P.M. Sørensen, ‘Historical reality and literary form’, (O72):172-81<br />
Cultural <strong>in</strong>fluences<br />
[B382] L. Lönnroth, European sources <strong>of</strong> Icelandic saga-writ<strong>in</strong>g: an essay based on previous studies<br />
(1965) [UL 9752.b.3]<br />
[B383] M. Chesnutt, ‘Popular and learned elements <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Icelandic saga tradition’, (A61a):28-65<br />
Collections and anthologies<br />
[B385] At least some versions <strong>of</strong> most family sagas are to be found <strong>in</strong> various large compilations <strong>in</strong> late<br />
mediaeval manuscripts. Strik<strong>in</strong>g examples are: V. F<strong>in</strong>sen et al., Hauksbók udgiven efter de<br />
arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4o, samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter (1892-96)<br />
[UL 752:34.c.85.45]; A. van Arkel, Möðruvallabók. AM 132 fol. I: Index and concordance. II: Text<br />
(1987) [UL 752:34.b.95.7]<br />
Modern editions<br />
Several <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Íslenzk fornrit series (B6) conta<strong>in</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> sagas from particular parts <strong>of</strong> Iceland:<br />
[B390] S. Nordal and G. Jónsson, Borgfirð<strong>in</strong>ga s²gur, ÍF 3 (1938) [UL 752:1.c.3.3]<br />
[B391] B.K. Þórólfsson and G. Jónsson, Vestfirð<strong>in</strong>ga s²gur, ÍF 6 (1943) [UL 752:1.c.3.6]<br />
[B392] J. Jóhannesson, Austfirð<strong>in</strong>ga s²gur, ÍF 11 (1950) [UL 752:1.c.3.11]<br />
[B393] J. Kristjánsson, Eyfirð<strong>in</strong>ga s²gur, ÍF 9 (1956) [UL 752:1.c.3.9]<br />
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