HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

HIGH AND LATE MEDIEVAL NATIONAL HISTORIOGRAPHY 197in 1177, 61 one should mention above all the major historiographicwork of the politically and literarily most significant personality ofmedieval Iceland, Snorri Sturluson (1178/79–1241), 62 who stood inclose relation to King Hakon IV of Norway and his jarl Skúli. Inthe 1220s, he wrote a Norwegian history, which is known asHeimskringla, 63 after the introductory words of the text Kringla heimsis(“the circle of the world”). The depiction, which is exemplary for itsobvious concern for objectivity and withholding judgment, consistsof sixteen individual sagas, with the focal point being the depictionof the life of Olaf the Holy (Óláfs saga Helga). In contrast to the otherkings’ sagas, this one depicts—in the Ynglinga saga—the legendaryearly history of the Norwegian kings as well and ends accordinglyat 1177.The heyday of the Danish empire in the so-called Valdemar periodunder Knut VI (1182–1202) and Waldemar II (1202–41) was theperiod in which the blueprints of Danish national historical thoughtwere formulated. 64 The first sketch, written around 1185, stems froman author hardly identifiable as an individual, Sven Aggesen, nephewof the former archbishop Eskil of Lund (1137–77, †1181/82). HisBrevis Historia regum Dacie 65 depicts the history of legendary ancestorsof the Danish kings Skjold (sic) to the year 1185. The circumstancesof the writing are not completely clear; he himself complains in theforeword that he has not yet found any compilations of the individualkings.Equally unclear is the identity of the most significant medievalDanish historian. Saxo (†after 1202/08), who later received the epithetGrammaticus, was a cleric at the court of Archbishop Absalonof Lund (1178–1201) and his successor Andrew Suneson (1202–28)61Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sogum, in Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sogum. Fagrskinn—Nóregskonunga tal, ed. B. Einarsson, Íslenzk fornrit 29 (Reykjavík, 1985), 1–54; andFagrskinna–Nóregs konunga tal, ibid., 55–373.62See Ciklamini (1978); Fix, ed. (1998).63Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, 3 vols., ed. B. Adalbjarnarson, Íslenzk fornrit 26(Reykjavík, 1941–51); Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla. History of the Kings of Norway,trans. L. M. Hollander (Austin, Texas, 1995). See also Bagge (1990) and (1991).64For an overview of medieval Danish historiography, see Jørgensen (1931);Damshold (1992).65Svenonis Aggonis filii Brevis Historia regum Dacie, in SS hist. Dan. 1 (1917/18),94–141. In Danish: Sven Aggesøns historiske skrifter. Oversatte efter den paa grundlag af CodexArnæmagnæanus 33, 4 to restituerede text by M. Cl. Gertz (Copenhagen, 1916/17; repr.1967). See also Sawyer (1985).