The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)
The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) is a study of the genesis of Old Icelandic prose literature from its roots in oral tradition to the compilation of key early sagas at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Theodore M. Andersson devotes special attention to the Icelandic sagas (kings' sagas or konungasögur) that narrate the careers of Norwegian kings, Óláfr Tryggvason and Óláfr Haraldsson prominent among them.

The author considers the "self-consciously Icelandic filter" that balances Icelanders' perception of Norwegian kings and Icelandic protagonists. He also treats the volatile balance of power between the monarch and the jarls of Norway that permeates the narrative of a now-lost *Hlaðajarla saga, whose traces are evident in the major compilations Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna.

Five of the book's chapters are revisions of previously published papers. The final two chapters carry the discussion of textual interrelationships in the kings' sagas to somewhat later Icelandic native sagas (slendingasögur) originating in the north and the west of the country.

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The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)
The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) is a study of the genesis of Old Icelandic prose literature from its roots in oral tradition to the compilation of key early sagas at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Theodore M. Andersson devotes special attention to the Icelandic sagas (kings' sagas or konungasögur) that narrate the careers of Norwegian kings, Óláfr Tryggvason and Óláfr Haraldsson prominent among them.

The author considers the "self-consciously Icelandic filter" that balances Icelanders' perception of Norwegian kings and Icelandic protagonists. He also treats the volatile balance of power between the monarch and the jarls of Norway that permeates the narrative of a now-lost *Hlaðajarla saga, whose traces are evident in the major compilations Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna.

Five of the book's chapters are revisions of previously published papers. The final two chapters carry the discussion of textual interrelationships in the kings' sagas to somewhat later Icelandic native sagas (slendingasögur) originating in the north and the west of the country.

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The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)

by Theodore M. Andersson
The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200-1250)

by Theodore M. Andersson

Overview

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) is a study of the genesis of Old Icelandic prose literature from its roots in oral tradition to the compilation of key early sagas at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Theodore M. Andersson devotes special attention to the Icelandic sagas (kings' sagas or konungasögur) that narrate the careers of Norwegian kings, Óláfr Tryggvason and Óláfr Haraldsson prominent among them.

The author considers the "self-consciously Icelandic filter" that balances Icelanders' perception of Norwegian kings and Icelandic protagonists. He also treats the volatile balance of power between the monarch and the jarls of Norway that permeates the narrative of a now-lost *Hlaðajarla saga, whose traces are evident in the major compilations Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna.

Five of the book's chapters are revisions of previously published papers. The final two chapters carry the discussion of textual interrelationships in the kings' sagas to somewhat later Icelandic native sagas (slendingasögur) originating in the north and the west of the country.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780935995145
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 09/15/2012
Series: Islandica , #55
Pages: 238
Product dimensions: 9.00(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Theodore M. Andersson is Professor of Germanic Studies Emeritus at Indiana University. He is the author of several books, including The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130–1265),The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250), Early Epic Scenery: Homer, Virgil, and the Medieval Legacy and The Legend of Brynhild; translator of The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason; and cotranslator, with Kari Ellen Gade, of "Morkinskinna": The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030–1157), all from Cornell.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Abbreviations ix

Chapter 1 The Oral Prelude to Saga Writing 1

Chapter 2 The Prehistory of the Kings' Sagas 35

Chapter 3 The First Written Sagas of Kings and Chieftains 45

Chapter 4 Sources and Attitudes in Óáfs saga helga in Heimskringla 83

Chapter 5 Political Subtexts in Morkinskinna, Heimskringla III, and Egils saga 119

Chapter 6 Domestic Politics in Northern Iceland 143

Chapter 7 Warrior Poets in the Northwest 171

Epilogue 189

Notes 197

Sources for the Present Volume 213

Bibliography 215

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