Anonymously written and transcribed from oral tales, the family sagas of Iceland are notoriously difficult texts to date. In this book, a host of contributors address the methodological problems inherent in dating the sagas, and in the process they offer insightful discussions on the saga form itself. Focusing on the several new written genres that developed in Iceland in the thirteenth century, they locate the dynamic position of the sagas at the intersection of oral and written traditions. In doing so, they highlight the crucial problems of philological research and the importance of accuracy in understanding literary history.
Author(s): Else Mundal (ed.)
Publisher: Museum Tusculanum Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: VI+218
City: Copenhagen
ELSE MUNDAL / Introduction 1
JÜRG GLAUSER / What Is Dated, and Why? Saga Dating in the Histories of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature 9
ELSE MUNDAL / The Dating of the Oldest Sagas about Early Icelanders 31
THEODORE M. ANDERSSON / Redating "Fóstbroeðra saga" 55
EMILY LETHBRIDGE / Dating the Sagas and Gísla saga Súrssonar 77
TORFI H. TULINIUS / Dating "Eyrbyggja saga": The Value of "Circumstantial" Evidence for Determining the Time of Composition of Sagas about Early Icelanders 115
JONNA LOUIS-JENSEN / Dating the Archetype: "Eyrbyggja saga" and "Egils saga Skallagrímssonar" 133
SLAVICA RANKOVIĆ / The Temporality of the (Immanent) Saga Tinkering with Formulas 149
GUÐRÚN NORDAL / Skaldic Citations and Settlement Stories as Parametres for Saga Dating 195
List of Contributors 213
Index 215
