This study is an unorthodox approach to the origin, historicity, and authorship of the anonymous Icelandic sagas. Following the publication of her translation of the 'Laxdœla Saga', in this volume Madelung uses her deep knowledge of the text to demonstrate the literary quality and aesthetic structure of the work, especially the function of repetition. She shows that the Saga contains a historical-political analogy between the period in which the story is set (the eleventh century) and the saga-author's own time two centuries later. The apparently straightforward prose is camouflage, and the symbolism provides the key to the hidden analogy.
Author(s): A. Margaret Arent Madelung
Series: University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures, 74
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Year: 1972
Language: English
Pages: 274
City: Chapel Hill
Dedication
PREFACE
CONTENTS
Introduction
Problems of Saga Research
Previous Studies on 'Laxdœla saga'
Chapter I: Foreknowledge
The General Plan of the Saga
Dreams, Curses, Premonitions, and Prophecies
Anticipation in Retrospect
Chapter II: Repetition
Chapter III: Comparison: Parallels and Contrasts
Chapter IV: Triplets and Quadruplets: Contrapuntal Variation
The Parties
The Goadings
The Killings
The Drownings
The Sales of Land
Quadruplets
Chapter V: Recurrence
Literary Perspectives
The Historical Illusion
The Oral Heritage Re-evaluated
Written Sources
The Social and Moral Order
Destiny
The Characters
The Epic Base
The Dramatic Presentation
Style and Tone
Rhythm and Time
The Age of the Sturlungs: Authorship and Date of the Saga
Notes
Appendix I: Genealogical Tables
Appendix II: Manuscripts of 'Laxdœla saga' and Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of Topics and Concepts
Index of Personal Names
