The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180-1280)

by Theodore M. Andersson

Overview

In this eagerly awaited book, Theodore M. Andersson, a leading scholar of the Norse sagas, introduces readers to the development of the Icelandic sagas between 1180 and 1280, a crucial period that witnessed a gradual shift of emphasis from tales of adventure and personal distinction to the analysis of political and historical propositions. Beginning with the first full-length sagas and culminating in the acknowledged masterpiece Njáls saga, Andersson emphasizes a historical perspective, establishing a chronology for seventeen of the most important sagas and showing how they evolve thematically and stylistically over the century under study. He revisits the long-standing debate about the oral and literary components of the sagas by arguing that there is a clear progression from the somewhat mechanical gathering of oral lore in the early sagas to an increasingly tight and authorially controlled composition in the later sagas.

The early sagas—including The Legendary Saga of Saint Olaf and Odd Snorrason's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason—focus on conspicuous individuals and their memorable deeds; later works are more apt to formulate the abstract problems and ideas that preoccupied their authors. As the authors begin to impose their views on the inherited narratives, the sagas become more and more critical and self-conscious, to the point where Njáls saga may be considered not only to approximate a novel in our sense of the term but also to comment on the saga form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801444081
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	04/15/2006
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(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 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

	A Note on Orthography	vii
	Abbreviations	ix
	Introduction: The Prehistory of the Sagas	1
Chapter 1	From Hagiography to Hero: Odd Snorrason's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason	21
Chapter 2	Sanctifying a Viking Chieftain: The Oldest/Legendary Saga of Saint Olaf	43
Chapter 3	Creating Personalities: The Saga Age Icelanders	60
Chapter 4	Defining Political Identities: The Saga of King Magnus and King Harald	86
Chapter 5	Political Ambiguities: Egils saga Skallagrimssonar	102
Chapter 6	Turning Inward: Ljosvetninga saga	119
Chapter 7	Gilding an Age: Laxdoela saga	132
Chapter 8	Two Views of Icelandic History: Eyrbyggja saga and Vatnsdoela saga	150
Chapter 9	Pondering Justice: Hoensa-Poris saga, Bandamanna saga, and Hrafnkels saga	162
Chapter 10	Demythologizing the Tradition: Njals saga	183
	Epilogue	204
	Bibliography	211
	Index	227

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Theodore M. Andersson gathers various threads including oral tradition, Oláfs saga Tryggvasonar, Morkinskinna, and the Ljósvetninga saga into a culmination of his pursuit of the origins and development of the Icelandic sagas over the past forty years. This is a subject that somehow always seems fresh in Andersson's hands. I am very much impressed by how Andersson manages to convey to the reader some sense of the magic of the sagas. I particularly like his refreshing and somewhat daring new analysis of Njáls saga.

Roberta Frank

This strikingly original book by Theodore M. Andersson, who knows more about the craft of saga-writing in medieval Iceland than anyone else, crowns four decades of his writings on these extraordinary texts. From the first glittering appearance of sagas at the end of the twelfth century to the autumnal wisdom and bleakness of Njála a hundred years later, there is much here to surprise and delight.

William Ian Miller

There is no one in the field who combines so well the virtues of elegance, critical acumen, magisterial knowledge, and sheer love of the sagas. It was via Theodore M. Andersson's work that I was introduced to the sagas, and now, forty years later, in this splendid book, it is still Andersson who is teaching me how to read them. The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas has a strong claim to be his finest work and that is praise indeed.

Editorial Reviews

Theodore M. Andersson has a fair claim to being the most important North American voice in saga scholarship, and this book is a stimulating, thoroughly informed, insightful, and thoughtful account of a representative set of sagas.

Journal of English and Germanic Philology

The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280) is both useful and thought-provoking throughout. Andersson's style is succinct and engaging. He introduces a number of basic concepts, which are clearly and useful explained, while still finding room for some striking, original, and challenging arguments.

Saga-Book

The very fact that one is drawn to engage with Andersson's saga criticism is a great strength of this book—there has never been enough committed, opinionated (in the most positive sense), intelligent, informed, and personal close reading of saga text. It is easily the best account to date of the origins of saga narrative.

Modern Language Review

The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180-1280) is both useful and thought-provoking throughout. Andersson's style is succinct and engaging. He introduces a number of basic concepts, which are clearly and useful explained, while still finding room for some striking, original, and challenging arguments.

-- "Saga-Book"

The very fact that one is drawn to engage with Andersson's saga criticism is a great strength of this book--there has never been enough committed, opinionated (in the most positive sense), intelligent, informed, and personal close reading of saga text. It is easily the best account to date of the origins of saga narrative.

-- "Modern Language Review"

Theodore M. Andersson has a fair claim to being the most important North American voice in saga scholarship, and this book is a stimulating, thoroughly informed, insightful, and thoughtful account of a representative set of sagas.

-- "Journal of English and Germanic Philology"

From the Publisher