History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North/Part 1/Chapter 1
HISTORY
OF THE
LITERATURE OF THE SCANDINAVIAN NORTH.
CHAPTER I.
OLD NORSE LITERATURE.
IT cannot be stated with certainty at what time that branch of the Teutonic race, from which the present inhabitants of the North are descended, immigrated to the Scandinavian countries, but we are not far from the truth, when we assume that the event took place near the time of the birth of Christ. About this time the bronze age seems to be succeeded by the iron age in the North, and in all probability the ancestors of the present inhabitants of Scandinavia brought the use of iron with them, though they may possibly on their arrival have found kindred peoples who had come there still earlier. Not until some time after the beginning of the iron age, that is to say, a few centuries after the birth of Christ, do we find in the North the art of phonetic writing, the runes, which according to the most recent investigations[1] are derived from the Latin alphabet, and were in their older form known to the whole Teutonic race, while the later runes, which first appear in the younger iron age (that is from the beginning of the eighth century), and which, in spite of the essential differences between these and the older ones, must have developed out of the latter, are never found outside of the Scandinavian countries.[2] Not until after the introduction of Christianity do we find a written literature in the North, and before that time the written monuments consist exclusively in rune-stones and other objects carved with runes, such as weapons, ornaments, etc. Despite the scarcity of these inscriptions, the excellent philologists who in later times have devoted themselves with indefatigable zeal to the study of runes, and of whom we would particularly mention the Norwegian, Sophus Bugge, and the Dane, L. Wimmer, have secured important results; they have gradually succeeded in interpreting them, and thus they have laid a firm foundation for investigating the origin and development of the ancient language of the North. It may now be assumed as an established principle that there was an uninterrupted linguistic development throughout the whole iron age, and that the Old Norse tongue, on its first appearance as such, was intimately related to the languages spoken by the Goths, Germans and Scandinavians. In the course of the development, as can be demonstrated by the runic inscriptions, the Norse language (anciently styled "dönsk tunga") took a decided direction of its own, and became separated from the kindred Teutonic tongues, and finally differences arose within that language itself, which can easily be discerned as soon as we enter the field of literature proper; for here we find Old Norwegian, Old Swedish, and Old Danish distinctly separated, though the differences are but slight in the beginning.
The history of the Scandinavian countries does not really begin before the time when Christianity, with steadily increasing power, found its way beyond the borders of the North, that is to say, about the beginning of the ninth century. Of the prevailing culture before that time, our estimate must be based on merely general outlines. Meanwhile the zealous and successful studies which have been carried on during the past fifty years by eminent scholars in all the three Scandinavian lands, in every branch of antiquities, have produced results which have constantly increased the sharpness of those general outlines, and long since greatly modified the old theory that the ancient inhabitants of the North were nothing but rude barbarians. We now know that they were not only a warlike race, whose male members toward the end of the olden time, in the capacity of dreaded vikings, undertook expeditions in the North and far beyond its borders, seeking battle and booty, but that same mythology, which gives us so vivid a picture of this side of their character, also ascribes to them a high rank in intelligence and morality, and reveals a most weird and profound interpretation of the world and the things about them; and, moreover, the countless finds from the iron age which have turned up in every part of the whole North testify not only that they appreciated feats of arms, but also that they knew in their way how to make life beautiful. In short, we know that throughout the whole iron age, in spite of all influences unlike those operating in the South, there prevailed a high state of culture, and the many traditions and songs from the various districts of the North, which, although they were not committed to writing until after the introduction of Christianity, still belong to a hoary antiquity, afford ample testimony that the spirit was wide awake in the ancestors of the present inhabitants of the North, and that they were not merely cruel vikings.
The Old Norse literature found its real home in Iceland. In Norway, too, some beautiful buds were produced, but, however important these may be in other respects, they have but little value in a literary point of view as compared with the splendid blossoms that unfolded themselves in that distant island, whose inhabitants even to this day have preserved with loving tenderness the memory of their forefathers. The reason why Iceland, which was destitute of inhabitants at the time of its discovery, about the middle of the ninth century, became so rapidly settled and secured so eminent a position in the world's history and literature, must be sought in the events which took place in Norway at the time when Harald Hárfagri (Fairhair), after a long and obstinate resistance, succeeded in usurping the monarchical power. Many of the powerful men, who hitherto had lived as independent kinglets at their courts, could not and would not submit to the new order of things which the monarch introduced with unrelenting severity. They would rather leave their country than voluntarily recognize him as their superior. They could the more easily accommodate themselves to the seeking of a new fatherland, since the bonds that tied them to the old had already been made more and more loose by the viking expeditions; for these expeditions, which were originally limited to excursions for the purpose of bringing home fee and fame, had gradually assumed a new character. The vikings went abroad to settle in foreign lands, and there they exercised an important influence upon the whole culture of the middle ages, supplying the enfeebled peoples of western Europe with new elements of strength. They became the leaders in all directions, not only in war and politics, but also in art and literature. A general spirit of migration had taken possession of the inhabitants of the North. While the Danes especially directed their expeditions to England and France, where they at once founded cities and kingdoms, the Norwegians went chiefly to Ireland, Scotland, and to the islands north of Great Britain. But the country, which above all attracted them, when they abandoned Norway to found new homes, was Iceland.
In the course of sixty years, from 874 to 934, that is, during the so-called "land-taking period,[3] the island became so densely settled, that it never since has had a larger population. The people who emigrated to Iceland were for the most part the flower of the nation. They went especially from the west coast of Norway, where the peculiar Norse spirit had been most perfectly developed. Men of the noblest birth in Norway set out with their families and followers to find a home where they might be as free and independent as their fathers had been before them. No wonder then that they took with them the cream of the ancient culture of the fatherland.
In the beginning the circumstances naturally led to the formation of a number of small, perfectly independent communities. Each chief could take land wherever he found it unoccupied. He could divide it among his subjects as he saw fit, and he could upon the whole arrange his matters as he pleased. Out of this patriarchal condition of society there was soon, however, developed a system of laws and institutions that were adopted and approved by all, and therefore binding throughout the country. These laws and institutions were somewhat strict in regard to forms and technicalities, but still they secured to the individual a large measure of freedom. The small communities, which originally were isolated and absolutely independent of one another, soon found it necessary to unite themselves into colonies, with common seats of justice. Then again several colonies would unite in establishing a higher court, and finally in the year 930 the Althing was organized. This was a common parliament for the whole island, and it became the heart and centre of the Icelandic republic. These political institutions were admirably calculated to preserve the love of individual liberty and the sense of personal dignity, which noble-born settlers from Norway had brought with them, but they also contained in them the germs of the fall of the republic, since they afforded no protection against the constantly increasing efforts on the part of a few powerful and influential families to get the management of affairs into their own hands. The result was that the country wasted its strength in bloody feuds, so that the kings of Norway, who already in the beginning of the republic had contemplated the subjugation of the island, at length succeeded in accomplishing their purpose, and in 1263 Iceland was conquered and made tributary to the crown of Norway.
At the time of the first settlement of the island, and for a long time subsequently, the asa-faith nourished almost wholly unmolested throughout the North. To be sure, Christianity had been preached in Denmark and Sweden, especially by Ansgar, the "apostle of the North," who died in 865, and, in Norway, Hakon, Harold Fairhair's youngest son, the foster-child of Athelstan in England, had tried to introduce it, but still it took a long time to root out the old faith. The Christian religion cannot be said to have been established in Denmark before the reign of Knut the Great (1018–1035), and still later in Sweden, in the rule of Saint Erik (about 1150), while in Norway the founders of Christianity were Olaf Trygvason (995–1000) and Saint Olaf (1015–1028). In Iceland the introduction of Christianity was comparatively easy, it being preached there by natives, although the island had previously been visited by foreign missionaries, such as Bishop Frederick from Saxony and Priest Thangbrand from Bremen. In the year 1000 Christianity was formally adopted at the Althing. It did not take long for it to become tolerably well rooted in the country, and this was accomplished without those unfortunate results which almost everywhere else attended the introduction of the new doctrine and the corresponding changes in customs and beliefs. There did not spring up in Iceland as elsewhere, indifference toward, or what is worse, a fanatical hatred of, the monuments which the intellectual life of their ancestors had reared. To these circumstances we are indebted for the countless treasures of antiquity preserved to us by the Icelanders, and these treasures we are now prepared to examine.
What in other countries contributed most to repress the popular and national element in connection with the introduction of Christianity, was the circumstance that all work pertaining to the culture, education and spiritual welfare of the people was left largely, nay we might say exclusively, to the priest. In the eyes of the monks and the priests everything that suggested the heathen faith came as a rule from the devil's workshop, and even that which did not bear the stamp of heathenism was of but slight importance to them, as compared with that which monopolized their attention—the faith and the establishment of the church. In Iceland, where the priests also secured a considerable, though by no means a decisive, influence on the development of literature, many things contributed toward giving matters a different direction. Here there was no wall separating the priests from the people, or at least it was not so apparent. For a wide-awake people, occupying at the time of the introduction of Christianity a high place in culture, it was not necessary to look to foreigners for the nucleus of a national priesthood. The sons of the island were capable of filling the sacerdotal offices, though bishops of foreign birth were at first appointed to superintend the affairs of the church. In heathen times the position of chief and that of priest were intimately associated, and this system continued to prevail after the adoption of Christianity. Just as the chief had formerly been at the same time arbiter of all disputes and priest of Odin at the temple which he himself or his ancestors had built on his homestead, and around which his followers gathered, so he now erected a church and received ordination. And even after this relation ceased to exist, the bond between the ecclesiastical and civil government was not broken, for the chief retained the patronage of his own church. But not only the priests were chosen from among the people. Natives soon became bishops also, whose worldly influence already in those early days was of great importance, since they were not only prelates, but at the same time highly esteemed and powerful chiefs. The first native-born bishop of Iceland, Isleif, who had received his education and priestly ordination in the convent school at Herford in Westphalia, and who, at the instigation of his countrymen, complaining that they did not have a bishop of their own, in the fiftieth year of his age, A.D. 1056, accepted this office, also retained his position as peasant and chief, and of his son and successor, Gissur, it is expressly stated that he was at once bishop and king.
Bishop Gissur completed the task of organizing the ecclesiastical affairs in Iceland. The tithe was introduced, and as it is characteristic of the general condition of affairs under his management, it deserves to be especially pointed out that this tax, which usually has been so unpopular, was collected by him without the least opposition. Theological schools and cloisters were established. In short, none of the ecclesiastical institutions were wanting in Iceland—with the exception, indeed, of one very important one, that of celibacy—but they were all of a character wholly different from that of the corresponding institutions in other countries, and the priestly spirit of caste was never developed.
In regard to the literature of Iceland, it must be admitted that the priests took a conspicuous part in the intellectual development of the people and that they were in possession of no inconsiderable amount of culture for that time, but they were not the only people of culture. Toward the end of the eleventh century it is expressly stated that many of the chiefs were so learned that they with perfect propriety might have been ordained to the priesthood, and in the twelfth century there were, in addition to those to be found in the cloisters, several private libraries in the island. On the other hand, secular culture, knowledge of law and history, and of the skaldic art were, so to speak, common property. And thus, when the means for committing a literature to writing were at hand, the highly developed popular taste for history gave the literature the direction which it afterward maintained. The fact is, there really existed a whole literature, which was merely waiting to be put in writing. There existed a choice collection of unwritten books, which partly had accumulated since the first settlement of the island, and partly had been brought over the sea from the mother-country, and of which the contents, so far as every important feature is concerned, were faithfully preserved by oral tradition, while doubtless the form had undergone many changes, as is natural when anything is handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
Many causes contributed toward making the Icelanders preëminently a historical people. The settlers were men of noble birth, who were proud to trace their descent from kings and heroes of antiquity, nay, even from the gods themselves, and we do not therefore wonder that they assiduously preserved the memory of the deeds of their forefathers. But in their minds was developed not only a taste for the sagas of the past; the present also received its full share of attention. The many small, isolated communities, in which life presented so much of common interest and welfare; the many mutual contests and feuds, which of necessity soon sprang up between these proud, ambitious and warlike men, and which rapidly spread from the individual to the family, naturally enough led to the preservation of the memory both of the events and of the persons concerned. Furthermore, as life was necessarily very monotonous in those isolated valleys of Iceland, people would be eagerly inquiring for news, when they met at the courts, at banquets, at merry-makings, etc. The news gathered was preserved, and whatever was recited as song or saga tenaciously retained its original form and was related by one generation to the other, either during the long winter evenings or whenever the proper opportunity presented itself. Nor did they interest themselves for and remember the events that took place in Iceland only. Reports from foreign lands also found a most hearty welcome, and the Icelanders had abundant opportunity of satisfying their thirst for knowledge in this direction. As vikings, as merchants, as courtiers and especially as skalds acompanying kings and other distinguished persons, and also as varagians in Constantinople, many of them found splendid opportunities of visiting foreign countries. They took active part in many things, and gained information in regard to others of which we would now know little or nothing, had not the tales which they told on their return to Iceland to their eagerly listening countrymen been faithfully remembered and later committed to writing.
Such were then the conditions and circumstances which produced that remarkable development of the historical taste with which the people were endowed, and made Iceland the home of the saga.
We are now prepared to consider this remarkable literature itself, and shall give our first attention to the old poetry, the origin of which must doubtless be sought far back in the prehistoric times, and which therefore we must especially regard as a common inheritance of the North.
The poems to which we here refer are preserved in the collection well known by the name of the Elder Edda[4] or Sæmund's Edda (Edda Sæmundar hins froða). The old parchment (Codex Regius) of the Elder Edda appears to have been written about the year 1300, and came to Denmark in the middle of the seventeenth century as a present from the Icelandic bishop Brynjulf Sveinsson to King Frederick the Third. At that time, and for a long time afterward, it was believed that the author of the work was the Icelander Sæmund, who, on account of his learning, was surnamed hinn fróði, that is the wise or learned, and from him it took its name. The fact that Sæmund, however, has had nothing to do with the work is evident for many reasons, and the most hasty glance at it shows that it is not the production of a single author, but that several persons must have had a share in its composition. The collection of poems was ascribed to Sæmund simply for the reason that it was impossible to think of any other person to whom could be traced the authorship of this book, the great value of which was early recognized and which contained in itself no clue to its origin, than that Icelander, who was celebrated for his knowledge of antiquities, to whom both his contemporaries and posterity looked up with superstitious awe, and with whose name they connected so many wonderful tales, for instance that he had studied the black art, etc.
The lays of the Elder Edda, in reference to the form of which we shall return later, naturally divide themselves into two groups, a mythic and a heroic, into poems that treat of ancient gods and poems on the heroes of antiquity. In the first group, the Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Vala, vala—prophetess) is especially to be noted. It is a series of majestic, grand and poetic pictures of the cardinal features of Norse mythology, beginning with the creation and ending with the destruction and regeneration of the world. It is a great pity that only fragments of this remarkable poem have been preserved. Important sources of knowledge in regard to the details of the mythology are also Vafthrudnismál, Grimnismál and Alvismál, which seem to have been composed more particularly for the purpose of aiding the memory in retaining the mythological facts, while their poetic merit is of secondary importance. In a remarkably successful manner both these features are united in the very ironical poem called Lokasenna, the song on Æger's banquet, where Loke, the representative of the evil principle among the asas, enters into a discussion with all the gods and goddesses and says many hard things to them and about them. Very satirical is also the poem Hárbarðsljoð, a dialogue between Thor and Odin, who disguised persuades Thor to describe his achivements in such a manner that he puts himself in a very comical light as a vain and boasting fool. In contrast with these two poems, which evidently owe their origin to an age when the faith in the older gods had been changed into contempt, we must call attention to the gem among all the humorous lays in the Elder Edda, the splendid poem about Thrym. This magnificent and humorous poem about Thrym describes in vivid colors and in a most amusing manner how Thor gets back his hammer Mjolner, which the giant Thrym had stolen and concealed deep in the earth. Only on the condition that Freyja becomes his bride, will the giant give back the hammer, and the goddess refusing to consent to this, Thor himself disguised as a woman with Loke as his maid servant, proceeds to the land of the giants, where Thor as Thrym's bride recovers his hammer and with it destroys him and all his race. As a poem remarkable for its great lyric beauty and glowingly passionate style we may mention the lay of Skirner, Frey's servant, who rides to Jotunheim and brings the beloved Gerd back as his master's bride. A peculiar position in the Elder Edda is occupied by the poem Hávamál (The song of the high one). It is a didactic poem or rather fragments of a series of such poems, in which in terse, vigorous sentences a number of maxims of life and rules of conduct are presented, which furnish us a most interesting glimpse of the moral code and ethical principles of the ancient inhabitants of the North.
The remarkable poem, Rigsmál, on Heimdal, in which this divinity is described as the originator of the different classes of society, is not found in the manuscripts of the Elder Edda (it is preserved in the so-called Codex Wormianus of the Younger or Snorre's Edda), but its whole character shows that it belongs there, and the same is true of another poem which is not found in the manuscripts of the Elder Edda, namely, the mythic-genealogical lay called Hyndluljóð. Both of these occupy a position about midway between the mythic and the heroic poems. To the heroic group belongs the beautiful poem on the skilful Smith, Volund (Völundarkviða), the Dædalos of the North; the Grottasöngr found in Snorre's Edda, telling of the giant women Fenja and Menja, who ground gold for King Frode; and a series of poems for which the material has been taken from the traditions about the Volsungs. Here we find a number of characters described with remarkable vigor; men like Helge, the slayer of Hunding, and Sigurd, the slayer of Fafner; women like Sigrun, Brynhild and Gudrun; and many of these poems will always rank among the noblest contributions ever made to the literature of the world. We may mention as examples the second song of Helge, the slayer of Hunding, and the first song of Gudrun. These poems are based on the same traditions as the Niebelungen Lay. While the latter, however, has been materially modified as to form and contents by the later Christian culture, whereby its poetical merit has been greatly damaged, the story has in the Old Norse poetical version preserved all its original grandeur and heathen spirit.[5] In addition to the heroic songs which we find in the Edda, there doubtless existed many others of a similar character. A few of these, like the Krákumál on the achievements of Ragnar Lodbrok, which belong to a considerably later date, have come down to us in their original form, while others, like for example the old Bjarkamál, have been preserved only in fragments, while still others have been remodelled into prose stories, which, however, contain more or less extended fragments of the original poems. Finally there are some, which have been preserved only in the form of ancient traditions, as for instance in Saxo's Chronicle of Denmark.
Like their kinsmen, the Germans, the inhabitants of the North have doubtless at an early age practised the art of poetry, and given expression to their memories of the past, and to that which moved the hearts of the people, in songs, which we presume were particularly heard in the courts of the kings and in the halls of the nobles. At the dawn of historical times we find the skalds practising their art everywhere in the North. Wherever the "dönsk tunga" was spoken, they were received with great friendship and honor. Many ancient traditions, in regard to which there can be no doubt that they formed the subject of songs in remote prehistoric times, have been rediscovered not only in Iceland, or in Norway, but also in other parts of the North. Thus we have, for instance, distinct evidence that Volsung traditions were known in Sweden, in the deeply interesting pictorial representations of it on two characteristic Swedish runic monuments, which date from the close of the tenth or from the first half of the eleventh century.[6] Many traditions of this kind are also preserved by Saxo in his Chronicle of Denmark, some of which are purely Danish, connected with Danish localities, and found only in that country; while others differ in the manner in which they are related from the form in which they have been recorded in Iceland. But in this connection we must bear in mind, that since many Icelandic manuscripts have doubtless been lost, and as those which we possess frequently have numerous discrepancies, there is a possibility that old traditions, which now are found only in Saxo, or which have been preserved in his chronicle in a special variation, may have been recorded in Iceland in manuscripts which have been lost, and even in the same form in which we read them in Saxo's work. Though it can not be demonstrated with absolute certainty that Saxo knew and used especially old Danish songs, still the probability of this is very great. It is also more than probable, that the poetry of which we have fragments in the Elder Edda, was not confined to Norway and Iceland, but also known in Denmark and Sweden, where we find it, precisely as in Norway, cropping out in the popular literature of the middle ages, in a Christian and romantic garb it is true, but with unmistakable marks of its heathen origin. The oldest Norse poets, of whom we have tolerably satisfactory knowledge, display in their productions much of that simple but grand spirit which is so conspicuous in the songs of the Edda, a character quite the opposite of the peculiar affectation, which the later development of skaldship assumed. When we, therefore, consider that within the group of Edda-poems itself it is easy to point out, relatively speaking, older and younger lays, poems, on the one hand, which by their very spirit and accent betray the fact that they belong to the restless, bloody age of the vikings, and poems, on the other hand, which bear testimony of an earlier and more refined culture; then all this seems to indicate that in these old songs we have only a few remnants of a poetry, which in an early age resounded throughout the North, and that we do not with, perhaps, the single exception of the Völuspá, know all these glorious songs that have come down to us, as they were in the period of their full bloom, but only from the time when they had begun to decay. It is difficult at present to form any conception of how extensive in quantity this poetic literature must have been. The fact is, that this whole countless number of Norse traditions are the themes of so many separate songs. Of these traditions, a part have come down to us in a tolerably well-preserved condition; others we are able to recognize only from faint outlines; and of others again scarcely more than the name remains. It would lead us too far away from our purpose if we should undertake to prove that all the myths and traditions of the North are based on ancient poems, but the correctness of the statement is admitted by all scholars, and this being granted, it follows that Old Norse poetry must have been extraordinarily extensive in quantity. By way of example we may mention that in that old book on the art of poetry, the work generally known as the Younger or Snorre's Edda, and in regard to which we shall have something to say later, there is found a long series of stanzas which contains a catalogue of names and other words employed in poetry. Concerning the names of sea-kings here enumerated, the learned Norwegian linguist and antiquarian Sophus Bugge remarks: "When we look at this multitude of names of old sea-kings, they seem to us like a field thickly covered with monuments. In regard to some of them, we have songs and traditions, and this must once have been the case with all of them. History seems now to have forgotten the most of them, and the empty names remain to bear witness of the multitude of the songs that have ceased to speak." Of such groups, and also of isolated "memorial stones," there, however, are a great number, and we can only say of them, that they are so many insulated evidences of ancient poems that have been lost.
There has been much dispute in regard to the literary title to what remains of the Edda. On the basis of the fact that the Edda-poems were recorded in Iceland, that is to say in a country settled from Norway, the claim has been set up that they are especially a Norwegian inheritance. Against this view no real objection can be made, when it is understood that the statement is to be applied chiefly to the form in which the poems were recorded in the thirteenth century. But the question becomes a widely different one, when we, as we of necessity must, look upon them as a link of a great chain. Then the form in which they were written down, becomes a merely accidental circumstance, while the main fact remains, that the songs, of which the Edda-poems give us a few fragments, are the true expression of the popular spirit of the North, which revealed itself around the lakes of Sweden and on the flat fields of Denmark, in the same manner as among the mountains of Norway.[7]
If any single country is to be claimed as the special home of these poems, Denmark would seem to be chiefly entitled to this honor, where Saxo in all probability reaped his richest harvest of myths, traditions, and poems, the original character of which is clearly noticeable in his elegant Latin translation, and which to a great extent treat of the same subjects as the poems recorded by the Icelanders, while the majority of them relate to Denmark. This assumption is also supported by the fact that according to the incontrovertible testimony of Northern antiquities, there existed in the middle iron age a rich and varied culture in Denmark, in that very time to which doubtless the bloom of Norse poetry is to be referred. Denmark is, upon the whole, throughout antiquity the one of northern countries, which seems to have acted the most conspicuous part at least in the field of culture, since the waves and movements that passed over the North proceeded from Denmark, or at least reached this country first.
The looking for a definite spot in the North as the original home of these mythic-heroic poems is, however, very unprofitable work. We get a far more attractive and interesting picture when we turn our eyes beyond the borders of Scandinavia and consider the Elder Edda in connection with the poetry of kindred nations. It then becomes evident that the Edda-literature in its nature and origin belongs to the whole Teutonic race. In Germany we recognize it in comparatively modern and greatly degenerated forms, especially in the Niebelungen Lay. Among the Anglo-Saxons we hear its accents in the Beowulf poem and in the oldest Christian songs. In the North, where we, in connection with various peculiarly Norse conceptions, find in part the same themes as among the Germans and Anglo-Saxons, the Edda-poetry has preserved a far more original character, and here it appears in a specifically Norse dress. In its common basis, however, it points back to a time when no difference had been developed between Scandinavians and Germans.
While the Edda-poems, therefore, originated in prehistoric times, and while their authors are unknown, we have from a later period, reaching far down into the mediæval times, knowledge of a number of poets, of which the oldest are of Norwegian, and the later ones chiefly of Icelandic descent; but the productions of these are widely different from the songs of the Edda.
The oldest Norwegian skalds, like Starkad and Brage the Old, are enveloped in mythic darkness, but already, in the time of Harald Fairhair (872–930), the song-smiths of the Scandinavian North appear as thoroughly historical personages. In Iceland the art of poetry was held in high honor, and it was cultivated not only by the professional skalds, but also by others when the occasion presented itself, and many a passage is preserved, which owes its existence to the inspiration of the moment. The art of improvising was the more easy, since more stress was laid on skill and practice than on real poetic merit. The themes of the poems were of course of great variety. They would treat of love, of the sorrow over the death of a relative or friend, and of events of every other description; but the most of them are composed in glorification of some distinguished individual, in whose presence the skald himself, as a rule, recited his poem, or they were hymns in praise of some departed king or chieftain. All poems and songs of this class were distinguished by the name drapa.[8]
When the Icelander had arrived at the age of maturity, he longed to travel in foreign lands. As a skald he would then visit foreign kings and other noblemen, where he would receive a most hearty welcome. He became their follower, and was liberally rewarded for the songs which he sang in their praise. The skalds especially resorted to Norway, but they also came to Denmark and Sweden; and, even to England; nay, to wherever the "dönsk tunga" was understood, and they everywhere found a cordial welcome and attentive ears.
These Icelandic skalds became a very significant factor in the literary development of the North during the greater part of the middle ages. For the skald it was necessary to possess a full knowledge of the achievements of the chieftains who were to be celebrated in his songs. Not unfrefrequently he had himself had a share in the deeds, but at all events he was obliged to secure reliable information, for, as Are Thorgilsson says in his preface[9] to his Book of Kings (Konanga-bók) in defence of the authority of the poems as sources of history: "We admit that it was customary for the skalds to praise him in whose presence they recited their poems, but no one would venture to ascribe to him to his face the honor of deeds performed, if those present, and especially himself, knew it to be mere falsehood and flattery. This would be mockery and not praise." The most of the sagas accordingly give frequent quotations from the skalds in support of the narration, and doubtless many facts owe their preservation solely to the circumstance that the memory had the aid of such poems. And thus the step from the skald to the saga-teller was a short one. When these Icelanders, who were at once poets and warriors, and who had visited so many foreign lands, returned to their native island again, what stories must they not have had to tell! And with what eagerness must not their recitals of their own experiences, and of what they had heard abroad, have been listened to by their attentive hearers, of whom many knew the persons and circumstances described! The new reports were faithfully stored away in their memories, and thus the skalds contributed much to increase the historical materials which gradually were collected and embodied in the written sagas.
In another respect, also, the skalds are entitled to our gratitude. Without their aid the major part of that which the songs and sagas tell of the real antiquities of the North would scarcely have come down to us. The art of the skalds was a very difficult one, even though it could be practised with considerable success by persons who were not born poets, and if the best effect was to be produced, a vast amount of special education was necessary. Now it fortunately so happened that the principal part of their education consisted in a knowledge of the old mythology, and of the old heroic traditions. Among the many rules which fettered the poetry in the skaldic age was one which called for the use of artificial paraphrases, and the material for these was to a great extent taken from the old heathen sagas and songs.
Christianity wrought no change in this respect, for the skaldic art was so to speak perfectly developed, before the former was introduced, and had to that degree become a part of the whole culture of the people, that the idea of giving it up or changing its form and character could not be thought of. Hence we see the skalds to the very last applying metaphors and figures borrowed from heathen fields of thought, even to Christian productions, and it was, therefore, absolutely necessary to preserve the memory of the heathen traditions. It is not at all improbable that the Elder Edda was collected in part for this purpose, and of the Younger Edda, which furnishes important contributions especially to the knowledge of mythology, this can be affirmed with certainty.
The Younger Edda, or Snorre's Edda (Edda Snorra Sturlasonar), as it is also called, because its authorship has been ascribed to Snorre Sturlason, is a work composed at different times by different persons, for the purpose of serving as a hand-book for skalds. It contains in the first place a general synopsis of the asa-faith in two parts; one greater, called Gylfaginning (The Fooling of Gylfe); and one lesser, called Bragarædur (Brage's Speech). Then follows Skáldskaparmál (the art of poetry), in which we find a collection of the various kinds of characteristic paraphrases, etc., used by the skalds, with stanzas of poems quoted by way of illustration. How much of these three divisions owe their origin to Snorre has not been determined. On the other hand, it is quite certain that he is the author of the fourth division of the work, the so-called Háttatal (Enumeration of Metres, a sort of Clavis Metrica), which is a treatise on the various metres employed in Old Norse poetry. To these four divisions there are added as an appendix four additional chapters on grammatical and rhetorical subjects. The author of the first grammatical work ever produced in Iceland, was as is generally and not without reason supposed, one Thorodd, surnamed Runemaster, i.e., the Grammarian, who lived in about the middle of the twelfth century, and the third chapter of the appendix is doubtless written by the Icelander, Olaf Thordsson Hvitaskald (the white-haired skald), the nephew of Snorre, a scholar, who spent some time at the court of Valdemar the Victorious, who ruled Denmark from 1202 to 1241.[10]
It may not be improper to dwell for a few moments on the form of Old Norse poetry. A leading characteristic, and one which the Edda lays possess in common with the later poems, and which we find in all the oldest remnants of the poetry of the Teutonic race, is the use of alliteration (stave-rhyme). The strophe or song as it is called generally contains eight verses or lines, four of which are so united that every half of the strophe contains an independent thought, and each of these halves is again divided into two parts, which form a fourth part of the whole strophe, and contain two lines belonging together and united by alliteration. The nature of this alliteration, which also occurs frequently in prose far down in the middle ages, especially when something is to be fixed in the memory, as for instance laws, proverbs and the like, when applied to poetry, is this, that in the two lines belonging together, three words occur (in the oldest poems frequently only two), beginning with the same letters, two of which must be in the first, while the third is usually at the beginning of the second line. The third and last of these letters is called the chief letter (höfuðstafr, head-stave), because it is regarded as ruling over the two others, which depend on it, and have the name sub-letters (studlar, supporters). The lines are metrically divided into accented and unaccented syllables. These simple rules of versification govern the lays of the Edda. The principal metre is the so-called Fornyrðalag, with two feet or accents in each of the eight verses or lines. Still we also find exceptions to this rule in the Edda, some of the poems being written in the so-called Ljóðaháttr, a strophe of six lines, of which the third and sixth are alliterated independently, while the first and second, and the fourth and fifth, belong together.[11]
In the age of the skaids there is a much greater variety in the form. The verses become longer with three and four, and even more feet, and the most common metre, the so-called Dróttkvæði has three feet in each of the eight lines. And now we find not only alliteration, but also syllable rhymes, and indeed the lines alternate with perfect and half-rhymes. A perfect rhyme requires that two of the syllables in the same verse correspond perfectly, and a half rhyme that they have different vowels before the same consonant or combination of consonants. More seldom do we find our modern masculine and feminine rhymes. Still they occur and that in a very early period (e.g. in Egil Skallagrimsson), and sometimes we even find that the four or eight verses of a strophe have the same rhyme.[12]
These are the most common metres, but their different elements were combined and varied in many ways. Snorre's Háttatal in the Younger Edda presents no less than one hundred and two different kinds of verses. Of course the variations are frequently very insignificant, but we occasionally find a stanza that is a perfect work of art, and furnishes proofs of the richness of the language.[13]
The old skalds, therefore, had difficulties enough to overcome in respect to the form of their poetry, and this especially since they were not permitted to transgress the established laws. The poetic rules must be observed with the utmost minuteness. To the rules of metre, alliteration and rhyme, was added the elaborate apparatus of figurative paraphrases. The Edda-songs are as a rule noble and simple in style, but even here, especially in the youngest of them, those artificial tendencies begin to show themselves, which are so conspicuous and common in the compositions of the skalds, that they, considered as a whole, constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of literature. The fundamental principle of this abnormity is found in all poetry. The poets of all lands and ages have striven to ornament and elevate their style by the use of figurative expressions; but the old Norse skalds carried the use of figures of speech to the extreme. Nothing is called by its right name, and the result is an obscurity and a distortion of language which, as a rule, make the skaldic verses unintelligible, except to those who possess the key to the metaphors. Indeed, the best Old Norse scholars would be unable to interpret many of the passages in the skaldic lays, if we did not fortunately have the Skáldskaparmál of the Younger Edda which gives us the key to many of these enigmas. The simplest metaphors used are those which, without being genuine paraphrases, express the thought in words that do not occur in common prose, or at least not in the sense in which they are used in poetry. Thus we find in the skaldic lays on the one hand a number of obsolete words, and, on the other, words used in their original sense, just as is the practice of poets in our time. Frequently a quality or effect is substituted for the name of an object, as when splendor is used instead of gold, etc. In this early skaldic poetry we find many ideas and phrases taken from the realm of mythology and legends of heroes, as when a spear is called Gungner after Odin's spear, or a horse Grane after the horse of Sigurd, the slayer of Fafner. But these figures of speech, and, of course, also, such as are borrowed from battle and war with which this whole poetry is so extensively interwoven, occur especially among the so-called Kenningar (metaphors) which must have at least two, but may have more members. Thus we find for instance that gold is called Freyjas's tears (referring to the myth in which Freyja is said to have wept golden tears when she was deserted by her husband Od); that the gallows are called Hagbard's steed (referring to the legend according to which the young Norwegian hero, the lover of the Danish princess, was hung); that a warrior is called the wielder of the sword; a sword, the fire of the shield; a shield, the war-roof; so that, instead of warrior, we may say, the wielder of the fire of the war-roof. The interpretation becomes still more difficult from the fact that when two things have the same name, then a metaphor that stands for the one can represent the other as well. Thus the word lind means both a ship and a shield, and consequently every metaphor used for a shield may be applied to a ship, and vice versa. How far this may be carried is illustrated by a skald who, instead of the word flake (fioki — snow-flake), used the word tree (trè). His right to do so appears from the following analysis: Instead of floki one may say sky (cloud); instead of sky, hrafn (raven); instead of hrafn, hestr (steed); instead of hestr, marr (mare); instead of marr, sær (sea); instead of sær, viðir (ocean); instead of viðir, viðr (wood); instead of viðr, bein (bone); instead of bein, teinn (twig); and instead of teinn, trè.[14]
One might suppose that the examples we have given are either exceptional, or at least very striking ones, but this is not the case. On the contrary they illustrate the rules from which even the greatest, the really gifted poets, were unable to free themselves, though they did, now and then, break the fetters and express themselves in the simple and natural style of the ancients. In their most inspired moments they evinced much talent and taste in the choice and invention of their metaphors. The examples quoted rather fall short of representing the whole artificial character of the skaldic poetry, nor does even a literal translation like the one we have given in the foot note do the subject full justice; for if a translation should perfectly reflect the original, the rhythm, the alliteration and the assonance would have to be reproduced. It should also be added that, as a compensation for the manifold difficulties of versification, the skalds had a well-nigh unlimited liberty in the arrangement of the words in each half of the stanza. The words might be given in almost any order the poet saw fit, so that a metaphor already obscure on account of its many members might be broken asunder and the separate members scattered here and there between words belonging to other metaphors. Thus it is evident that it was no easy matter to understand these verses, and in spite of the fact that the figures consisted to a great extent of often repeated, standard and familiar phrases, there can be no doubt that the listeners, as a rule, received but a very superficial impression of the contents of the lay, and if they really desired to comprehend it, they would have to make a careful study of it. Still while these rugged phrases sounded in their ears only as the roar of a waterfall, the listeners did not lose much; for what has once been said of one of these songs, that it is almost without a parallel in bold metaphors, but that this array of words has no great significance, can safely be said of them as a class, although it is true, as stated above, that a lay can here and there be found, which is full of poetic sentiment and in which the thought is not wholly smothered by a superabundance of artificial figures of speech.[15]
The skaldic poetry, which, as already stated, extends back into the mythic or at least into prehistoric time, preserved the character above described until the close of the fourteenth century, although the genuine drapa or song of praise with its mythic or heroic contents terminated a century earlier. By the side of this poetry there gradually grew up poems on religious themes — drapas on Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Saints — and these eventually monopolized the field. Still these religious poems also preserved the complicated form of the old versifications even long after the drapas praising kings and heroes had ceased to be heard. About the middle of the fifteenth century a simpler form of poetry first makes its appearance, namely, the so-called rima (Icelandic pl. rimur) a kind of ballad which continued to flourish in Iceland and the Faroe Islands until the beginning of the seventeenth century, and even later. The ballads are especially intended to be sung, and thus we find them used as tunes for dancing. In regard to form they have much in common with the popular ballads of mediæval Scandinavia. Their contents are based partly on the religious stories, partly on fairy tales, and partly on history; in the last case they were frequently paraphrases of the sagas. The oldest specimen of a Rima preserved (the Olafsrima) dates from about the middle of the fourteenth century and treats of St. Olaf.
We know the names of several hundred skalds, and a very large number of their lays are preserved either complete or in fragments. As genuine historical persons we do not, as above indicated, find them before the time of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair in the end of the ninth and in the beginning of the tenth century. This king, who was himself a skald, gathered round him the most famous poets of his time, and in his great deeds they found ample materials for their songs. The most celebrated among them are Thjodolf of Hvin and Thorbjorn Hornklofe. From the former we have, besides an important historical-genealogical poem, the so-called "Ynglingatal," which furnished the basis of the Ynglingasaga in Snorre's Heimskringla, also fragments of a mythic drapa called "Haustlöng," which treats of the god Thor. In him we find the preference for obscure metaphors, and also that complicated and heavy versification already fully developed. From the latter, Thorbjorn, we have a few important fragments and some songs on Harald Fairhair's achievements, and on the life at his court. These songs give evidence of genuine poetic talent; one of them is especially noteworthy on account of its poetical arrangement and for breathing a spirit not unlike that of the poems in the Elder Edda. Of still greater importance was Eyvind Finnson, called Skaldapillir (obscurer of skalds), unquestionably one of the most excellent Norwegian skalds, who lived in the time of King Hakon, the foster son of King Athelstane, of England. The poet celebrated Hakon's memory in his lay called Hakonar-mal, one of the finest songs handed down from the past. In it he describes the last battle of the valiant king, his death and reception in Valhal, in glowing yet simple and noble passages. It is composed in the simple form of the old poetry, in which both the Fornyrðalag[16] and Ljoðaháttr[17] alternate in harmony with the thought with splendid effect. In the same simple and elevated style is composed the somewhat older Eiriksmál, which at the request of queen Gunhild was chanted at the funeral of her husband, Erik Bloodaxe, and which Eyvind seems to have taken as a model for his lay on Hakon.[18]
All the skalds hitherto mentioned were Norwegians; but henceforth the poetic calling was transferred to the Icelanders, who also sang in the halls of the Norwegian kings. From this time the Norwegians produced only short unimportant lays, and even some of their kings like St. Olaf and Harald the Severe occupied themselves with writing little songs. One of the most celebrated Icelandic poets was Egil Skallagrimsson. He came from a family that, on account of the troubles with Harald Fairhair, had found it necessary to emigrate to Iceland, where they soon became very eminent. Egil was himself the most prominent Icelander of his time, a magnificent type, not less of the intellectual vigor than of the indomitable spirit which characterized the life of the viking. He was a great poet, and, in truth, a mighty warrior. One of the best Icelandic sagas treats of him, and gives a most interesting picture of his restless life at home and abroad, now sailing from shore to shore on viking-expeditions, or visiting kings and princes, and taking part in their wars and feuds, now enthroned as a king on his gard, never recognizing any other law than his own sweet will. Besides a number of songs, we have from Egil three long poems, or at least important fragments of them. By one of them "Höfudlausn" (The Redemption of the Head), a splendid, exceedingly pompous drapa, composed in honor of Erik Bloodaxe, he saved his life, when circumstances had brought him into the power of this marked enemy of his whom he had deeply insulted. The second is a drapa composed in honor of his friend Arinbjorn (Arinbjarnardrápa). Both poems are very characteristic, and especially the former was widely celebrated. But the best evidence of his great talent as a poet he furnished by his magnificent, strange poem "Sonartorrek" (The Loss of the Son), which he produced, when in his old age he lost his youngest and most beloved son, who
drowned in the Borgarfjord. Bowed down by grief, the father was about to put an end to his life by hunger, but his daughter persuaded him to give up this purpose, representing to him that no lay would be composed to commemorate his son unless it was done by the father himself. Thus Egil was induced to compose his famous poem, which glows through and through with fierceness and ungovernable defiance, but is at the same time tuned to the tenderest tones of genuine poetry. The sorrow of this poet does not resemble the sorrow of other people. There is no trace of weakness, but it contains a defiant expression of wrath and indignation that his proud race is approaching its extinction, and a bitter regret that he is not able to revenge himself on the gods as he would have done on men, had they caused him this loss. It is not so much paternal love as it is family pride that finds expression in this poem, and intimately connected therewith, and forming as it were the background to the whole poem, we see Egil's consciousness of his strength and his determination to vindicate his own personality. The latter is especially apparent in his words on Odin, whom he looks upon as the real cause of his affliction. Toward this god he assumes the attitude of one freeman toward another. Heretofore their mutual relations have been friendly; henceforth they are hostile; but when he remembers that Odin, how much so ever he has taken from him, still has bestowed on him a choice gift, that of poetry, the most magnificent of all human blessings, "and a mind with which I am able quietly to turn a false friend into an open enemy," he is reconciled; he resolves to live, and proudly takes the high seat again.
Among the Icelandic poets should also be mentioned Kormak and Gunlaug Ormstunga (Serpent-tongue, so called on account of his stinging satire). We have the lives of both told in sagas, in which a large number of their poems are preserved, especially of Kormak's love songs, a kind of poetry which has a very strange look when presented in the rigid versification of the skalds, and loaded down with the metaphoric garments of that age. Halfred, nicknamed Vandrædaskáld (the troublesome poet), who sang at the court of the Norwegian ruler Jarl Hakon and of King Olaf Trygvason (toward the end of the tenth century), is of particular interest on account of the struggle between heathendom and Christianity, which continues through his whole life, and is reflected in many of his poems. At the request of Olaf he was baptized, and his acceptance of the Christian religion seems to have been a serious matter with him, and yet he frequently returns in his memory to the old heathen gods in whose faith he was really happy and content. His last poem is, however, the genuine Christian prayer of a dying man, and his "Uppreistardrápa" (Poem of Resurrection), which is now wholly lost, became widely celebrated.
Of St. Olaf's skalds, Sighvat Thordarson deserves special mention. The king preferred him to all others, and in consequence the poet was attached to him with a tender love and devotion, which are frequently expressed in a dignified manner in his poems. His poems are also written in the usual style of the skalds, still they are less loaded down with artificial metaphors than the most of the skaldic lays, and hence they contain more genuine poetic sentiment. There is nothing strikingly original to be found in his poetry, but he possessed a decided talent for grasping the poetic thought in an act or scene, and for expressing it in a vivid and descriptive manner, though he did not always succeed in rising above a certain common, dull style. His technical skill was so great, that it is said of him that he could express his thoughts in verse more readily than in prose, and we have from his muse a very considerable number of poems. He served King Olaf fifteen years, and took part in nearly all his expeditions and battles. In Olaf's last decisive struggle, the battle of Stiklestad, in the year 1030, where the king found his death, Sighvat was, however, not present, as he was then on a pilgrimage to Rome. Among the finest and most original of Sighvat's lays belong the songs in which he gives utterance to his grief at the death of the beloved king, and expresses his regret that he was not permitted to die at his side. There is in these songs a tenderness which is seldom found in the many similar ones by other skalds. After his return from Rome he entered the service of Magnus, the son of St. Olaf, whose chief counsellor he became, and to this epoch of his career belong the celebrated "Bersöglisvisur" (songs of free speech), which he composed when the king began to be tyrannical toward the peasants, and in which he in powerful strains brings the complaints of the people to the ears of the king. Another of the many Icelandic skalds who gathered around St. Olaf was Thormod Kolbrùnarskáld, so called because he composed a laudatory poem on Thorbjorg Kolbrun (the lady with the black eye-brows). He was also one of those who were particularly intimate with the king, but unlike Sighvat, he was a man of firm and unyielding temperament. He was present at the battles of Stiklestad, where the king had appointed a place for him and a few other skalds near his standard, in order that they might have a good opportunity of watching the progress of the battle, and afterward describe the events faithfully in their songs. But Thormod fell in the battle. We have no long poems from him, but only a few short lays produced on various occasions. One of the most beautiful and spirited ones he sang on the evening before the battle, when each one of the king's skalds composed a song for the encouragement of the army. The wild enthusiasm for the battle finds a peculiarly strong expression in Thormod's verses, and the clashing of the swords is heard throughout the song in spite of the rigid form to which he was limited. Arnor Jarlaskáld (Earl-skald) was so called because he had lived with the jarls on the Orkneys, before he came to Norway, where he entered the service of Magnus the Good and Harald the Stern (Hardraði). The numerous poems by him which have been preserved give evidence of considerable talent, and are especially remarkable for easy style, for a more sparing and judicious use of metaphors, for rare euphony, and for their truly poetic sentiment. Einar Skulason, who belonged to the followers of King Eystein, made himself particularly famous by his great religious poem, "Geisli" (The Sunbeam) or Olafsdrapa, which he composed in honor of St. Olaf, and declaimed in the Christ Church at Nidaros (Throndhjem). It celebrated the merits of the king and the saints in behalf of Christianity, and especially the miracles worked by Olaf after his death. The saga very characteristically tells "that the church during the declamation of the poem was filled with the most exquisite fragrance, a token that the poem had received the approval of the saint." It is the oldest religious drapa which has been preserved in perfect condition. Finally we must mention the celebrated historian Snorre Sturlason, who besides other poems composed the above-mentioned Háttatal, and his nephews (sons of his brother), Olaf Hvitaskald, and Sturla Thordarson. Sturla is the last poet who is known to have composed drapas in honor of Norwegian kings.
That drapas celebrating kings and princes ceased to be produced was a natural result of the change of the times. A more peaceful political and social life had taken the place of continual warfare, and consequently there was no more use for the rigid forms in which the productions of the skalds were moulded. Poetry therefore sought another field, that of religion, for its materials. To be sure religious poems had already been written in the preceding epoch by some of the skalds. Such a poem is extant, namely, the Sólarljóð (Song of the Sun), which is written in the Ljoðháttr style, and is largely based on the heathen myths. It belongs unmistakably to the oldest Christian age, and Halfred Vandrædaskald's drapa on the resurrection is perhaps still older. But yet the epoch of the religious drapa cannot properly be said to begin before the close of the heroic age. The most celebrated of the religious poems is the Lilja (The Lily) by the monk Eystein, a kind of Messiad, written in an original metre which henceforth was called the Lily metre. It belongs to the second half of the fourteenth century, and contains many passages of great beauty.[19] With Eystein the harp of the skald ceased to reverberate, and Lilja forms a really dignified finale. A more brilliant close of the skaldic epoch could scarcely be desired. It is true that echoes of the skaldic harp were heard even in the fifteenth century, as, for instance, Lopt Guttormson's "Hattalykill" (Key to Metres), an erotic poem, which in form is an imitation of Snorre Sturlason's Háttatal (Enumeration of Metres), but they were mere echoes, and the fact remains that Eystein's Lilja marks the close of the skaldic epoch and the beginning of the Rima (ballad).
In the production of sagas[20] the popular spirit of the North reared for itself a literary monument of no less importance than are the Eddas and the skaldic lays. The saga, too, had its principal home in Iceland. We have already indicated how circumstances naturally brought it about that valuable historical materials were collected there, which not only concerned events in Iceland, but also on account of the many threads by which the Icelanders felt themselves tied to Norway, embraced the most remarkable events of this country as well as the memory of what had happened in other lands with which the Icelanders had had intercourse. Like the poetry, these materials were handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, and when at length the conditions for a real literary activity were at hand a most remarkable literature was produced out of these traditions. The first book of which we have any knowledge was, according to the unanimous testimony of all authorities, the history of Iceland, written by Are Thorgilsson about the year 1120, that is to say about 250 years after the settlement of Iceland. The greatest bloom of saga writing is during the first half of the thirteenth century, and about the close of that century the saga-epoch ended.
The production of sagas thus extends through two centuries, and it hardly needs to be stated that with the progress of time there took place corresponding changes in the style of the saga and in the manner of utilizing the materials. For no matter how deeply the verbal tradition might have impressed itself on the popular memory, the written form could not help gradually improving with the growing experience and continued practice in writing. And so we find when we compare one of the oldest documents with a saga from the golden period of Icelandic literature, that there has been great progress made in the use of the language and in the grouping and arrangement of the materials. The literature begins with annals or chronicles similar to the contemporary historical records of other countries, but it does not take long before it has developed sufficient skill to produce genuine works of art. Certain peculiarities were, however, preserved through all the periods of the development of the saga, excepting, of course, the mythic-heroic stories and the mediæval romances, where the saga spirit is almost wholly wanting. Among these peculiarities are the following: a vividness and directness in the telling although the events described generally belong to a distant past; a perfectly objective and unimpassioned manner, leaving the author, who as a rule is not even mentioned, wholly in the background, and letting the events speak for themselves; a minute presentation of chronological and genealogical data, a matter of great moment to the Icelanders, who were well informed in regard to the blood ties existing between the various families; and finally a frequent quotation of authorities and of all other evidences that might tend to strengthen the trustworthiness of the narrative.
We just mentioned the father of Icelandic history, Are Thorgilsson, like Sæmund surnamed froði, on account of his great learning. The Younger Edda indicates him as the person, who with Thorodd Runemaster, adapted the Roman (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet to the wants and comprehension of his countrymen. He was born in the year 1067 and belonged to a family that boasted a descent from Ragnar Lodbrok in Denmark, and from the royal race of Ynglings in Upsala, Sweden. From his seventh to his twenty-first year he lived with the noted chieftain Hall of Hawkdale, where he found an opportunity of being fully informed of what had happened in old days in Iceland, while he at the same time heard much about the condition and history of Norway. Thus he acquired a rich treasure of historical knowledge, which he afterward made use of in his books, and which has made his name so famous. Are was also a priest and a chief (Goði) and died in the year 1148[21]. Of his works we possess only his "Icelendingabók" (The Book of the Icelanders), a brief, somewhat dry account of the first settlement of Iceland, and a history of the island down to the time of bishop Gissur, who died in the year 1118. It is of great importance on account of the ample and reliable genealogical data which it contains. It is, however, in fact only an abstract or a revision of a greater Islendingabók also written by him, and which in turn served as the basis for the production of the Landnamabók (Land taking book). This work, unique in the whole field of literature, treats of the discovery and settlement of Iceland. In its present form it is the work of various writers at different times, and tells of the settlers and their families with such fulness and detail, that no less than 3,000 persons and 1,400 places are named.[22] Are's greater Islendingabók also contains a history of the kings of Norway, Denmark and England, the Konungabók (Book of Kings) which later writers frequently cite as authority, especially on account of its excellent chronological materials. The particulars in regard to this work are not known, but Keyser is doubtless right when he says: "When we take into consideration his (lesser) Islendingabók and the probable character of his Landnamabók (in its original form) we are forced to the conclusion that this work on the kings of Norway was a brief one, and that its chief purpose was to present a chronological table of events, in order that it in the same manner as his (lesser) Islendingabók for the Icelandic sagas might serve as a guide to a critical study of the history of the Norwegian kings." To the same original greater Islendingabók belonged also a third historical work, namely, the "Kristnisaga," on the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, and on later historical events in that island down to the year 1121. But this work is now extant in a form quite different from the original, the matter pertaining to church history, which in Are's work was mixed up with facts of general or secular history, having been separated, remodelled and having received various additions that are not from Are.[23] A somewhat older contemporary of Are, the priest Sæmund Sigfusson (born 1056, died 1133), the same person who without a scrap of evidence has been called the author and compiler of the Elder Edda, contributed much toward giving a firm foundation to history by fixing the chronology of each reign of the rulers of Norway from Harald Fairhair to Magnus the Good (850-1047), and in the sagas he is frequently mentioned as authority in this respect. Sæmund does not appear to have written any great work himself, at least there is none extant. Through his great grandson, Jon Loptsson, his learning was handed down to Snorre Sturleson, and the bulk of what this greatest of all old sagamen has preserved for us doubtless comes by way of Jon Loptsson from Sæmund.
Worthy of mention here is also Biskupa Sógur (Sagas of the Bishops), a series of narratives of the lives and works of the first Icelandic bishops, to which are added various collections of legends.
The chronological foundation having thus been laid, so that the materials at hand might be arranged in a systematic manner, the latter began to be put in writing on a more extensive scale. The Icelandic sagas proper, that is to say, the narratives which have the description of Icelandic affairs for their object, extend from the time of the first settlement of the island to about the year 1030, a period which, on account of struggles arising from the further colonization of Iceland and from the introduction and establishment of the new faith, necessarily awakened the greatest interest and furnished the richest materials for tradition. What happened after that period receives but slight attention in the sagas. Only the Sturlunga Saga tells the most memorable events from the first settlement to the downfall of the republic, wherefore it is usually called the "great Islendinga Saga." The rest of the Icelandic sagas find their materials in other lands, and confine themselves, so far as Iceland is concerned, to meagre chronicles or annals.
To the most striking and interesting productions that are to be found in literature belong the Icelandic family sagas. A saga of this kind is generally the story of the life of a single Icelandic gentleman, but it invariably sketches him in relation to his kin, going back to the first settler from whom he sprang, and especially giving a full account of all his relatives who have lived during the epoch embraced in the saga. The term family saga is therefore eminently appropriate. These sagas also contain many valuable contributions to the history of Iceland and of other countries with which the Icelanders had a more or less lively intercourse, and, as a matter of course, to that of Norway; but their chief value lies in their high literary form and in the materials they furnish for a history of the culture of their time. In an earnest, clear, dramatic, straightforward manner they give us a multitude of richly colored pictures of mediæval life and customs, and of striking and grandly endowed natures, which are frequently described with a surprisingly profound psychological insight and with an unerring appreciation of the distinctive traits of a person's character and of the most important facts in every scene and event. It is difficult to draw the line between fact and fiction; for, though there can be no doubt that all these descriptions are based on actual occurrences (and this must be said of them not only as a whole and in general, but also of a great majority of the details); still it is evident that some fiction has been blended with the facts. This appears not so much from the aptly interwoven verses or epistles as from the masterly and artistic manner in which the materials are arranged, while the creative talent of the artist is present either consciously or unconsciously, especially in the reproduction of the dialogues, which in many instances are worthy of a dramatic poet. This arbitrary element, which lends a peculiar charm to the descriptions akin to that which we find in the works of great poets, is not equally prominent in all the sagas. Those in which this poetic charm is most easily discovered are in all respects the best ones. Not of a single one of them do we know with certainty in what manner or by whom it received its present form; not a single one appears as the work of this or that "author," and this is in one sense as it should be, since a large part of the work must unquestionably be ascribed to tradition which preceded the writing. Frequent efforts have been made to trace the most important sagas to well-known Icelanders like Are and Sæmund, but wholly without reason, since the form in which we now have them cannot be ascribed to distinct individuals.
Generally speaking, no chronological disposition can be made of the Icelandic saga. The evidences of age that may be gathered from the style, the language, etc., are so uncertain that it is not possible to draw conclusions from them in regard to the different kinds of writing. In the enumeration which we are now about to make of the most important ones we have nothing else to guide us as to the order in which we give them than external circumstances. We give them in groups, according to the locality they describe, passing from one district to the other along the Icelandic coast.
Beginning in the South of Iceland or on the south coast we at once meet with the foremost and most interesting of all, the Njal's Saga, which abounds in characters drawn with masterly skill, and in entertaining descriptions of life and customs. Among these we will mention: the shrewd Njal skilled in law and his magnanimous wife Bergthora; their sons, of whom Skarphedin especially is a most original character, excellently drawn; Njal's friend, the noble Gunnar, of Lithend; and the latter's cold, hard-hearted wife Hallgerd. This saga contains interesting descriptions of feuds, lawsuits, revenge for bloodshed, etc., and is very important to any one studying the history of civilization, on account of the key which it gives to Icelandic law. The events described by Njal's Saga took place between 960 and 1016. This saga is told in beautiful and noble language, and what is true of so many other sagas can be said with peculiar emphasis of this one, that the admirable style bears evidence of an artistic and skilful hand. To Sæmund has been attributed the original authorship, but there is little probability in this supposition.
In the West of Iceland we find Egil's Saga, which tells of the above-mentioned skald Egil Skallagrimsson. It covers the period from 860 to 1000, and is like the Njala one of the foremost of the family sagas. It is clear and vivid in style, and is especially interesting on account of its description of the conflict between Egil's family and Harald Fairhair, which led to the emigration to Iceland, and of Egil's restless life as viking and skald. It contains many of Egil's songs, some of which are among the best produced in the skaldic age. In certain respects the saga of the skald Gunlaug Ormstunga (Serpent-tongue) is a continuation of Egil's Saga. It is a short but very charming love story. Gunlaug and another skald, by name Hrafn, are rival lovers of Helga he Fair, the granddaughter of Egil, and both fall in the holmgang or judicial combat. Helga's true love for Gunlaug, his recklessness, which makes him forget the appointed time at which he was to fetch his bride, and Hrafn's treason are set forth in bold and vivid colors. Similar in theme to the Gunlaug's Saga is that of Björn Hitdælakappi (the hero of Hitdale) belonging to the southwest of Iceland (1000-1025). This, too, tells of rivalry in love, hatred, and song, but it is not so full of dramatic life and interest as the former. It is the third and last in the series of sagas of the Moor-men, that is to say, of Egil Skallagrimsson and his family. The west of Iceland was upon the whole the soil upon which saga writing developed most luxuriously, but our limits do not permit us to do more than mention some of the most important ones. A graphic description of the events between 880 and 1030 is found in the Eyrbyggja Saga, a work which is also interesting on account of the numerous notices it preserves of the institutions and manners of the heathen times and on account of the ghost stories it tells from heathen superstition. The Viga-Styr's Saga ok Heiðarviga (the Saga of Viga-Styr and of the Battle of the Heath) is only a fragment, the original beginning having been lost and afterward written down from memory. Its events begin in 990 and end in 1015, and it tells the exploits of Viga-Styr, of Snorre's foray in Borgorfjord and of the slaying in Norway of Hall Gudmundson which led to the battle on the Heath (the Heath connecting the north and west of Iceland). This saga has a fine plot, and its antique style marks it as one of the oldest saga specimens to be found. The Laxdæla Saga likewise describes events from 886 to 1030. It is one of the longest sagas, and is remarkable for its skilful delineation of character (Kjartan and Gudrun), and in general for its vivid and attractive style. The Gisla Saga Surssonar (Saga of Gisle Sursson) is a splendid story of an outlawed skald (950-980). Hávardar Saga Isfirdings, the Saga of Havard of Icefirth (997-1002) tells how the old skald Havard avenged the death of his son. The Fostbrædra Saga, Saga of the Foster-brothers (1010-1030) tells of Thormod Kolbrunarskald and Thorgeir Havarsson. Finally, we must mention Hænsathoris Saga, the story of Hen-Thore (about 960) and the saga of Hörd Grimkalsson and Geir (950-990).
In the North of Iceland we find Kormak's Saga (930-984) of the above-mentioned skald of that name. His love is the chief topic, wherefore it contains a number of love-songs. Fine descriptions of Icelandic customs are found in Halfred Vandrædaskald's Saga (988-1008) and in Vatzdæla Saga, the story of the Waterdale Men (870-1000), which especially throw light upon the conditions as shaped by the transition to Christianity. Grettis Saga, the story of Grette the Strong (872-1033), is a saga adorned with mythic exaggerations and fables, but still abounding in interest, excellently told, and giving the history of the outlaw Grette the Strong, celebrated for his courage and strength and regarded by the Icelanders as a national hero. Viga-Glum's Saga (920-1000) distinguished for its graphic and attractive descriptions, and Ljosvetninga Saga, the story of the Lightwater Men (990-1050), in the latter of which the chieftain Gudmund the Mighty is the hero, also belong to the north of Iceland.
Of the sagas relating to the East of Iceland the Vapnfirdinga Saga (970-990) telling of the feuds between the men of Hof in Weapenfirth (whence the name of the saga) and the men of Crosswick, and the Hrafnkel's Saga Freysgoda (about 950), the saga of the Hrafnkel, Priest of Frey, are the most important. The latter especially gives a characteristic picture of social conditions together with interesting sketches of the worship of the heathen gods, of the administration of law and of political institutions of Iceland.[24]
We have frequently alluded to the fact that Icelandic traditions began in an early day to be concerned with the history of Norway. Are Thorgilsson made Norwegian history one of his chief studies, the results of which he put in writing, and after him others carried the work in this direction forward on a grand scale. The results are embodied in various sagas of Norwegian kings, some giving an account of only one, others of several kings. Olaf Trygvason and St. Olaf being the most prominent characters among the rulers of Norway, receive special attention from the saga-writers, but there is no lack of works giving the history of other Norwegian kings, and efforts were soon made to present continuous sketches of the lives of several kings as the preparation for a genuine history of Norway. By far the greater number of these sagas were produced in Iceland, though, as a matter of course, the materials on which they are based came mostly from Norway, or in other words were communicated by Norwegians. It is also known that Norwegians took part in the composition of sagas, though it cannot be determined how much of the work was done by them.
Among the first efforts to treat the history of Norway connectedly, excepting, of course, the above-mentioned work
by Are Thorgilsson, are a chronicle based on oral tradition and written in the Latin tongue[25] by the Norwegian monk Thjodrek about the year 1179, and a "Historia Norvagia" also apparently written by a Norwegian in the twelfth century. Mention should also be made in this connection of Agríp (i.e. abridgement or epitome) af Noregs Konungasögum, a short and upon the whole imperfect history of the Norwegian kings from Halfdan, the Swarthy, to Sigard Jossalafar, which probably was written in Iceland toward the end of the twelfth century. Far superior to that work is the Fagrskinna (the magnificent parchment). To be sure the sources from which it is compiled are used with but little criticism, but the style is clear and dramatic, and the language though terse, is vivid and fluent. In this work is found a number of skaldic poems, for instance the Eiriksmál on Erik Bloodyaxe.
But the crown of Icelandic historiography is Snorre Sturleson's Heimskringla, which towers above all other Icelandic histories like a splendid tree above the low brushwood. Snorre was born in the year 1178 and belonged to one of the most celebrated families of Iceland. In his fourth year he became domiciled at Odde in the abode of Jon Loptsson, great-grandson of Sæmund, where he had the very best opportunities, for acquiring a thorough education. His foster father, himself one of the most learned men of his time, took pains to transmit to him the great fund of historical knowledge which he had inherited from his grandfather. By a wealthy marriage and by means of various prudent enterprises Snorre acquired great riches, and became one of the most influential men of the country. He possessed sixteen farms and was able to appear at the Thing with a following of eight hundred men. But his power and insolence made him many enemies, and he was constantly engaged in litigation with other prominent men, mostly his own kinsfolk. In the year 1218 Snorre came for the first time to Norway, where the young Hakon Hakonson was then reigning under the protection of Jarl Skule. Snorre was received with great distinction, composed the poem Háttatal in honor of the king and jarl, and was made a courtier. The next year a serious trouble arose between the Norwegians and the Icelanders, and Skule even contemplated an expedition to Iceland in order to avenge an outrage which one of the chiefs there had inflicted on some Norwegian merchants. Snorre, it is true, succeeded in persuading the jarl to abandon his project, but he had to pledge himself to work for the realization of a plan long cherished by the Norwegian king, of subjugating Iceland to the throne of Norway, a promise which Snorre does not, however, seem to have kept. After his return to Iceland he increased his fortune and influence, but on the other hand he became more and more entangled in hostilities, and his enemies, headed by his own nephew, Sturla Sighvatson, made use of the feud between King Hakon and Jarl Skule to turn the former againt Snorre, whose position was thus greatly imperilled. He therefore betook himself to Norway to seek help from the jarl. Then he returned to Iceland, where his nephew in the meantime had fallen in a struggle with Snorre's son-in-law, Gissur. But in Gissur he found a no less dangerous enemy than his nephew had been, and at the behest of king Hakon Gissur murdered his father-in-law, September 22, 1241.
Despite this restless life, which constitutes but a single, though a prominent episode in this stormy time by which Iceland was visited before the fall of the republic, and which necessarily weakened and shattered all social and political ties and made the country a sure prey of the Norwegian king, we say despite this restless life, Snorre found time to develop a literary activity which marks the zenith of the production of historical sagas. His sagas of the kings of Norway, the Heimskringla, — so called from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (kringla heimsins, the earth's circle) — begins with the saga of the royal family of the Ynglings, who were descended from the gods and ruled at Upsala, and then tells the history of Norway, carrying it forward to the year 1177. The short Ynglinga Saga, based on the old "Ynglingatal," the poem composed by the skald Thjodolf of Hvin, is throughout mythic and heroic, and is peculiarly interesting as an effort to present the ancient gods as historical persons; but in the saga of Halfdan the Swarthy the light of history dawns, and we soon enter the broad daylight of facts. Snorre's sources were, besides the traditions and songs that still existed in his time, a whole cycle of written sagas. Without doubt he consulted all the historical works which we have already mentioned and many others which have not been preserved, and his activity was not confined simply to copying and compiling from his predecessors, but he reproduced them with a care and criticism which his forerunners in the saga field had not fully learned to apply. He makes extensive use of the songs of the skalds of former ages and of his own time, and adds in his descriptions a number of new facts that were unknown to the earlier writers. All these things together, in connection with his classic language and style and the unity and comprehensiveness that distinguish his work, not only raise him above all other saga writers, but make him a truly great historian.
That Snorre closes his work with the year 1117 must doubtless be accounted for by the fact that the Saga of King Swerre, who ascended the throne of Norway in 1184, was already written by one of Swerre's contemporaries, the Abbot Karl Jonsson of the Thingeyra monastery in the north of Iceland. Karl Jonsson visited Norway and produced his saga under the supervision and with the coöperation of the king himself. Already before this attempts had been made at writing contemporary history. Thus the "Hryggjarstykki," by the Icelander Eirik Oddsson, treats of his contemporary kings Harald Gille, Magnus the Blind, and Sigurd the Severe. The book is not now extant, but was in its time consulted by later authors. Probably it is also preserved in the so-called "Morkinskinna" (Rottenskin), which describes the period from Magnus the Good (1035) to 1157, and which, although in its present form coming from a later hand, is apparently originally the work of Snorre. Among documents, which served as Snorre's sources, must also be mentioned the so-called legendary saga of St. Olaf, which tells especially of Olaf's miracles and is in this respect based on older miracle books and collections of legends relating to this king.
The continuation of the Heimskringla, which various authors have contributed, embraces in addition to Swerre's saga the history of the later kings down to Magnus Lagabæter (Law-mender). Of the saga of this king, which, like that of Hakon Hakonson, was written by one of Snorre's relatives, Sturla Thordsson, we now possess only a fragment, which forms the last link in the long chain of historical works produced by Icelanders and Norwegians in the middle ages. Worthy of mention are also the so-called great or historical saga of St. Olaf and the great Olaf Trygvason's Saga, which was written in the fourteenth century and is a compilation of all earlier sources into a history of this king.[26]
A collection of sagas which also deserves special mention is the Flateyarbok (the book of Flat Isle), so called because it was found on the small island Flatey in Broadforth. The book is written toward the end of the fourteenth century by two Icelandic priests, and contains in strange confusion and wholly without criticism a large number of sagas (Olaf Trygvason's Saga, St. Olaf 's Saga, Swerre's Saga, Hakon Hakonson's Saga, etc.), of poems (Einar Skulason's "Geisli," Einar Gilsson's "Olafsrima," etc.) and of shorter stories; but it is important, because much is found there which otherwise would have been lost. The Flatey-book is not, however, the only old Icelandic manuscript in which a variety of matters are collected, but none other confuses things on so vast a scale.
The Flatey-book naturally leads us to discuss the sagas which speak of other countries than Iceland and Norway, as it contains sagas of the Fareys and the Orkneys. The Færeyinga Saga gives an account of the introduction of Christianity on the Fareys and of various events connected therewith which group themselves around the poetically sketched popular hero, Sigmund Brestesson. It is an interesting and graphically told saga, which, however, has more poetic than historical value. The Orkneyinga Saga resembles in its style the sagas of the kings, and gives the history of the jarls of the Orkneys from the close of the ninth century to 1222. It contains many songs, and seems on the whole to be founded on short stories of an older date. Of Greenland and Vinland (a part of the eastern coast of North America, the present Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which was discovered by the Icelanders at the close of the tenth century) accounts are found in the sagas of Erik the Red, in Thorfin Karlsefne's Saga, and in the Grænlendingatháttr, all of which contain, important contributions to the knowledge of the discoveries and of the life of the settlers in Greenland. For the history of Denmark the Jomsvikinga Saga and especially the Knytlinga Saga are of importance. The former tells in a most lucid manner of the Jomsvikings and of their defeat in the battle with jarl Hakon, and of Gorm the Old, and Harald Bluetooth, while the latter contains the history of Denmark from Gorm the Old down to Knud VI, and furnishes a very full and interesting account of Knud the Saint. Sweden is mentioned only incidentally in some of the sagas, as for instance in that of Egil Skallagrimsson and in a few of the shorter stories of which the historical value is very insignificant. Contributions to the history of Russia are found in Eymund's Saga, which, though full of embellishments, still helps to illustrate and explain the account of Nestor.[27]
The historical taste which produced this extensive literature was gradually lost. Many causes, both external and internal, united in bringing this magnificent intellectual activity to a standstill. It was a matter of course, that the greater the number of sagas that were put in writing and thus made accessible to the many, the more did the interest in the oral tradition diminish, and the latter was the most important condition for the gathering and preservation of the saga materials. The decline of oral tradition can also be partly accounted for by the fact that the social conditions in Iceland gradually assumed a new character and consequently the saga materials, which were formerly liable to develop anywhere, now gathered around a few centres and no longer awakened the same general interest as before. The original institutions under which the Icelandic freeman considered himself the equal of every other freeman in the land, had gradually developed into the government of a few, inasmuch as a comparatively large power was centred in the hands of a few chiefs; and while formerly the law itself, the greater or lesser knowledge of it, and the ability to apply it, in connection with public opinion, as a rule decided all disputes, it now depended chiefly on who could furnish the largest army with which to annihilate his opponent. The bloody feuds which were carried on toward the fall of the republic between the mighty men of Iceland, and of which the Sturlunga saga furnishes a most graphic and interesting picture, could not help giving all the conditions of life an entirely new character, and that one which was not favorable to saga-writing. The age of magnificently endowed heroes was past, violence and treachery now determined the course of events; only the few who had power and influence took any interest in public affairs, and the few events of importance could easily be recorded by the annalists. As a matter of course this decline of historical interest in reference to the affairs of Iceland, also greatly diminished the taste for foreign history. In short, when the writing of Icelandic sagas ceased, that magnificent literary industry which the Icelanders had devoted to chronicling the events of Norway also came to a close. It might reasonably be supposed that the union of Iceland with Norway was the very thing needed to bring the sagas of the Norwegian kings to unfold their fairest blossoms, but quite on the contrary, no sooner were the Icelanders united with Norway than this branch of their literary activity ceased entirely. The intercourse between Iceland and Norway was not interrupted, but their mutual relations assumed wholly new forms. The Icelanders no longer visited the Norwegian kings in the capacity of skalds or for the purpose of becoming their courtiers, and thus the conditions for saga writing disappeared and the Norwegians who came to Iceland, being mostly ignorant merchants and seamen, could not take the place of the sagamen. Besides, the island was devastated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by epidemics such as the black plague, by famine, etc.
All these circumstances combined were surely sufficient to explain why the literary productions ceased and why those Icelanders who still had taste for intellectual employment mainly confined themselves to copying and preserving what they had inherited from the past. But in addition to these circumstances there was still another which largely contributed to undermine the historical talent of which the sagas give such a striking evidence, namely, the increasing influence which the romances introduced from abroad exercised on the whole North and also on Iceland. Of "lygisagas," that is fictitious accounts of northern events, mention is made in an early day, but toward the close of the old Norse literary period foreign works found admittance and made their influence felt on the development of northern literature. This influence manifests itself partly in the domain of history, inasmuch as it produced a tendency to adorn the events with poetical embellishments, and partly in the domain of poetry, where the mythic and heroic traditions which were now put in writing were exaggerated and embellished according to the well known style of the French and German romances of chivalry, so that the original frequently very ancient elements became more or less indiscernible. Wholly new fictions were also written in this style so widely different from that of the earlier literature.
We will first briefly consider the mythic-heroic sagas, since they deal with life in the north and relate stories which are, excepting the embellishments, very old and founded on the traditions out of which the whole literary development grew. These sagas are chiefly transprosings of old poems, of which fragments of more or less length are at the same time introduced. In one of the most important sagas of this kind, the Volsunga Saga, the transproser's embellishments are very easily separated from the ancient traditions, since several of the old poems, on which the saga is based, are preserved in the Elder Edda. The whole middle portion of the saga is a transprosing of the poems which relate to the Volsungs, and the opening chapters are also clearly based on very ancient songs, which are now lost, while the last chapters are unmistakably a later addition to the original cycle of poems. The Volsunga Saga is of great importance on account of the connected narration of all the parts of the Volsung story.
When we compare the poems that have come down to our time with the Volsunga Saga we find that the relation between song and story, wherever the transproser's method can be detected, is of such a nature that in all probability the leading features of the traditions have as a rule been preserved in their pure and original form. Occasionally, it is true, a romantic chord is struck which cannot be traced back to the songs, and which cannot be made to harmonize with the ancient traditions, but reminds us of the age of chivalry with its tendency to tell supernatural adventures and paint the most grotesque pictures with the most glowing colors. Not unfrequently the original plot has been distorted by the transproser for the reason that he has not correctly understood the poem. But viewed as a whole the transprosing is faithfully done, and the impression we get from those parts of which we possess only the prosaic paraphrase is uniformly the same as that which we get from those passages of which the original poems are preserved. The saga is in fact throughout, by virtue of its natural simplicity, an exceedingly fascinating reproduction substantially of the songs with which we are familiar, and frequently it approaches the form of the verse so closely that we catch glimpses of the latter with its alliterations. The Volsunga saga is particularly interesting from the fact that it illustrates how the original and ancient nucleus of the saga in the course of time has received various additions, other traditions having become united with the Volsung legends. A remarkable example of this is the expansion which the Sigurd traditions have received by becoming united with the traditions relating to the viking king Ragnar Lodbrok, the latter's wife Aslaug being represented as a daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild. This is a striking illustration of the tendency quite common among the ancients to connect the most prominent families with kings and heroes of the heroic age. That the organic unity of the story could not but suffer by this blending of one episode with another for the purpose of bringing the Volsung race down to historical times, must be admitted, though there is throughout the later additions a manifest effort to preserve the fundamental thought that characterizes the oldest and original parts of the story.
The Vilkina Saga or the Saga of Dietrich of Bern (Verona) has preserved much less of the original character. It is connected with the Volsunga Saga, and like the Niebelungenlied and the other poems, and songs relative to this Middle High German epic, forms an important supplement to it, inasmuch as it belongs to the same group of traditions, but it is not based on old northern poems. It is probably a collection of oral traditions and songs from Germany compiled and translated in Bergen, Norway, about the year 1250. Of great value is the Hervarar Saga (saga of Hervor), which for the greater part is based on very ancient songs, a large number of which have come down to us in fragments that are in many respects very remarkable. It contains a number of traditions in regard to the sword Tyrfing, forged by dwarfs. It reflects the old heathen time with remarkable fidelity, and is full of poetry of the finest flavor, wherefore it has frequently been reproduced by the later poets; but the close of this thrilling saga is only a dry chronicle-like account of Swedish kings. The short but beautiful Fridthjof's Saga has furnished the materials for one of the most excellent poetical productions of modern Scandinavian literature, but it bears no strong impress of antiquity, and is really a striking illustration of how homely materials may be utilized, when the national taste has been influenced by contemporary foreign literature. Nor can the poems contained in this saga be regarded as very old, and it seems indeed most probable that they are of the same age and by the same author as the saga. The saga of King Half and his Heroes is on the other hand full of fragments of genuine old poems which are of great interest. An important work for the study of Danish traditions is Hrolf Krake's Saga. It is based on old Danish traditions and poems, which, however, by their fabulous character and by their very style prove themselves to have been composed in a comparatively late period; and yet this circumstance has not induced the author to make any effort to give the traditions an external appearance of trustworthiness by connecting them with well known historical persons. Hrolf Krake's saga is manifestly based on various groups of songs corresponding to the several stories in the saga. Each of these groups has to a certain extent constituted an independent whole, but on a more careful examination they will also be found to form links of one long poem, in which the celebrated Hleidra king, the ideal of a royal hero until the viking age raised other heroes on the throne, is the centre, and to whose glory all the songs contribute. However independent the separate stories may appear, still the poetic unity of the whole group is far more marked than it is in the Volsunga traditions as we find them in the Volsunga saga. Of great importance, especially for the study of Danish traditions, is also Ragnar Lodbrok's Saga, which in spite of its romantic and fabulous dress is interesting on account of its graphic description of the restless viking age. The same may be said of a fragment on some old kings (Sögubrot) which tells of Ivar Vidfadme and of the Bravalla Battle (the death of Harald Hildetooth) and other things, and is possibly a fragment of the Skjoldunga Saga, mentioned by Snorre, but not now extant.
A remarkable blending of history and myths is the Nornagests Saga, which pretends to belong to the age of Olaf Trygvason and seeks in a truly masterly manner to make historical characters of Sigurd, the Slayer of Father, Starkad and others. A characteristic example, illustrating the effort to establish a more or less immediate connection between the traditions and the historic time, is furnished by the Story of Sorle, which presents to us the remarkable and truly Norse heathen tale of the endless conflict between Hedin and Hogne, a conflict which, produced by an incantation, is finally ended by one of Olaf Trygvason's warriors. Some of the sagas were doubtless originally based on facts, but the telling and retelling have changed them into pure myths. This is, for instance, true of the saga of Orvarodd (Arrow-Odd) and in a still more marked degree of the sagas of Ketil Hæng, of Grim Lodinkinn, and others, which are connected with the saga of Orvarodd and of others which all deal with Norwegian affairs.[28]
In reference to Iceland, this love for the mythical is prominent in several of the family sagas, as, for example, in the Grettis Saga, where, however, fact decidedly predominates over fiction, while the reverse is the case in the Kjalnesinga saga. Finally this tendency develops completely into folk-tales, as in the saga of Bárd Snæfelláss and others. Among Norwegian fictions of this kind may be mentioned the sagas of Hromund Greipsson, of Gautrek and Herraud, and of Bose.
In this field, in which obscure and confused recollections of antiquity naturally, yet lingered for some time, there was still life, after literature had ceased to be produced, and all the northern lands, but especially Norway, are rich in folk-lore tales in which are found reminiscences of the olden time. The creation of folk-lore extends in the North as elsewhere into the remotest antiquity, into a time when there is not a single trace of the literary productions described in this work. When the literature of the middle ages, which surely for a ong time well-nigh monopolized the oral tradition, began to decline, the telling of folk-lore tales, which never had been entirely interrupted, revived, became for some time and to a certain extent united with the mythic and legendary products of antiquity, and — though less extensively— with foreign elements, and still continues to flourish among the com- mon people.[29]
In regard to literature, the propagation of which on northern soil contributed so much to the decline of genuine historical and poetical taste, and thus to the undermining of the peculiarly Norse literary development, we may be very brief. It consisted of romances and romantic poems full of strange adventures and sentimental love-stories, which were imported from Germany, France and England, and were written partly in Latin, partly in the vernaculars of those countries. The bulk of them were French, and either originally written in this language or translated from the Breton, which was spoken by the aboriginal Celtic population of France and England, and which long continued to flourish in popular literature among the inhabitants of Wales and Bretagne, whither the Celts gradually were forced to retire. From the thirteenth century translations and adaptations of such romances were zealously read in the higher circles in the North, and they became more and more popular until they at last displaced all other light reading. Of many of these books it is known with certainty that Norwegian kings or princes secured their translation, and to what extent this work of translation was carried may be inferred from the fact that an Icelandic scholar, who wrote a history of literature about the end of the last century, was able to give the titles of more than one hundred translated romances of this kind. Among the most noteworthy ones may be mentioned the Trojamanna sagas and the Breta sagas (sagas of the Bretons), and also Gunlaug Leifsson's poem, Meelinus spá, a talented imitation of the forms of the most ancient poetry. The first of these sagas is a romantic description of the Trojan war, a very popular theme during the middle ages, and the Breta sagas is an adaptation of one of the fabulous chronicles (Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Britonum), of which the middle ages produced so large a number. A free transprosing of the Latin poem, Alexandreis (from the year 1200), is the Alexander Magnus Saga, and the Karlamagnus Saga is a prose translation of one of the French Chansons de geste. The Strengleikar or Ljóðabók (stringed instrument or song-book) is a translation of the old Breton popular poem, "Lais," into prose. Of genuine romantic works we may mention Tristram and Isodd's Saga, Flore's Saga, and Blankiflur's Saga.[30]
A branch of literature in which the foreign influence also was felt in a marked degree are the legendary sagas, Some of them are of Norwegian origin, as for instance the story of Albanus and Sunniva and of the Saints in Selja, but their number is insignificant as compared with the multitude of translations. Many of these have already been published, as the Mariu Saga (Virgin Mary), the Postula Sögur (sagas of the Apostles), that of Edward the Confessor, etc.[31] The most important one of them is the Barlaams and Josafat's Saga, originally written in Greek by Johannes Damascenus in the eighth century. It is a religious poem, translated from the Latin into Icelandic prose by King Hakon Sverrsson. In addition to these religious stories there is a considerable number of Icelandic and Norwegian homilies or theological sermons, partly of a moral or dogmatic and partly of a legendary character. Some of them are original, while others are translations. The most prominent theological work is the Lucidarius, translated from the Latin, a presentation of the principal Christian doctrines in the form of a dialogue. The first attempt at a Bible translation, the so-called Stjorn, is from the fourteenth century, and is a free retelling of the historical books of the Old Testament, with many additions from Josephus, the church fathers, etc.[32]
One branch of literature, highly appreciated by the inhabitants of the North and probably put in writing earlier than any other, a branch wonderfully developed by oral tradition even before writing came into general use, was that which embraced laws and judicial proceedings. All northern law-books handed down from antiquity are of the greatest importance in the study of the history of civilization and in the study of philology, and they furnish the most satisfactory evidence of the keen sense of justice developed among the inhabitants of the several northern countries in harmony with their social conditions. The mediæval Danish and Swedish laws will be discussed in connection with the literatures of these countries, and we shall here speak only of the Norwegian and Icelandic laws, these being both in respect to language and substance most immediately related to the olden time.
The code of laws for Iceland during the republic bears the strange name Grágás (gray goose—wild goose). It is based on the laws and institutions which the Icelander Ulfljot, after the island had become thoroughly settled and the need of a common law for the whole land was fully appreciated, brought with him from Norway, whither he had gone to study the institutions of Norway at the feet of Thorleif the Wise, and frame a code of laws for Iceland. When in 928 the first Althing for the whole island met at Thingvellir, it accepted Ulfljot's code as the law of the land. In the year 1117 it was revised by a committee of men learned in the law, and for the first time put in writing, and thus it is probable that Iceland was the first northern country to receive a written law. In its present form the "Graygoose" is made up of parts belonging to different epochs, but all pointing to an older source, so that, taken as a whole, it must be regarded as one work, the fruit of the labor of many generations. Characteristic of the "Graygoose" in a higher degree than of any other old Norse law-book is the remarkable and practical common sense on which it is based throughout. The legal regulations are unusually clear and comprehensive; special cases are provided for with the greatest sagacity; in short, it is in all respects an able record of a system which proceeded from the people and was developed by the people. Justly has it been said of this splendid work, that although the Roman law had no influence on its legal provisions, still a Roman spirit may in many instances be traced, and that the technical accuracy of its law-terms, the thorough development of its judicial and legal forms, and its fine distinctions, give evidence of a higher degree of civil culture than is usually conceded to the olden North.
After Iceland had been subjugated to Norway it received a code which is called after King Hakon Hakonson, who began its compilation on the basis of the old law-book, Hakonarbók, but which, on account of the severe punishments it provided, also was styled Járnsíða (Ironside). This work was, however, never completed for reason of the Icelanders' great dissatisfaction with it. Hakon's successor, Magnus, therefore, began the compilation anew, and founded his laws on other principles. The code thus completed was adopted in the year 1280 and was called Jónsbók after Jon Einarsson, who had the greater share in its compilation. It is in part, particularly in respect to agrarian laws, still the law of Iceland.
Christianity, which was introduced in Iceland in the year 1000, did not for a long time have any important influence on the secular legislation. Ecclesiastical laws were soon enacted. The first general ecclesiastical law for Iceland, Keistinrètte hinn gamli (the old Christian law), was enacted in the year 1123 and remained in force until the beginning of the fourteenth century, when it was replaced by a new code, Kristinrèttr hinn nýi.[33]
Norway was originally divided into four judicial districts, and each had in an early day its own code, which after the respective districts was called Frostathingslög, Gulathingslög, Eidsivathingslög and Borgarthingslög (log meaning law). The first two are ascribed to Hakon the Good (934-660), and the Eidsivathingslög is even attributed to Halfdan the Swarthy (820-860), while the Borgarthsingslög seems to be much more recent. The changes in these laws, made necessary by the introduction of Christianity, were introduced by Olaf the Saint, who appended a special ecclesiastical code to each one of them. The Gulathingslög and Frostathingslög are preserved tolerably complete, though we have them only in revisions from a much later date, while the Borgarthingslög and Eidsivathingslög are extant only in fragments, especially of the ecclesiastical appendices. During the reign of King Magnus Hakonson (1263-1280), the so-called Law-mender (Lagabætir), these district codes were replaced by one for the whole land, and this continued in force until 1604. Of the remaining law-works from the middle ages we may mention the elder code of municipal laws, of which we possess fragments, one of which belongs to the oldest legal documents we have, the younger code of municipal laws, given by Magnus Hakonson, and the ecclesiastical law, framed by Archbishop Jon Raudi (1268-1283). This last named law was taken as a model for the younger ecclesiastical code of Iceland, and the powerful prelate of Throndhjem wanted it introduced into all Norway to replace the special church-laws in the same manner as the general civil code had replaced the district codes, a desire which was not fulfilled. Nor must we forget to mention one of the many legal works of Magnus Hakonson, his Hirdskrá, or laws for the king's courtiers (hird), which was framed on the basis of old accepted customs.
A work that holds a peculiar place in Norway's old literature is the remarkable and unique book called Konungs Skuggsjá (the King's Mirror), which belongs to the first half of the thirteenth century. In it a noble, talented man, who in learning was fully abreast with his age, has laid down his philosophy of life, and especially his views on government and morals, in the form of a dialogue between father and son. The book, which is written in an attractive and pleasing style, also contains rules for the acquirement of good manners. Thus it is a sort of precursor of the modern "good manner" works, and, on account of the picture it gives of olden mariners and fashions, it is of the greatest interest.[34]
- ↑ L. F. A. Wimmer: Runeskriftens Oprindelse og Udvikling i Norden. Copenhagen, 1874.
- ↑ The most elaborate work on the old runes is "The Old Northern Runic Monuments," by George Stephens, in two folio volumes, profusely illustrated. London, 1866–68.
- ↑ Landnamstid, the time of land-taking, from the Old Norse nema land.
- ↑ Edda means great-grandmother—the word occurs in this sense in the old poem Rigsmál and elsewhere—and this name of the old collection of poems from the past was suggested by their venerable age. Meanwhile the word has another signification, meaning also that which is excellent or remarkably good. Jacob Grimm derives Edda from the root iz, azd, uzd (Mœsogothic izdan, azd, plur. uzdun) from which we have Mœsogothic azd, genus nobile, Old High German art (Latin ars, art-is), Anglo-Saxon órd, Icelandic oddr, Danish odd, meaning point. According to this derivation Edda is the feminine form of the Icelanic oddr, signifying that which is at the point (at the highest point) and is analogous to the poetic expression in Icelandic aldar oddr, princeps virorum.
- ↑ The last and best critical edition of Elder Edda is Sophus Bugge's, Christiania, 1867. For a fuller account of the contents of the Eddas, the reader is referred to Anderson's Norse Mythology.
- ↑ Carl Säve: Sigurðs-ristningarna å Ramsunds-Berget och Göks-Stenen, tvänne fornsvenska minnesmärken om Sigurd Fafnesbane. Kgl. Vitterhets Historia och Antiquitets Akademiens Handlingar XXVI. Stockholm, 1869.
- ↑ K. Maurer: Ueber die Ausdrücke: altnordische, altnorwegische und altisländische Sprache. München, 1867. S. Grundtvig: Udsigt over den nordiske Oldtids heroiske Digtning. Copenhagen, 1867. Om Nordens gamle Literatur. Copenhagen, 1867. Er Nordens gamle Literatur norsk, eller er den dels islandsk og dels nordisk? Copenhagen, 1869. G. Storm: Om den gamle norröne Literatur. Christiania, 1869. M. B. Rickert: Om nordisk bildning och fornnordisk literatur. Lund, 1869. P. E. Müller: Untersuchungen über die Geschichte und das Verhaltniss der nordishen nnd deutschen Heldensage, mit Hinzufügung erklarender, berichtigender und ergänzender Anmärkungen und Excurse, übers. und krit. bearbeitet von G. Lange. Frankfurt a. M. 1882.
- ↑ There were two kinds of hymns of praise, namely the drápa (Icelandic plur. drápur) and the flok; the former was the longer, and upon the whole the more esteemed, and it usually had a sort of refrain (Stef).
- ↑ It is found attached to Heimskringla, and was formerly ascribed to Snorre. The Kings' Book itself is lost.
- ↑ The best edition of The Younger Edda is that published by The Arna-Magnean Commission: Edda Snorra Sturlasonar or Edda Snorronis Sturlæi, I–II: Hefniæ, 1848–52. A smaller, more handy edition was edited by Thorleif Jónsson, Copenhagen, 1875. The Younger Edda, translated by R. B. Anderson, Chicago, 1879. Wilkin: Untersuchungen zur Snorra-Edda, Paderborn, 1878.
- ↑ An example of Fornyrdalag:
Heiði hana hétu Seid hon hvars hon kunni,
Hvars til húsa kom Seid hon hugleikin,
Völu velspá Æ var hon angan
Vitti hon ganda; Illrar bruðar.
Elder Edda. Völuspa, 22.
In this it is to be noted that the alliterations in the seventh and eighth lines are in every way perfect, for according to the rules of Old Norse poetry, it was only necessary that the consonants should be the same. This applies also to the double consonants st, sk, and sp. If the alliterated words on the other hand began with a vowel, it was thought most elegant to vary the vowels, as in the example given above.
The following is an example of Ljódaháttr:
Deyr fé. Ek veit einn
Deyja frændr At aldri deyr
Deyr sjálfr it sama Dómr umdauðan hvern
Elder Edda. Havamál, 77. - ↑ An example of a Dróttkvæði:
Bramáni skein bruna
Brims of ljósum himni
Hristar hörvi glæstrar
Haukfránn á mik lauka
En sá geisli syslir
Siðan gullmens Friðar
Hvarma tungls oy hringa
Hlinar othurft mina.
The italics show alliteration, perfect and half rhymes. - ↑ This is a good example:
Haki Kraki
hamdi framdi
geirum eirum
gotna flotna
That is to say: Hake hamdi geirum gotna—Hake conquered the men with weapons; Krake framdi eirum flotna—Krake strengthened the men with peace. - ↑ In order to convey a more distinct idea of how these metaphors appeared in the verses of the skalds, we refer our readers to the example of a Dróttkvæði, which we gave on page 36. The stanza is taken from the Icelandic skald Gunlaug Ormstunga (the serpent-tongued). We here append a literal translation, with notes on the metaphors: "The moon of the eye-brows1 of the white-clad goddess of the onion soup2 shone beaming on me as that of a falcon from the clear heaven of the eye-brows,3 but the beaming splendor from the moon of the eyelids4 of the goddess of the gold ring5 causes since then the unhappiness of me and of the goddess of the ring." 6
1The moon of the eye-brows, the eye. 2The goddess of the onion soup, i.e., the one who prepares the onion soup is a "poetical" (!) metaphor for woman. 3The heaven of the eye-brows, the forehead. 4The moon of the eye-lids, the eye. 5The goddess of the gold ring, and 6the goddess of the ring, are expressions for woman.
In prose this would then mean: "The eye of the white-clad woman shone beaming as that of a falcon on me from her forehead, but the beaming splendor of her eye causes mine and the woman's unhappiness. - ↑ R. Kr. Rask; Die Verslehre der Islander, Verdeutscht von G. Chr. F. Mohnike, Berlin, 1830. Fr. Chr. Dietrich: Ueber Ljoðhátter (Haupts Zeitschrift f. deutsches Alterth. III), J. Olafsen: Om Nordens gamle Digtekunst, Copengan, 1786. Ruhs: Ueber die Ursprung des isl. Poesie, Berlin, 1873.
- ↑ Fornyrdalag, a kind of old metre, also called kviðu-háttr.
- ↑ Ljoðaháttr, the kind of metre used in the Hávamál.
- ↑ Gudbrand Vigfusson explains Skaldapillir to mean "skaldspoiler," that is as a nickname equivalent to poetaster or plagiarist. He thinks this nickname was given to Eyvind Finuson because two of his chief poems were modelled after other works of contemporary poets, the Haleygjatal after the Ynglirjgatal and the Hakonarmál after the Eiriksmál. Translator.
- ↑ The original, with an introduction and metrical translation by Eirikr Magnusson, appeared a few years ago in England.— Tr.
- ↑ The word saga (Icl. pl., Sögur) means a saying, telling.
- ↑ P. E. Müller: Ueber den Ursprung, die Blüthe und den Untergang der isländ. Geschichtsschreibung, übers. von G. Mohnike. Th. Möbius: Ueber die ältere isländische Saga, Leipzig, 1852. K. Maurer: Ueber Ari Thorgilsson und sein Isländerbuch (Pfeiffer's Germania XV). E. Chr. Worlauff: De Arlo Multiscio, Hafniæ, 1808.
- ↑ The Landnamabók has frequently been published. The last and best edition appeared in Copenhagen in 1843.
- ↑ Islendingabók in Islendinga sógur I. Copenhagen, 1843. Kristnisaga cum interpretatione Lat. Hafniae, 1773. O. Brenner: Ueber die Kristni-Saga, München, 1878.
- ↑ Sturlunga Saga edited with Prolegomena, Appendices, Tables, Indices and Maps, by Gudbrand Vigfusson, I-II, Oxford, 1878. Njala I (Text), Copenhagen, 1875. II, Copenhagen, 1879. Sagan af Agli Skallagrimssyni, Reykjavik, 1856. Egils Saga cum interpretatione latina, Hafniæ, 1809. E. Jessen, Glaubwürdigkeit der Egils-Saga und anderer Isländer Sagas. (Hist. Zeitschr. XIV 1872.) Gunn- laugs Saga ormstungu ok Hrafns cum interpretatione latina, Hafniae, 1775. Gunnlaugs Saga ormstungu ved Ole Rygh, Christiania, 1862. It is also published in the Islendinga Sögur, II, Copenhagen, 1847. Eyrbyggja Saga cum versione latina, Hafniæ, 1787. Eyrbyggja Saga, edited by Gudbrand Vigfusson, Leipzig, 1864. Laxdæla Saga cum interpretatione latina, Hafniæ, 1826. Kormaks Saga cum interpretatione latina, Hafniæ, 1832. In Nordiske Oldskrifter, edited by Det nordiske Literatursamfund, the following sagas are found in the original, and with Danish translations: Sagan af Hrafnkeli Freysgoða, Copenhagen, 1847. Sagan af Birni Hitdælakappa, Copenhagen, 1847. Vapnfirdinga Saga, Copenhagen, 1858. Tvær sögur af Gisla Súrssyni, Copenhagen, 1849. Eostbrædra Saga, Copenhagen, 1852. Grettis Saga, Copenhagen, 1853. Hávarðar Saga Isfirðing, Copenhagen, 1860. In the Islendinga Sögur, I-II, Copenhagen, 1829-30 are found the following: Ljosvetninga Saga and Vigaglums Saga. In the Islendinga Sögur, I-II, Copenhagen, 1843-47, are found: Harðar Saga Grimkelssonar ok Geirs; Sagan af Viga Styr ok Heiðarvigum; Hænsathoris Saga, and Sagan af Hrafni ok Gunnlangi ormstungu. In the Fornsögur, edited by G. Vigfusson and Th. Möbius, Leipzig, 1860, are found: Vatnsdæla Saga, Hallfreðar Saga and Floamanna Saga. In Abhdlg. der kgl. bayr. Akademie der Wissenschaften for 1871 is found an article by Dr. Konrad Maurer, entitled: Ueber die Hænsathoris Saga.
- ↑ These attempts to make Latin the literary language of Norway stand alone. A similar one was made in Iceland, where the monks, Odd Snorrason (died 1200) and Gunlaug Leifsson (died 1218), in the Thingeyra Cloister produced works on Olaf Trygvason in the Latin language. The originals are lost and the works are known only through Icelandic translations and adaptations.
- ↑ A. Gjessing: Undersögelse om Kongesagaens Fremvæxt I., Christiania, 1873. P. E. Müller: Kritisk Undersögelse af Danmarks og Norges Sagnhistorie (on the sources of Saxo and Snorre), Copenhagen, 1833. G, Storm: Snorre Sturlasons Historieskrivning, Copenhagen, 1873. Th. Möbius: Ueber die Heimskringla (in Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie V, 1874). Rosselet: De Snorrone Sturlæi, Berlin, 1853. Heimskringla eller Norges Kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlason, edited by C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1868. P. Wachter: Snorre Sturlasons Weltkreis (Heimskringla), übersetzt und erläutert, Leipzig, 1835-36. Konunga Sögur, Sagaer om Sverre og hans Efterfölgere, edited by C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1873. Fagrskinna, edited by P. A. Munch and C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1847. Morkinskinna, edited by C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1867. Fornmanna Sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutum hins Konungsliga Norræna Fornfræða félaga I-IX, Copenhagen, 1825-37, with Latin translations: Scripta historica Islandorum de rebus gestis veterum Borealium I-XII, Copenhagen, 1828-46.
- ↑ Flateyarbók, Christianla, I-III, 1860-68. Anderson, America not discovered by Columbus, Chicago, 1883.
- ↑ The collection called Fornaldar Sögur, edited by C. C. Rafn, I-III, Copenhagen, 1829-30, contains among others the following mythic-heroic sagas: Vol. I: Saga af Hrólfi konungi kraka ok köppum hans; Völsunga Saga; Saga af Ragnari konungi loðbrók ok sonum hans; Sögutháttr af Norna-Gesti; Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum; Sörla Tháttr; Hervarar Saga ok Heiðrek's konungs. Vol. II: Saga af Halfi ok Hálfsrekkum; Friðthjof's Saga ens frækna; Saga Ketils hængs; Saga Grims loðinkinna; Örvar-Odds Saga; Saga af Hromundi Greipssyni. Vol. III: Saga Gautreks konungs; Saga Herrauðs ok Bósa. R. B. Anderson's Viking Tales of the North, Chicago, 1882, contains an English translation of Friðthjof's Saga and of the Saga of Thorstein Vikingsson. The collection Norröne Skrifter af sagn-historisk Indhold, edited by Sophus Bugge, Christiania 1864-73, contains: Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum; Sögutháttr af Norna-Gesti, Völsunga Saga; Hervarar Saga ok Heiðreks. Saga Thiðreks konungs af Bern, edited by C. R. Unger, Christiania 1853. Nordische Heldenromane, translated into German by F. H. v. d. Hagan, I-V, Breslau 1814—28, contains Dietrichs von Bern Saga; Volsunga Saga; Ragnar Lodbroks Saga; and Nornagests Saga. Of the Dietrichs von Bern Saga there is a second edition, entitled: Wilkina und Niflunga Saga, I-II, Breslau, 1855. G. T. Dippold: Geibels Brunhild, Boston, 1883. G. T. Dippold: The Great Epics of Mediæval Germany, Boston, 1882. Auber Forestier: Echoes from Mistland, Chicago.
- ↑ Jón Arason: Islenzkar Thoðsögur ok Æfintyri, I-II, Leipsic, 1863-64. Asbjörnsen og Moe: Norske Folke-Eventyr, fourth edition, Copenhagen, 1868. P. C. Asbjörnsen, Norske Huldre-Eventyr og Folkesagn, third edition, Christiania, 1870. P. C. Asbjörnsen: Norske Folke-Eventyr, Ny Samling, second edition, Copenhagen, 1876. Thiele: Danmark's Folkesagn, I—III, Copenhagen, 1843-60. S. Grundtvig: Danske Folke-Eventyr, I-II, Copenhagen, 1876-78. A. A. Afzelius: Svenska Folkets Sagohäfder, I-II, Stockholm, 1839-40. G. O. Hyltén-Cavallius and G. Stevens: Svenska Folke-Sagor och Æfventyr, I, Stockholm, 1844-49.
- ↑ The most of these romances are found in "Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie," (Copenhagen). Alexander's Saga, edited by C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1848. Strengleikar, edited by R. Keiser and C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1850. E. Kölbing: Ueber islandische Bearbeitung fremder Stoffe (Pfeiffers Germania XVII). Kölbing: Zur älteren romantischen Literatur im Norden (Germania XX). G. Storm: Sagnkredsene om Karl den Store og Didrick af Bern, Christiania, 1874.
- ↑ Unger published "Heilagra Manna Saga" in 1877, and Thorwald Bjarnarson "Leifarforna Kristinna Fræða Islenzkra" in 1878.
- ↑ Barlaams Saga ok Josaphast, edited by R. Keyser and C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1853-62.
- ↑ K. Maurer: Ueberblick über die Geschichte der nordgermanishen Rechtsquellen (Holzendorffs Encyclopädie der Rechtswissenshaft, I). V. Finsen: Om de islandske Love i Frihedstiden (Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1873). K. Maurer: Grágás (Ersch und Grüber's Encyclopädie, LXXVII). K. Maurer: Ueber das Alter einiger isländischer Rechtsbücher (Germania XV). Grágás. Islændernes Lovbog i Fristatens Tid, edited by V. Finsen, I-II, Copenhagen, 1852. Grágás, efter det Arnæmagnæanske Hdsk., Nr. 334 fol. (Staðarholsbók), edited by V. Finsen, Copenhagen, 1879. Hinforna lögbók Islendinga sem nefnist Jarnsiða eðr Hákonarbók. Codex juris Islandorum antiquus, qui nominatur Jarnsida seu liber Haconis, Hafniæ, 1849. Jónsbók, last edition, Akureyri, 1858. Kristinrèttr inn gamli, Hafniä, 1775.Kristinrèttr inn nyi, Hafniæ, 1777.
- ↑ Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, I-III, edited by R. Keyser and P. A. Munch, Christiania, 1846-49. K. Maurer: Gulathingslög (Ersch und Gruber's Encyclopädie, I, Section XCVII). K. Maurer: Die Entstehungszeit der älteren Frostathingslög, Munich, 1875. Speculum regale; Konungs Skuggsjá; Kongespellet, edited by R. Keyser, P. A. Munch, and C. R. Unger, Christiania, 1848.