Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature
- The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Contexts
- Part II The Distant Past
- Part III The Saga Age
- Part IV The New Christian World
- PART V Beyond Iceland
- 19 Kings’ Sagas
- 20 Diaspora Sagas
- 21 Riddarasögur
- 22 Rímur
- Part VI Compilations
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
19 - Kings’ Sagas
from PART V - Beyond Iceland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2024
- The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature
- The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Contexts
- Part II The Distant Past
- Part III The Saga Age
- Part IV The New Christian World
- PART V Beyond Iceland
- 19 Kings’ Sagas
- 20 Diaspora Sagas
- 21 Riddarasögur
- 22 Rímur
- Part VI Compilations
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter deals with the konungasögur, the sagas of the Norwegian and Danish kings. Taking a chronological approach, it outlines the development of the genre from the Icelandic, Danish and Norwegian histories of the twelfth century through to the major compilations of the thirteenth century (Morkinskinna, Fagrskinna and Heimskringla) and the substantial manuscript collections of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such as Flateyjarbók. It stresses the diversity of the sources which the authors of the kings’ sagas incorporated within their works, emphasizing the fundamentally intertextual nature of the konungasaga genre. In discussing the growth of the genre, it highlights the variety of voices, sources and modes contained within these sagas, exemplified in their different approaches to the skaldic verses quoted within their prosimetric structure. Placing Old Norse-Icelandic historiography within the context of historical writing in medieval Europe, the chapter argues that the kings’ sagas offer a polyphonic history of the medieval north, and in doing so explore the process of history-writing itself.
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- The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature , pp. 393 - 416Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
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