The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition: A Discourse on Method

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Translated by Nicholas Jones. This work explores the role of orality in shaping and evaluating medieval Icelandic literature. Applying field studies of oral cultures in modern times to this distinguished medieval literature, Gísli Sigurðsson asks how it would alter our reading of medieval Icelandic sagas if it were assumed they had grown out of a tradition of oral storytelling, similar to that observed in living cultures. Sigurðsson examines how orally trained lawspeakers regarded the emergent written culture, especially in light of the fact that the writing down of the law in the early twelfth century undermined their social status. Part II considers characters, genealogies, and events common to several sagas from the east of Iceland between which a written link cannot be established. Part III explores the immanent or mental map provided to the listening audience of the location of Vinland by the sagas about the Vinland voyages. Finally, this volume focuses on how accepted foundations for research on medieval texts are affected if an underlying oral tradition (of the kind we know from the modern field work) is assumed as part of their cultural background. This point is emphasized through the examination of parallel passages from two sagas and from mythological overlays in an otherwise secular text. Series Foreword Foreword Preface Acknowledgements for the English Translation Footnotes Introduction. Written Texts and Oral Traditions The Medieval World View and the Individuality of Iceland Oral Preservation, Latin Learning, and Snorri's "Edda" One story in skaldic verse, on stone, and in Hymiskviða Poetry and prose in Snorri’s "Edda" The Origins of the Sagas: Two Types of Theory Christianity and the Arrival of Literacy The development of saga writing in Iceland in light of Latin literature Three types of learned influence in the sagas Do Origins Matter for the Sagas as Literature? Direct References to Oral Tradition — Evidence of What? Impasse — And New Perspectives The Comparative Approach About This Research Footnotes Part I. Oral Tradition in Iceland in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 1. From Lawspeaker to Lawbook A Power Struggle between the Church and Secular Leaders? Power and Prestige in Oral Society Literacy and the Key to Power Ari’s Records of the Earliest Lawspeakers Pre-conversion lawspeakers by geographical region Lawspeakers after the conversion: increased emphasis on family connections Other records of the lawspeakers of whom Ari gives only names and family details Lawspeakers after the Earliest Writing of the Laws Guðmundr Þorgeirsson Hrafn Úlfheðinsson Finnr Hallsson from Hofteigur Gunnarr Úlfheðinsson and his probable bloodline Snorri Húnbogason Styrkárr Oddason Conclusions Three Main Groups of Lawspeakers in the 11th and 12th Centuries Conclusions Footnotes 2. Óláfr Þórðarson Hvítaskáld and the Oral Poetic Tradition in the West of Iceland c. 1250: The evidence of the verse citations in "The Third Grammatical Treatise" Collections, Anthologies, and the Literary Corpus Scholarly Neglect of Óláfr's Poetic Examples The Provenance of Óláfr's Citations Examples known from other written sources Examples not known from other written sources Conclusions Footnotes 3. Conclusions to Part I Part II. The Saga World of the East of Iceland 4. The Same Characters in More Than One Saga Literary Relations: Premises and Practices The "Austfirðingasögur": Single Entity or Discrete Works? The Same Character in More Than One Saga Brodd-Helgi Þorgilsson Sources other than "Þorsteins saga hvíta" and "Vápnfirðinga saga" Víga-Bjarni, son of Brodd-Helgi Geitir Lýtingsson Þorkell Geitisson Literary Relations between "Vápnfirðinga saga" and Other Sources Footnotes 5. The Same Event in More Than One Saga Parallel Genealogies Genealogies of the Droplaugarsons Genealogies of Helgi Ásbjarnarson Conclusions The 'Same' Events in Different Sagas The battle in Böðvarsdalur An ancestor of the Droplaugarsons wins a wife abroad The drowning of Helgi Ásbjarnarson’s first wife Helgi Droplaugarson kills Þorgrímr torðyfill Gunnarr Þiðrandabani Footnotes 6. Conclusions to Part II Footnotes Part III. The Sagas and Truth 7. The Saga Map of Vínland Floating Memories Viking sagas and archaeological remains The settlement of Iceland in the sagas and other sources Leifr Eiríksson, magical lands in the western ocean, and the Gaelic connection The Sagas and Other Records of Vínland The place of the Vínland sagas among the sagas of Icelanders L’Anse aux Meadows: viking remains in Newfoundland Two independent sagas — a re-examination The scholarly search for Vínland Using the Textual Evidence Advances in Vínland studies: oral lore, L’Anse aux Meadows, and the independence of the saga accounts The main voyages in popular memory Leifr’s Vínland: southwest of 'Markland' in the south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence: Prince Edward Island and the Miramichi Bay Straum(s)fjörður and Hóp: south and east of Leifr’s Vínland: the Bay of Fundy and the coast of New England The Limitations of Oral Evidence Footnotes Part IV. New Perspectives 8. Implications for Saga Research The Feud between Finnbogi the Strong and the Men of Hof Conflicting openings to the feud The winter wedding in Vatnsdalur The duel from conflicting perspectives The end of the affair Independent chronologies Conclusions Mythological Overlays in "Hoensa-Þóris saga" Source value, literary relations, the part of the ‘author,’ and social comment "Hoensa-Þóris saga" in interaction with oral tradition The killing of Helgi and the death of Baldr The root of evil and dual structure: "Hoensa-Þóris saga" and "Vǫluspá" Conclusions New Growths on Ancient Roots Repercussions Footnotes Bibliography Published Editions of Works Referenced by Page Number Other Sources Pronunciation Guide