134:. In centuries past, they were considered to be reliable historic sources by Scandinavian scholars, but since the 19th century, they have been considered to contain very little historic material. The present consensus is that, although some of the sagas contain a small core which is not fiction, or are based on historical characters, the primary function of the legendary sagas was entertainment, and the aim of the sagas has not been to present a historically accurate tale. Recently, however, it has been emphasized that the sagas are useful sources for the culture of 13th and 14th century Iceland, "in terms of the light that they can shed on the culture in which they were composed" i.e. Iceland in the later Middle Ages. In the words of Margaret Clunies Ross,
225:
31:
142:
lend themselves to interpretation, not as realistic narratives, but rather as subjects dealing with deep and disturbing issues that cannot be approached from the perspective of the mundane world but must rather be enacted in a literary world in which often taboo subjects can be raised and aired,
257:
have generally held the legendary sagas in less esteem, in terms of their literary value, than the
Icelanders' sagas. The content is often less realistic, the characters more two-dimensional, and the sagas often borrow themes from each other, and from folk tales. In these aspects of style and
236:
and complexes of motifs from many types of legend of which there is otherwise no documentation in
Scandinavia prior to the mid-19th century. They are also of great value for scholars studying medieval Scandinavian ballads, particularly the Faroese
74:, which takes place in the 11th century. The sagas were probably all written in Iceland, from about the middle of the 13th century to about 1400, although it is possible that some may be of a later date, such as
911:
Fornaldarsögur norðurlanda: A bibliography of manuscripts, editions, translations and secondary literature compiled by M. J. Driscoll & Silvia
Hufnagel, Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen
112:
and the conversion of
Scandinavia, but occasionally it moves temporarily to more distant and exotic locations or has its characters encounter Christian cultures (one example of both being
578:- A late saga of Swedish origin, which takes place in the 11th century and the historic basis of which is indisputable thanks to the fact that there are corroborating historic sources.
175:
during the period c. 150-450, and the last part of the saga is used as a historic source for
Swedish history. Indeed, they often contain very old Germanic matter, such as the
992:
355:
241:, which are often based on the same matters. Moreover, they are also very important for the study of Scandinavian and Germanic heroic legends together with
92:
are similar to various other saga-genres, but tend towards fairly linear, episodic narratives. Like sagas in other genres, many quote verse, but in the
1002:
370:
952:
435:- a saga which may be of Swedish origin containing Swedish, Geatish and Gothic heroes. This saga still serves as a source for Swedish historians.
1142:
1007:
655:
846:
377:
279:
870:
Gödel, Vilhelm, “Hjalmars och
Hramers saga. Ett literärt falsarium från 1690”, Svenska fornminnesföreningens tidskrift 9(2) (1896): 137–54.
1112:
147:
Some of the sagas are based on distant historic characters, and this is evident in cases where there are corroborating sources, such as
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603:
439:
858:
815:
1137:
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412:
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155:
70:
945:
363:
1067:
1057:
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1017:
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391:
336:
224:
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810:. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
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1214:
1107:
938:
535:
1102:
1092:
1022:
972:
770:"Changing style and changing meaning: Icelandic historiography and the medieval redactions of Heiðreks saga"
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619:
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A presentation of the
Fornaldarsögur in Old Norse with all available English translations online.
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Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingtid til reformasjonstid, bd. 4
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kind, where a young man delivers a troll woman and her beautiful daughter from a curse.
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though not necessarily resolved. They may also be treated in a comic or parodic vein.
119:
101:
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916:
Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda in Old Norse and modern
Norwegian from heimskringla.no
1193:
543:
470:
238:
193:
105:
97:
17:
547:- A remnant of a larger work dealing with the Swedish and Danish kings of old.
487:
57:
254:
232:
The
Fornaldarsagas have great value for legend research, since they contain
210:
269:
The legendary sagas have influenced later writers, for instance the Swede
920:
769:
450:- A saga about a Swedish warrior princess who is won by a Geatish prince.
347:
342:
172:
188:
910:
930:
921:
Online publication of the legendary sagas in the original language
223:
123:
29:
934:
301:, with information about manuscripts, bibliography, etc., see
474:, a lost saga, and also one of the names of a post-medieval
283:. One such saga was even forged in the early modern period:
118:). There are also very often mythological elements, such as
751:
Else Mundal, "Sagalitteraturen", in Odd Einar Haugen (ed.)
104:
found in most other saga genres). The setting is primarily
839:
Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till
Sveriges Enande
792:
The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic Saga
733:
The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic Saga
458:; A saga which is related to the Old English poem Beowulf.
251:
which was based on the same heroic poetry and traditions.
423:- A Norwegian legend, the hero of which is compared to
794:(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 80.
735:(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 77.
56:(literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a
1113:
Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum í Dana ok Svíaveldi
303:
1156:
266:, particularly those composed in medieval Iceland.
217:overlap in genre and occasionally content with the
171:, it conveys names of historical places in present
849:pp. 154, 158, 160 and Lagerquist, Lars O. (1997).
304:Stories for all time: The Icelandic fornaldarsögur
197:and which would otherwise have been lost (see the
138:The themes, characters and the whole world of the
700:
698:
96:that verse is almost invariably in the metre of
617:
353:
993:Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana
946:
356:Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana
8:
563:
504:, thought to have existed as the source of
953:
939:
931:
851:Sveriges Regenter, från forntid till nutid
678:
676:
674:
672:
747:
745:
743:
741:
297:For a comprehensive list of the medieval
531:a legendary Viking warrior and his sons.
228:Hjorvard and Hjalmar propose to Ingeborg
201:). Other sagas deal with heroes such as
668:
763:
761:
888:. New Haven, CT: Troth Publications.
68:. There are some exceptions, such as
7:
191:that did not find its way into the
25:
1043:Heiðreks saga konungs ok Hervarar
900:(Tale of Jokul Buason, pp. 53-64)
539:- A prequel to Göngu-Hrólfs Saga.
1038:Hálfs saga konungs ok Hálfsrekka
837:(1990), Larsson, Mats G (2002).
486:A saga of the more traditional
213:. In these respects, then, the
1003:Frá Fornjóti ok hans ættmönnum
562:- The Scandinavian version of
371:Frá Fornjóti ok hans ættmönnum
1:
1033:Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar
413:Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar
187:which contains poetry about
39:("times past"); painting by
1138:Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar
1013:Gautreks saga ok Gjafa-Refs
590:Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar
1236:
1143:Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns
1028:Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra
886:Sagas of Giants and Heroes
841:. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB
656:Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns
527:(two versions) - Sagas of
406:Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra
1073:Högna saga Hálfdanarsonar
1068:Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
1058:Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar
968:
753:Handbok i norrøn filologi
721:The Literary Encyclopedia
502:Ormars saga Fraðmarssonar
463:Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
447:Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar
432:Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
378:Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna
286:Hjalmars och Hramers saga
280:Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna
262:tend to overlap with the
108:in the time prior to the
64:, takes place before the
1108:Sturlaugs saga starfsama
1078:Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra
853:. Norstedts, Stockholm.
544:Sögubrot af fornkonungum
536:Sturlaugs saga starfsama
483:Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra
420:Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka
84:Description of the sagas
983:Ásmundar saga kappabana
973:Af Upplendinga konungum
790:Margaret Clunies Ross,
731:Margaret Clunies Ross,
707:, "Fornaldarsögur", in
320:Ásmundar saga kappabana
1220:History of Scandinavia
1098:Ragnars saga loðbrókar
1053:Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis
1048:Helga þáttr Þórissonar
884:Waggoner, Ben (2010).
618:
604:Helga þáttr Þórissonar
597:Þættir (short stories)
564:
524:Ragnars saga loðbrókar
440:Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis
354:
323:- A saga based on the
229:
150:Ragnars saga loðbrókar
43:
1083:Ingvars saga víðförla
1018:Gríms saga loðinkinna
1008:Friðþjófs saga frækna
988:Bósa saga ok Herrauðs
611:Jökuls þáttr Búasonar
575:Yngvars saga víðförla
392:Gríms saga loðinkinna
337:Bósa saga ok Herrauðs
227:
156:Yngvars saga víðförla
110:settlement of Iceland
71:Yngvars saga víðförla
66:settlement of Iceland
33:
1123:Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
998:Eiríks saga víðförla
834:Nationalencyklopedin
827:e.g. in the article
774:Scandinavian Studies
689:Nationalencyklopedin
642:Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
364:Eireks saga víðförla
1184:Sagas of Icelanders
978:Áns saga bogsveigis
705:Einar Ól. Sveinsson
313:Áns saga bogsveigis
27:Genre of Norse saga
1174:Contemporary sagas
861:pp. 26, 42, 44, 45
808:The origin of Rus'
711:(Copenhagen, 1959)
230:
88:In terms of form,
44:
41:Peter Nicolai Arbo
1202:
1201:
1157:Other saga genres
1118:Sörla saga sterka
1103:Ragnarssona þáttr
1093:Norna-Gests þáttr
1088:Ketils saga hængs
1063:Hrólfs saga kraka
1023:Göngu-Hrólfs saga
847:978-91-7486-641-4
628:Ragnarssona þáttr
620:Norna-Gests þáttr
552:Sörla saga sterka
495:Ketils saga hœngs
455:Hrólfs saga kraka
399:Göngu-Hrólfs saga
329:Lay of Hildebrand
293:List of the sagas
165:. In the case of
77:Hrólfs saga kraka
62:Icelanders' sagas
60:that, unlike the
16:(Redirected from
1227:
1133:Þjalar-Jóns saga
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948:
941:
932:
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804:Pritsak, Omeljan
801:
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768:A. Hall (2005),
765:
756:
749:
736:
729:
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712:
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693:
680:
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583:Þjalar-Jóns saga
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359:
243:Saxo Grammaticus
21:
1235:
1234:
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1215:Legendary sagas
1205:
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1169:Chivalric sagas
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1148:Örvar-Odds saga
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277:, based on the
275:Frithiof's saga
264:Chivalric sagas
258:reception, the
115:Örvar-Odds saga
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28:
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18:Legendary sagas
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895:978-0578059334
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755:(Bergen, 2004)
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559:Völsunga saga
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385:Gautreks saga
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271:Esaias Tegnér
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248:Gesta Danorum
244:
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184:Völsunga saga
180:
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178:Hervarar saga
174:
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168:Hervarar saga
164:
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162:Völsunga saga
158:
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141:
140:fornaldarsaga
137:
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102:skaldic verse
99:
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55:
54:
53:fornaldarsaga
49:
42:
38:
37:
32:
19:
1179:Kings' sagas
885:
878:Translations
866:
850:
838:
832:
828:
823:
807:
799:
791:
786:
777:
773:
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732:
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708:
687:
683:
682:The article
654:
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588:
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507:Ormars rímur
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274:
273:, who wrote
268:
259:
255:Philologists
253:
246:
231:
219:Kings' sagas
214:
199:Great Lacuna
192:
182:
176:
166:
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154:
148:
146:
139:
113:
100:(unlike the
98:Eddaic verse
93:
89:
87:
75:
69:
52:
51:
47:
45:
35:
34:
1194:Short tales
649:Völsa þáttr
635:Sörla þáttr
471:Huldar saga
425:Hrólf Kraki
207:Hrólf Kraki
194:Poetic Edda
106:Scandinavia
1209:Categories
806:. (1981).
780:: at p. 1.
515:Örvar-Odds
488:fairy tale
58:Norse saga
829:Blot-Sven
211:Orvar-Odd
36:Fornalder
181:and the
350:heroes.
348:Geatish
346:it has
343:Beowulf
340:- like
173:Ukraine
120:dwarves
892:
857:
845:
818:p. 214
814:
692:(1991)
325:German
234:motifs
189:Sigurd
128:giants
663:Notes
239:kvæði
132:magic
124:elves
890:ISBN
855:ISBN
843:ISBN
812:ISBN
517:saga
209:and
159:and
130:and
831:in
686:in
50:or
1211::
778:77
776:,
772:,
760:^
740:^
697:^
671:^
307:.
289:.
245:'
221:.
205:,
153:,
126:,
122:,
80:.
46:A
954:e
947:t
940:v
898:.
616:'
570:.
510:.
500:*
478:.
469:*
427:.
332:.
20:)
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