Icelandic Sagas 0805765646, 9780805765649

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Icelandic Sagas

Tw ayne’s World Authors Series Scandinavian Literature Leif Sjöberg, Editor S ta te U n iversity o f New York a t Stony B rook

SkarSsbók, AM 350 fbl. The Jónsbók law codex from Skard. The historiated initial S represents terms of passage confirmed with a handshake (above) and a ship being prepared for sailing (below). Used with the kind permission of theStofnun Arna Magnússonar in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Icelandic Sagas By Paul Schach U n iversity o f N ebraska-L in coln

T w a y n e P u b lis h e r s

•

B o s to n

Icelandic Sagas Paul Schach Copyright © 1984 by G.K. Hall & Company All Rights Reserved Published by Twayne Publishers A Division of G. K. Hall & Company 70 Lincoln Street Boston, Massachusetts 02111

Printed on permanent/durable acid-free paper and bound in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Schach, Paul. Icelandic sagas. (Twayne’s world authors series; TWAS 717) Bibliography: p. 198 Includes index. 1. Sagas—History and criticism. I. Sjöberg, Leif. II. Title. II. Series. 'PT7181.S29 1984 839’.6’09 83-12679 ISBN 0-8057-6364-6

To R u t h , J o a n , K a t h y , and P a u l a

Contents About t h e A u t h o r Preface A ck no w le dg m e nt s Chronology CHAPTER ONE From t h e D i s c o v e r y o f I c e l a n d t o t h e F a l l o f t h e Commonwealth 1 CHAPTER TWO The B e g i n n i n g o f H i s t o r i c a l W r i t i n g CHAPTER THREE The F i r s t B i o g r a p h i e s CHAPTER FOUR Early S to rie s

about

CHAPTER FIVE M aj or S ag as a b o u t

Icelanders

Icelanders

CHAPTER SIX S h o r t e r Sagas a b o u t CHAPTER SEVEN L a t e S ag as a b o u t

48

CHAPTER EIGHT Summary and C o n c l u s i o n s

S elected B ibliography Index

208

97

Icelanders

Icelanders

N o t e s and R e f e r e n c e s

71

179 198

131

155

172

23

A bout the Author P a u l Schach i s C h a r l e s J . Mach P r o f e s s o r o f G er m an i c L an gu a ge s a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a — L i n c o l n , w h ere he h a s t a u g h t s i n c e 195 1. As a member o f t h e G r a d u a t e College faculty, he teaches courses on Old N o r s e , M id d le High German, and m e d i e v a l German l i t e r a t u r e . P r o f e s s o r Schach r e c e i v e d t h e A.B. d e g r e e magna cum l a u d e from A l b r i g h t C o l l e g e i n 1 9 3 8 , and t h e M. A. i n 1941 and t h e Ph .D. i n 1949 fro m t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P e n n ­ sylvania. His p o s t d o c t o r a l r e s e a r c h was done i n I c e ­ la n d and Germany. P r o f e s s o r Sc hac h h a s a l s o t a u g h t a t A l b r i g h t C o l l e g e , N o r t h C e n t r a l C o l l e g e , and as a g u e s t p r o f e s s o r a t th e U n i v e r s i t y o f C olorado ( f i v e summers), and t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P e n n s y l v a n i a ( t h r e e s u m m e r s) . He has a l s o b e e n a g u e s t l e c t u r e r a t s e v e r a l E u r o p e a n u n iv ersities. P r o f e s s o r Schach i s a member o f t h e A m er ic an A s s o c i a ­ t i o n o f T e a c h e r s o f German, t h e A m er ic an S c a n d i n a v i a n Foundation, the Medieval Academy of America, the Midwest Modern Lan guage A s s o c i a t i o n o f A m e r i c a , the S o c i e t y f o r t h e Advancement o f S c a n d i n a v i a n S t u d y , and the V iking S o c ie ty fo r N orthern Research (E ngland). His previous publications include tran slatio n s of Eyrbyggja Saga (1959, repr. 1970) and Tristram s Saga ( 1 9 7 3 ) , numerous a r t i c l e s i n E n g l i s h and German on the Icelandic sagas and on German settlem ent d ialects i n A m e r i c a , and t h e a n t h o l o g y L a n g u a g e s i n C o n f l i c t :_____L i n g u i s t i c A cculturation on the Great P lains (1980). His honors include the Ordre de T r i s t a n ( L i e g e , 1966) f o r h i s r e s e a r c h on t h e T r i s t a n legend in S c a n d in a v ia , an Award f o r O u t s t a n d i n g Re­ s e a r c h and C r e a t i v e A c t i v i t y ( U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a , 1979), and a N ational Council C itation (A lbright C ollege , 1980). P r o f e s s o r Sch ach s e r v e d as a s s o c i a t e m a n a g i n g e d i t o r ( 1 9 7 0 - 7 3 ) and as m a n a g in g e d i t o r ( 1 9 7 7 - 8 1 ) o f S c a n d i n a vian S tu d ie s.

Preface The I c e l a n d i c s a g a s h a v e b e e n a p t l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d as " th e most e x t r a o r d i n a r y l i t e r a r y c r e a t i o n of m edieval Europe" ( 1 ) . Sa gas a r e p r o s e n a r r a t i v e s r a n g i n g from about t e n to alm ost fo u r hundred pages in le n g th . Shorter prose tales are known as þ æ ttir (sg. þ á ttr "strand, section"), so c a l l e d b e c a u s e m o s t o f them h a v e b e e n p r e s e r v e d as i n s e r t s i n l o n g e r t e x t s (2). K onungasögur, "Sagas of K in g s," a re synoptic h i s t o r i e s o r b i o g r a p h i e s o f N o r w eg ia n k i n g s . Byskupasögur, "Sagas of B ishops," are chronicles or biographies of Icelandic bishops. is len d in g asö g u r, " S a g a s o f I c e l a n d e r s , " w i d e l y known as " F a m i l y S a g a s , " a re b i o g r a p h i e s of I c e l a n d i c h e ro e s or c h r o n i c l e s of I c e la n d ic f a m ilie s or c o u n t r y s i d e s . T h i s g e n r e h a s b e e n d e s i g n a t e d as " t h e s o l e o r i g i n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f S c a n d i n a v i a to w o r l d l i t e r a t u r e " ( 3 ) . The o r i g i n a l i t y o f t h e s a g a s o f I c e l a n d e r s c o n s i s t s i n the fact that they are id ealized, im aginary re­ c r e a t i o n s o f t h e p a s t i n w hic h t h e a u t h o r s h a v e p o r ­ tray e d t h e i r fo re b e a rs w ith p sy ch o lo g ical r e a lis m . The c u l t u r a l r e f e r e n c e is l a r g e l y h e a th e n , but the c u l t u r a l m ilieu is C hristian. S tated differen tly , the i s l e n d i n g a s ö g u r d e p i c t p r e - C h r i s t i a n I c e l a n d as s e e n through the eyes of C h r i s t i a n s . D iscussion of the r iddarasögur, "Sagas of K nights," an d t h e f o r n a l d a r s ö g u r , " S a g a s o f A n c i e n t T i m e s , " had to be o m i t t e d f o r r e a s o n s o f s p a c e . The f o r m e r a r e N o r w e g i a n t r a n s l a t i o n s and a d a p t a t i o n s as w ell as I c e l a n d i c i m i t a t i o n s of c h i v a l r i c romances. The latter d e a l w i t h l e g e n d a r y Ge rma ni c h e r o e s and v i k i n g s who l i v e d , o r were b e l i e v e d to h a v e l i v e d , before I c e l a n d was s e t t l e d . Both g e n r e s i n f l u e n c e d late Islendingasögur. A c h a p t e r on S n o r r i S t u r l u s o n was made s u p e r f l u o u s through the r e c e n t p u b l i c a t i o n of Marlene C ik lam in i's Snorri S turluson in this series. The l o n g - s t a n d i n g c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r t h e g e n e s i s o f the Is lend inga sögur n ee d only be t o u c h e d on h e r e

ICELANDIC SAGAS

since it h a s b e e n d i s c u s s e d c o m p e n d i o u s l y by P e t e r H a l l b e r g and e x h a u s t i v e l y by T h e o d o r e M. A n d e r s s o n ( 4 ) . A ccording to the Mf r e e - p r o s e M d o c t r i n e , sagas are re c o rd in g s of s t o r i e s t h a t a c q u i r e d t h e i r s t y l e * and stru ctu re d u r i n g an o r a l s t a g e o f d e v e l o p m e n t . By c o n t r a s t , W a l t e r B a e t k e and h i s f o l l o w e r s m i n i m i z e t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f o r a l t r a d i t i o n s and r e g a r d t h e S a g a s o f I c e l a n d e r s as f r e e l i t e r a r y c o m p o s itio n s ( 5 ) . A m iddle ground is o c c u p i e d by t h e " I c e l a n d i c school," who r e g a r d t h e S a g a s o f I c e l a n d e r s a s l i t e r a r y w or k s b a s e d on o r a l and w r i t t e n s o u r c e s ( 6 ) . Andreas H e u s le r i s w idely c o n s id e re d a staunch proponent of the f r e e - p r o s e d o c t r i n e b e c a u s e o f a few u n f o r t u n a t e e x a g g e r a t e d com­ m ents. His f i n a l p o s i t i o n , h o w e v e r , seems t o h a v e b e e n this: s h o rt sagas with l i n e a r p lo t s are r e f l e c t i o n s of o r a l t a l e s ; long sagas w ith p l o t i n t e r l a c e a re l i t e r a r y creations. My own p r e s e n t v i e w s w i l l em erg e fr o m t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f i n d i v i d u a l s a g a s and w i l l be s u m m a r iz e d in the f i n a l c h a p te r. To be properly understood, the í s 1e n d i n g a s ö g u r must be v ie w e d a g a i n s t t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f t h e s o c i a l and h i s t o r i c a l f o r c e s t h a t h e l p e d t o s h a p e them an d w i t h i n th e c o n t e x t o f t h e l i t e r a r y d e v e l o p m e n t o f w h ic h t h e y form a m a j o r p a r t . In t h i s book, I p ro pose n e i t h e r to develop a t h e s i s nor to s e t f o r t h o r i g i n a l i n t e r p r e t a ­ t i o n s o f my own. N o te s an d r e f e r e n c e s h a d t o be h e l d to a minimum. Some o f t h e n o t e s a r e f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f d o c u m e n t a t i o n ; mo st o f the m, h o w e v e r , a r e r e f e r e n c e s t o f u r th e r sources of in fo rm atio n in c lu d in g a l t e r n a t i v e in terp retatio n s. For t h i s r e a s o n , I t r i e d t o l i m i t t h e n o te s to r e c e n t , r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e s t u d i e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e w r i t t e n i n E n g l i s h , w hi ch i n c l u d e c r i t i c a l d i s c u s ­ s i o n s o f , and r e f e r e n c e s t o , o l d e r s c h o l a r l y l i t e r a ­ ture. My i n d e b t e d n e s s to s c h o l a r s h e r e and a b r o a d w i l l be o b v i o u s t o s p e c i a l i s t s . My m e th o d i s e c l e c t i c . Em ph as is i s on i n d i v i d u a l sagas. T h i s p r o c e d u r e b r i n g s w i t h i t a c e r t a i n amount of r e p e t i t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n comments on s a g a s t y l e and structure. S e v e ra l sagas t h a t are not a v a i l a b l e in modern E n g l i s h tran slatio n s are treated at greater l e n g t h t h a n w o u ld o t h e r w i s e be t h e c a s e . Q uestions of sources, m anuscript transm ission, and the like are t o u c h e d on b r i e f l y i n a few c a s e s t o g i v e t h e g e n e r a l r e a d e r o r t h e b e g i n n i n g s t u d e n t o f Old N o r s e an i n k l i n g of t h e c o m p l e x i t y o f some o f t h e p r o b l e m s c o n n e c t e d with the study of t h i s f a s c i n a t i n g l i t e r a t u r e .

Preface

Names o f I c e l a n d i c s c h o l a r s and s a g a t i t l e s are g iv e n in I c e l a n d i c o rth o g ra p h y in t h i s s tu d y . Names o f saga c h a r a c t e r s have been s i m p l i f i e d , but d i a c r i t i c a l m a rk s have been r e t a i n e d . Thus t u r i ð r and Hörðr a p p e a r a s T h u r f d and Hö rd . P r i m a r y s t r e s s i s on the f ir s t syllable. The I c e l a n d i c c o n s o n a n t s if ( e d h ) an d ]) (thorn) correspond to English bh, as in then and t h i n , r e s p e c t i v e l y . O ther c o n so n an ts can g e n e r a l ­ ly be p r o n o u n c e d as i n German. The r_ i s an a l v e o l a r t r i l l , _f i s v o i c e d b e t w e e n v o w e ls and i n f i n a l p o s i ­ tio n (like English v ) , _1 and n a r e u n v o i c e d when p r e c e d e d by h (w h ic h i s n o t s o u n d e d ) , _s i s a l w a y s v o i c e l e s s , and d o u b l e c o n s o n a n t s a r e p r o n o u n c e d d o u b l e when f o l l o w e d by a v o w e l . The a c u t e i n d i c a t e s vowel length. Thus é_ i s pronounced as in gate, _£ as in k e e n , 6_ as in n o t e (in a l l cases w ithout the o ffg lid e), £ as i n f a t h e r , and as in German kühn or English keen (w ith rounded lip s). The lig atu res æ and oe, w h ic h a r e a l w a y s l o n g , can be so u n d e d respectively as in head and German H öh le (h a l e w ith lip s rounded). The d i p t h o n g s e_i and ey can be pronounced as in say, and au as in how. The short vowel ö ( a ls o w r i t t e n 9 ) should be pronounced as in B ritish n o t o r A m e r ic a n n u t (w ith lip ro u n d in g ). Most s a g a s a r e known by more t h a n one name. Thus the greatest work i n saga literatu re, B rennu-N jáls s a g a , " S ag a o f N jál of the B u rn in g ," is g e n e ra lly called N jáls s a g a and s o m e t im e s Nj á l a . For o b v i ­ ous r e a s o n s , t h e v a r i o u s t i t l e s a r e u s e d i n t h e d i s c u s ­ s io n o f such s a g a s . Begun d u r i n g my f i r s t v i s i t to I c e l a n d i n 19 55 , t h e o r i g i n a l v e r s i o n of t h i s i n t r o d u c t i o n to saga l i t e r a ­ t u r e was n e a r i n g c o m p l e t i o n when Den i s l ä n d s k a s a g a n by P e t e r H a l l b e r g a p p e a r e d i n p r i n t . S i n c e t h e two bo ok s w e r e r e m a r k a b l y s i m i l a r i n s c o p e , m e t h o d , and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , t h e r e was no j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r p u b l i s h ­ i n g my s t u d y . Instead, I t r a n s l a t e d H a l l b e r g ' s book i n t o E n g l i s h and b e g a n t h e s e e m i n g l y e n d l e s s t a s k o f re v isin g Icelandic Sagas. After forty years of reading and translating sagas, I find that my views of this literary genre have changed substantially. These changes are reflected in the present volume, which is fundamentally different from the original book in scope and approach, and frequently quite different in the interpretation of

ICELANDIC SAGAS individual sagas. The most i m p o r t a n t a d d i t i o n s a r e d i s c u s s i o n s o f t h e e a r l i e r h i s t o r i c a l w r i t i n g s and o f th e f i r s t b i o g r a p h i e s o f N o rw eg ia n k i n g s and I c e l a n d i c bishops. P a u l S cha ch U n iv e r s ity of Nebraska— L incoln

Acknowledgments The S i s y p h e a n t a s k o f r e v i s i n g t h i s book h a s b e e n lightened by g r a n t s from t h e A m e r ic a n P h i l o s o p h i c a l S ociety, the R esearc h C ouncil of the U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s k a , and t h e Woods F o u n d a t i o n . I t is a p le asa n t d u t y t o e x p r e s s my s i n c e r e g r a t i t u d e f o r t h i s g e n e r o u s support. It i s a mos t p l e a s a n t d u t y to e x p r e s s my s i n c e r e g r a t i t u d e a l s o to P r o f e s s o r J ó n a s K r i s t j á n s son, D irector o f t h e S t o f n u n Arna M a g n u s s o n a r , for p r o v i d i n g t h e f r o n t i s p i e c e ; to t h e C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s f o r p e r m i s s i o n to u s e a q u o t a t i o n from E i n a r O lafur Sveinsson, The Age o f the S turlungs. Ice­ la n d ic C i v i l i z a t i o n in the T h ir te e n th C en tu ry , t r a n s . J ó h a n n S. H a n n e s s o n , I s l a n d i c a , v o l . 36 ( 1 9 5 3 ) ; and to t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M a n i t o b a P r e s s f o r p e r m i s s i o n to use fo u r q u o t a t i o n s from J ó n J ó h a n n e s s o n , A H i s t o r y of t h e Old I c e l a n d Commonwealth. íslen d in g a saga, t r a n s . H a r a ld u r B essaso n , U n i v e r s i t y of M anitoba I c e ­ la n d ic S tu d ie s , v o l. 2 (1974).

Chronology ca. ca.

800-870 825 870-930 930

ca.

985 995-1000 999

1004-1030

1005

I r i s h herm its Faeroes

in s o u t h e a s t e r n I c e l a n d ,

c o l o n i z e d by N orsemen.

I c e l a n d s e t t l e d by No rsemen. General

Ass em bly f o u n d e d ,

G reenland c o lo n iz e d . O l a f T r y g g v a s o n k i n g o f Norway. C h r i s t i a n i t y a c c e p t e d by G e n e r a l Assembly. S k a p ti Thóroddsson lawspeaker of Iceland. A ppelate c o u rt ( F i f t h C ourt) e s ta b l is h e d by S k a p t i T h ó r o d d s s o n .

1015-1030

O laf H arald sso n ( S a in t O la f) king of Norway.

1056-1080

í s l e i f G izurarson bishop of Ic e la n d .

10 8 2- 1 10 6

Gizur f s l e i f s s o n bishop of Ic e la n d .

108 4- 11 07

Markus S k e g g j a s o n l a w s p e a k e r o f I c e ­ land.

1096

Law o f t i t h e s

c a . 1100

1 1 0 6 - 11 13

drawn up by B i s h o p G i z u r .

E a r l i e s t h o m i l i e s and s a i n t s 1 l i v e s t r a n s l a t e d and a d a p t e d from L a t i n in Norway and I c e l a n d . G izur f s l e i f s s o n bishop of S k á l h o l t .

ICELANDIC SAGAS

ca.

1106-1 121

( S a i n t ) J ó n Ogmundarson b i s h o p o f H oiar.

1 1 1 7 - 11 18

Icelandic secular codified.

1120

" H i s t o r y o f t h e Kings o f Norway" com­ p o s e d i n L a t i n by Saemund S i g f u s s o n t h e Learned.

c a . 11 2 2- 1 13 3

1113

laws r e v i s e d and

í s l e n d i n g a b ó k , "Book o f I c e l a n d e r s , " composed by A r i T h o r g i l s s o n t h e L e a r n e d . B e n e d ic tin e m onastery founded a t Thingeyrar.

c a . 1126

Laws o f r e l i g i o u s o b s e r v a n c e e n c o d e d .

c a . 1140

F i r s t G r a m m a t i c a l T r e a t i s e com po sed .

1152

c a . 11 6 0- 119 0

c a . 1170

c a . 1180

A r c h ie p i s c o p a l see t r a n s f e r r e d to N i d a r ó s ( T r o n d h e i m ) .

from Lund

V e r a l d a r s a g a , " H is to ry of the W orld," tra n s lated. H r y g g j a r s t y k k i , " Ba ckb on e P i e c e , " com­ p o s e d by E i r i k O d d s s o n . H i s t o r i a de a n t i q u i t a t e regum N o r w a g i e n s i u m , " H i s t o r y o f t h e K ings o f Norway from A n c i e n t T i m e s , " composed i n Norway by t h e monk T h e o d o r i c u s .

118 0- 12 10

E a r l i e s t L a t i n and v e r n a c u l a r b i o g r a ­ p h i e s o f N o rw eg ia n k i n g s composed a t T hingeyrar.

1190

I c e l a n d i c c h i e f t a i n s f o r b i d d e n to t a k e c h u r c h o r d e r s by A r c h b i s h o p o f N i d a r ó s .

c a . 1190

Nóregs k o n u n g a t a l , " S u c c e s s i o n o f t h e Kings o f N o r w ay ," composed i n h o n o r o f J