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þáttr
The ''þættir'' (Old Norse singular ''þáttr'', literally meaning a "strand" of rope or yarn)O'Donoghue (2004:226). are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries. The majority of ''þættir'' occur in two compendious manuscripts, '' Morkinskinna'' and ''Flateyjarbók'', and within them most are found as digressions within kings' sagas. Sverrir Tómasson regards those in ''Morkinskinna'', at least, as '' exempla'' or illustrations inseparable from the narratives that contain them, filling out the picture of the kings' qualities, good and bad, as well as adding comic relief.Sverrir Tómasson (2006:111-13). Íslendinga þættir The short tales of Icelanders or ''Íslendinga þættir'' focus on Icelanders, often relating the story of their travels abroad to the court of a Norwegian king. List of short tales: * '' Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu'' * '' Arnórs þáttr jarlaskálds'' * '' Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka'' * '' Bergbúa þáttr'' * '' Bolla þ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flateyjarbók
''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey, Breiðafjörður, Flatey") is an important medieval Iceland, Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes Jón Þórðarson and Magnús Þórhallsson. Description ''Flateyjarbók'' is the largest medieval Icelandic manuscript, comprising 225 written and illustrated vellum leaves. It contains mostly sagas of the Norse kings as found in the ''Heimskringla'', specifically the sagas about Olaf Tryggvason, Olaf II of Norway, St. Olaf, Sverre I of Norway, Sverre, Hákon the Old, Magnus the Good, and Harald Hardrada. But they appear here expanded with additional material not found elsewhere (some of it being very old) along with other unique differences. Most—but not all—of the additional material is placed within the royal sagas, sometimes interlaced. Additionally, the manuscript contains the only copy of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brandkrossa þáttr
''Brandkrossa þáttr'' (The Tale of Brandkrossi) is a short Old Norse tale (''þáttr'') which serves as a prologue to ''Droplaugarsona saga''. Whereas ''Droplaugarsona saga'' details the descendants of Helgi Droplaugarson, ''Brandkrossa þáttr'' focuses on the forebears of his enemy Helgi Asbjarnarson, including his father Asbjorn, son of Hrafnkel, the subject of ''Hrafnkels saga''. Although beginning with Hrafnkel, the author of ''Brandkrossa þáttr'' does not appear to have known ''Hrafnkels saga'' and used a version of ''Landnámabók'' as a source instead. The ''þáttr'' takes its name from Brandkrossi, an ox owned by Grímr, ancestor of the sons of Droplaug. The ''þáttr'' falls into two part, the second of which is more fantastic. One day Grímr's ox Brandkrossi flies into a rage and swims out to sea. Grímr travels to Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albani þáttr Ok Sunnifu
''Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu'', also known as ''Seljumanna þáttr'', is a short tale (þáttr) about the Irish princess Sunniva who, not wishing to marry a heathen king, flees to the Norwegian island of Selje with her brother Albanus and a number of followers. The residents of the island suspect Sunniva and her companions of killing their livestock and ask Jarl Hákon to kill these ‘bandits’. On seeing Jarl Hákon and his men approach, Sunniva and her companions retreat to their caves and pray that God will not allow them to be killed by the evil men. In answer to their prayers, the caves collapse on the group. Their bodies stay buried until discovered by Olaf Tryggvason, who has them exhumed and has a church built in dedication to them. Together with '' Sörla þáttr'', '' Tóka þáttr Tókasonar,'' '' Norna-gests þáttr '' and '' Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts'', the tale is part of a subgenre of "pagan-contact þættir". The tale is recorded in Oddr Snorrason’s ''Ólá ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brands þáttr örva
''Brands þáttr örva'' (''The Tale of Brand the Generous'') is a very short ''þáttr'' which tells how king Haraldr Sigurðarson put Brandr Vermundarson's generosity to the test. It may have been written at the end of the 13th century. Brandr, who was nicknamed "the Generous" (''inn örvi''), came from Iceland to Norway. The skald Þjóðólfr Arnórsson Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; Modern Norwegian: ) was an 11th-century Icelandic people, Icelandic skáld, who spent his career as a court poet to the Monarchy of Norway, Norwegian kings Magnus the Good and Harald Hardr ..., who was Brandr's friend, had praised him to king Haraldr, saying "that it was not clear that any other man was better suited to be king of Iceland because of his generosity and outstanding personal qualities".Anderson, Theodore M. "The King of Iceland ". ''Speculum''. 74:4 (1999), p. 923. Haraldr then told Þjóðólfr to ask Brandr for his coat. Brandr gave it without a word. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hreiðars þáttr
''Hreiðars þáttr heimska'' or the ''Tale of Hreiðarr the Fool'' is one of the short tales of Icelanders. It tells of Hreiðarr, an apparently mentally disabled Icelandic man who travels to Norway in the time of the joint rule of the kings Magnús góði and Haraldr harðráði. Hreiðarr befriends Magnús with his eccentric behaviour but incurs the wrath of Haraldr when he kills one of his courtiers. The story is preserved as a part of ''Morkinskinna'' and its derivative, '' Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'', but it may originally have existed as a separate written work. It is believed to be among the oldest stories of its kind, perhaps originally composed around 1200 and no later than the mid-13th century. Interestingly, the language archaisms are a feature that characterises Hreiðarr's speech particularly, implying an intentional attempt on the side of the author to giving Hreiðarr a 'rustic' feel. Although the story is realistic and plausible, it is believed to be fictitious. Hrei� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morkinskinna
''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275. The name ''Morkinskinna'' means "mouldy parchment" and is originally the name of the manuscript book in which the saga has been preserved. The book itself, GKS 1009 fol, is currently in the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. It was brought to Denmark from Iceland by Þormóður Torfason ( Tormod Torfæus) in 1662. The saga was published in English in 2000 in a translation by Theodore M. Andersson and Kari Ellen Gade. Contents The saga starts in 1025 or 1026 and in its received form, ends suddenly in 1157, after the death of King Sigurðr II. Originally, the work may have been longer, possibly continuing until 1177, when the narratives of '' Fagrskinna'' and '' Heimskringla'', which use ''Morkinskinna'' as one of their sources, end. Apart from giving the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Íslendings þáttr Sögufróða
''Íslendings þáttr sögufróða'' (''The Tale of the Story-Wise Icelander'') is a very short ''þáttr'' about a young Icelandic storyteller at king Haraldr Sigurðarson's court. This ''þáttr'', which may have been written at the end of the 13th century, was preserved in the ''Morkinskinna'', '' Hulda'' and '' Hrokkinskinna'' manuscripts. A young Icelander was given the job of entertaining the members of king Haraldr Sigurðarson's '' hirð'' by telling them saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...s. He fulfilled his task very well and was rewarded. But as '' jól'' approached, he got sad. The king soon found out why: the Icelander had told all the stories he knew but one, which related Haraldr's expeditions abroad, that he did not dare to tell. But the king orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grœnlendinga þáttr (II)
''Grœnlendinga þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Greenlanders') or ''Einars þáttr Sokkasonar'' ('The Tale of Einarr Sokkason') is a short medieval Icelandic tale (þáttr). It is preserved in the manuscript ''Flateyjarbók'', towards the end of the second half of the manuscript which was written by Magnús Þórhallsson. The author of the tale itself is unknown. The tale takes place in Greenland, but unlike Grœnlendinga þáttr (I), it makes no mention of Vinland. In the tale, Einarr Sokkason brings a priest, Arnaldr, to Greenland from Norway to be Bishop of Greenland. Around this time, a Norwegian merchant named Arnbjörn sets off for Greenland, but is wrecked and his ship later found in a firth. Arnbjörn’s kinsmen sail to Greenland and request his recovered property. The bishop refuses this, leading to feud between the two groups. A battle occurs in which men from both sides are killed, including Einarr Sokkason. References Further reading * Jones, Gwyn, trans. (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergbúa þáttr
''Bergbúa þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Mountain-Dweller') is a short medieval Icelandic tale (þáttr). It tells of Þórðr and his companion who get lost on their way to church one winter and take refuge in a cave. Once inside, after they have settled down for the evening, they hear noises from the back of the cave. Later they see two huge eyes and hear a voice which recites a poem of twelve stanzas, now known as ''Hallmundarkviða.'' The speaker of these verses refers to himself as a giant, and repeats the poem three time across the course of the night. The giant instructs the humans to remember the poem or suffer a forfeit. Þórðr memorises the poem but his companion does not and subsequently dies the following year. ''Hallmundarkviða'' makes many references to volcanic activity, and it has been suggested that it may refer to a specific Icelandic volcanic eruption. Determining which depends on the date of the poem. ''Bergbúa þáttr'' was probably written some time in the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grœnlendinga þáttr (I)
''Grœnlendinga þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Greenlanders') is a short story about the exploration of Vinland in North America by Leif Erikson and later Norse explorers, including Thorvald Eiriksson, Thorfinn Karlsefni, and Freydís Eiríksdóttir. The tale is preserved in the ''Flateyjarbók'', in columns 281–288, where it is interpolated into the Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason. It is commonly combined and translated with Eiríks þáttr rauða as the ''Saga of the Greenlanders ''Grœnlendinga saga'' () (spelled ''Grænlendinga saga'' in modern Icelandic and translated into English as the Saga of the Greenlanders) is one of the sagas of Icelanders. Like the ''Saga of Erik the Red'', it is one of the two main sources on t ...''. Translations English translations of ''Grœnlendinga þáttr (I)'' can be found in: * Reeves, Arthur Middleton, The Finding of Wineland the Good: The History of the Icelandic Discovery of America', London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1890 ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar
''Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar'' (''The Tale of Ívarr Son of Ingimundr'') is a short ''þáttr'' which emphasizes king Eysteinn Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, the son of Eadgils. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular ...'s goodness. Ívarr, an Icelander, lived at the court of king Eysteinn, who liked him much. His brother Þorfinnr went to Norway too, but he was jealous of Ívarr and soon came back. Before his departure, Ívarr asked him to tell the woman he loved to wait for him. But Þorfinnr married her. When he learned that, Ívarr got very upset. The king asked him what was on his mind and soon discovered. He then proposed his support so that he could marry the woman, but Ívarr explained that she was his brother's wife. Eysteinn made many unsuccessful attempts to find how he could take Ívarr's mind out of his sadn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunnars þáttr Þiðrandabana
''Gunnars þáttr Þiðrandabana'' (''The Short Saga of Gunnar, Thidrandi's Killer'') is a short saga (or þáttr) written in Old Norse in medieval Iceland. The events of the story take place in the Viking Age and concern Gunnar, a Norwegian merchant, who avenges his host's death in Iceland's Eastern Region, and must elude his enemies until he can safely escape the country. Classification ''The Short Saga of Gunnar, Thidrandi's Killer'' has traditionally been classified as a þáttr (a ''short saga'' in English, but often translated as a ''tale'') based on the short length of the text. The story, however, identifies itself as a saga with the concluding line "Here ends ''The Saga of Gunnar, Thidrandi's Killer''. For this reason, some scholars prefer to group it with the Sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic Saga, sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
