The Icelandic Family Saga: An Analytic Reading (Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature, 28)

Literature & Fiction

Andersson, Theodore M.

History & Criticism

Harvard University Press

The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280)

In this book, Theodore M. Andersson, a leading scholar of the Norse sagas, introduces readers to the development of the Icelandic sagas between 1180 and 1280, a crucial period that witnessed a gradual shift of emphasis from tales of adventure and personal distinction to the analysis of political and historical propositions. Beginning with the first full-length sagas and culminating in the acknowledged masterpiece Njáls saga, Andersson emphasizes a historical perspective, establishing a chronology for seventeen of the most important sagas and showing how they evolve thematically and stylistically over the century under study.Revisiting the long-standing debate about the oral and literary components of the sagas, Andersson argues that there is a clear progression from the somewhat mechanical gathering of oral lore in the early sagas to an increasingly tight and authorially controlled composition in the later sagas. The early sagas―including The Legendary Saga of Saint Olaf and Odd Snorrason's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason―focus on conspicuous individuals and their memorable deeds; later works are more apt to formulate the abstract problems and ideas that preoccupied their authors. As the authors begin to impose their views on the inherited narratives, the sagas become more and more critical and self-conscious, to the point where Njáls saga may be considered not only to approximate a novel in our sense of the term but also to comment on the saga form.

Cornell University Press

In this eagerly awaited book, Theodore M. Andersson, a leading scholar of the Norse sagas, introduces readers to the development of the Icelandic sagas between 1180 and 1280, a crucial period that witnessed a gradual shift of emphasis from tales of adventure and personal distinction to the analysis of political and historical propositions. Beginning with the first full-length sagas and culminating in the acknowledged masterpiece Njáls saga, Andersson emphasizes a historical perspective, establishing a chronology for seventeen of the most important sagas and showing how they evolve thematically and stylistically over the century under study. He revisits the long-standing debate about the oral and literary components of the sagas by arguing that there is a clear progression from the somewhat mechanical gathering of oral lore in the early sagas to an increasingly tight and authorially controlled composition in the later sagas.
The early sagas―including The Legendary Saga of Saint Olaf and Odd Snorrason's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason―focus on conspicuous individuals and their memorable deeds; later works are more apt to formulate the abstract problems and ideas that preoccupied their authors. As the authors begin to impose their views on the inherited narratives, the sagas become more and more critical and self-conscious, to the point where Njáls saga may be considered not only to approximate a novel in our sense of the term but also to comment on the saga form.

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) is a study of the genesis of Old Icelandic prose literature from its roots in oral tradition to the compilation of key early sagas at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Theodore M. Andersson devotes special attention to the Icelandic sagas (kings' sagas or konungasögur) that narrate the careers of Norwegian kings, Óláfr Tryggvason and Óláfr Haraldsson prominent among them.The author considers the "self-consciously Icelandic filter" that balances Icelanders’ perception of Norwegian kings and Icelandic protagonists. He also treats the volatile balance of power between the monarch and the jarls of Norway that permeates the narrative of a now-lost *Hlaðajarla saga, whose traces are evident in the major compilations Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna.Five of the book's chapters are revisions of previously published papers. The final two chapters carry the discussion of textual interrelationships in the kings' sagas to somewhat later Icelandic native sagas (Íslendingasögur) originating in the north and the west of the country.

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) (Islandica, 55)

Cornell University Library

In The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130–1265), Theodore M. Andersson offers an orientation to the category of Icelandic sagas known as "kings' sagas," a genre of Old Norse-Icelandic prose literature less known than the somewhat later sagas of early Icelanders and their extended families. The kings'-saga genre culminated in three compendia that appeared prior to 1250: the manuscripts Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna and the compilation of sagas known as Heimskringla. These remarkable sagas are among the most readable of European chronicles. Theodore M. Andersson’s book examines not only the evolution of the genre and its associated critical literature but also the genre’s points of interaction with Icelandic family sagas.

The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130–1265): An Introduction (Islandica, 59)

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

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Books by Andersson, Theodore M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Andersson, Theodore M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Icelandic Family Saga: An Analytic Reading (Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature, 28)

The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280)

The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280)

The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250) (Islandica, 55)

The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130–1265): An Introduction (Islandica, 59)