Snorri Sturluson is a famous Icelandic poet, prose writer, historiographer and statesman. He is known for collecting ancient Scandinavian sagas, his works are still actively studied in historical science as a most valuable monument in the ancient history of the northern countries.
early years
Snorri Sturluson was born in 1178 in Iceland. He belonged to the family of influential landowners. Snorri was brought up in a noble family of a relative of the Norwegian king, where he received a good education. The future famous writer studied law, poetry, literature, but most importantly, got acquainted with ancient sagas, which later formed the basis of his famous works. The scientist very soon gained fame as a talented poet and lawyer.
He married favorably in 1199, and received a good dowry from his wife. In general, he was famous for his ability to make himself strong patrons and through the help of marriages of his relatives to acquire influential defenders. Snorri Sturluson was known in his homeland as a talented public figure, as evidenced by the fact that he was elected as the law-taker - a position that was considered the most prestigious at that time. Subsequently, however, his political career changed dramatically.
In Norway
Snorri Sturluson left his homeland in 1218 and moved to serve with the Norwegian king. He was still very young, and with him the regent was the Jarl Skuli. The Icelandic writer became close to him and became his supporter, while the latter sought to strengthen his power, taking advantage of the youth of the ruler. The poet enjoyed the patronage of the Norwegian court and, apparently, used all his influence on the connection of his country with Norway. Of course, such a political position spoiled his reputation in his homeland, where many prominent political figures believed that he could not occupy a high post of law-governor. Snorri Sturluson, whose biography is interesting for numerous political upheavals, however, is better known as a scientist and collector of Scandinavian antiquities.
Skaldic poetry textbook
The Icelandic author became famous for collecting and summarizing in his works the most ancient sources on the mythology of the northern countries. It is significant that just at the time when these works were published, this mythological tradition was already a thing of the past. But the more valuable these writings of the writer, who very reverently approached the collection of literary rarities. Snorri Sturluson, whose “Edda” (“Younger Edda”) is perhaps one of his most famous works, was fond of ancient traditions and folklore. Based on them, in the 1220s he created his famous work on skaldic poetry, in which he set out to acquaint the reader with the ancient methods of poetic creativity. But this work is interesting and a kind of historical concept, in which mythology and legend are closely intertwined, so that the debate about the content and significance of this work still causes controversy among scientists.
Structure
The main source for the poet was the saga. Snorri Sturluson created his works based on this type of folklore genre. The content of “Younger Edda” is interesting, in which the author presented his vision of the world and its history. An essay opens with a prologue, in which the historian talks about how the Scandinavian warriors left Troy and settled in Northern Europe, where local peoples recognized their authority. The second part is called “Vision of the Gulvi”. In it, the author tells how the king went on a journey for knowledge and in the learning process learns about the structure of the world and the principles of its functioning. Such a composition was most convenient for describing Scandinavian mythological ideas about nature, space and stories about legendary and semi-legendary heroes.
The third part is devoted to the basics of versification. In them, Snorri retells the basic principles of Scandinavian poetry, focusing on such techniques as replacing names and various lexical notations. And, finally, the final part is a whole series of poetic works of the author himself, who on their example demonstrates various versions of the Scandinavian stanzas. It should be noted here that during his life the poems of the writer were not popular - on the contrary, they were often criticized for the ornate syllable and the difficulty in depicting thoughts and ideas. At present, literary scholars consider his lyrical experiments as an interesting monument to imitate the ancient Scandinavian poets.
Collection of sagas
One of the most famous collectors of antiquities was Snorri Sturluson. The “Circle of the Earth” is a unique work that contains a huge amount of historical material not only in the North European countries, but also in such major states as Ancient Russia, Byzantium, England. The author wrote his work on the basis of both written and oral sources. But the basis of his work was primarily skaldic poetry, which he himself speaks of in his prologue. He quoted many famous poets, but at the same time he was somewhat free to use their material, often thinking up many storylines.
Sources
The writer actively used written information, primarily various sagas about the Norwegian kings. He also attracted fairy tales, ancient heroic traditions. Thus, in his new work, several cultural layers can be distinguished . The composition itself was not preserved in the original. Only lists, separate editions, translations have come down to us, which makes the task of identifying the original, original, original text even more difficult. Also in his work mentioned Snorri Sturluson about the Slavs. So, he writes about the country, which was located north of the Black Sea. He calls the river Don (though in his work he gives it a different name). According to him, these territories, where Ancient Rus was then located, were on the edge of the earth, and unknown peoples lived there.
Other works
In the 1220-1240s, the scientist wrote the Saga of the Egil. This time he turned to the history of his homeland and in mythological form told about the history of Icelandic clans, starting from the 9th and ending with the 11th century. In the center of the story is the story of the skald of Aegil, who is presented as an extremely ambiguous figure. His family does not submit to the kungs, but at the same time does not openly oppose them. Snorri talks about his travels in the northern countries, leads his poems. In his new work, he tells about the life of several generations, which allows him to expand the wide panorama of the life of the Icelandic people in the early days. The mythological form makes it somewhat difficult to isolate historical facts, however, at present, the saga is perceived as a source according to the ancient history of Iceland.
Another famous work of the historian is “A separate saga about St. Olav.” This Norwegian king lived and ruled in the 11th century and became the first Christianizer of his country. He died in 1030, but was already canonized the following year. Snorri in his work tells of his exploits outside his country, his struggle with the Swedish king, his flight to Russia and his subsequent return to his homeland to regain power and his canonization.
Last years
The political career of the writer developed rapidly and rapidly, but ended very tragically. It has already been said above that he supported the jarla Skuli, who was regent under the young Norwegian king. In addition, he supported the idea of uniting Iceland and Norway. With this position, he naturally had many enemies. Having entered his rights, the king, of course, could not approve of the historiographer’s political position. Opponents in the homeland also actively advocated depriving him of power. This tangle of contradictions led to a tragic ending: the writer was brutally murdered in 1241, and this terrible story was reflected in one of the sagas, thanks to which, probably, every Scandinavian knows about the sad fate of the famous scientist. Snorri Sturluson, whose books are a valuable source on ancient history, made a significant contribution to literature and historiography.