Icelandic sagas are the most famous genre of Scandinavian literature. It originated in about the 12th century, at a time when, in the opinion of scientists, writing appeared in this country. However, oral legends and traditions existed before, and it was they who formed the basis of these works.
a brief description of
Icelandic sagas are prose works that tell of the ancient times not only of this state, but also of neighboring regions and lands. That is why they are the most valuable source on the history of the Nordic countries. In general, the term itself in translation means "told." The plot and form of these works are distinguished by a certain freedom of presentation, an abundance of fabulous motifs, which are often intertwined with the real facts of the past. The main characters of the story usually became kungs, warriors, kings. Thus, the Icelandic sagas are a kind of chronicle of events, but only presented in a fantastic, semi-legendary form. The difficulty in understanding the historical realities in these works lies in the fact that they have come down to us in copies, secondary editions, and abbreviated manuscripts, in which it is rather difficult to identify the original text.
Tales of the Kings
Icelandic sagas can be divided into several groups. One of the most common categories is stories about Norwegian kings. Some works tell of individual rulers, but there are also consolidated collections, for example, the famous “Circle of the Earth”, whose authorship is attributed to the famous collector of Scandinavian antiquities, the poet, historian and statesman Snorri Sturluson. This collection includes a series of stories from ancient times to 1177. There are also sagas about Danish kings, for example, one of them tells about one ruling Knutling family.
About Icelandic History and Translations
The second group is the legends about Iceland itself. They can also be conditionally divided into several categories. There are so-called sagas about ancient times, which at one time were called "false", because they told of centuries before the colonization of the island, information about which is almost not preserved. Therefore, their main source was ancient epic legends, traditions and songs, which, incidentally, feature characters found in the folklore of other Germanic peoples.
The most famous Icelandic saga in this series is, perhaps, the "Tale of the Sturlungs", representatives of an ancient family who fought for power. It is extremely detailed in the depiction of events: in the text you can find many details and interesting historical facts about the country's past. The second group also includes sagas about bishops, which tell about clergymen of the 11-14th centuries, as well as churches in the country. And, finally, the third group consists of translated works devoted to events from the history of other European peoples (for example, the Trojan Saga).
Toponymy
An important place among Scandinavian literature is held by the tales of Icelanders. These works have a number of distinctive features that distinguish them from other works of this genre. They contain a large number of geographical signs, which, incidentally, are difficult to translate into Russian. In the text you can find the names of not only such large geographical objects as rivers, lakes, mountains, but also villages, farms, villages. The latter circumstance is explained by the fact that a legend of this kind is first and foremost the story of a person who, at the time of writing, lived in a particular area. For example, the Icelandic Saga of the Whale denotes the names of the fjord where the protagonist lived. All this toponymy is of great importance in the analysis of sources, since it contains valuable information about nature.
The problem of historicity
The second characteristic feature of these works is their apparent reliability and realism. The fact is that the authors sincerely believed that their heroes of the code existed, and therefore very detailed, even meticulously described their deeds, exploits, dialogues, which gave the story a special persuasiveness. Many scholars even “came across” in the texts, often taking what was said for the truth. However, the historical background and concrete realities are still visible here, but they are covered with such a powerful folklore layer that it can be very difficult to separate the truth from fiction.
Question about authorship
For some time, historiography was dominated by the point of view that those who recorded the sagas were not their direct authors, but merely fixed an oral tradition. However, in the 20th century a hypothesis appeared that storytellers who are well acquainted with Old Icelandic folklore created their own original works. At present, the prevailing opinion is that these writers, collecting and literary processing folklore material, nevertheless, brought a lot of their own into it, so that in their works the folk tradition is closely intertwined with the literary. This contributes to the fact that it is rather difficult to determine who was the original author of the work. For example, the Icelandic Saga of Eymund, the Norwegian king who took part in the events of ancient Russian history, has been preserved as part of the Saga of St. Olav, whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the mentioned Sturluson, but this is just an assumption that has not been fully proved.
About our country
In the works under consideration, as mentioned above, there is information about other northern countries, including our state. Many storylines even overlap; scholars often find parallels between the texts of Scandinavian legends and ancient Russian chronicles. Icelandic sagas often paid attention to their neighbors. Rusichs (the name of the people) often turned out to be, if not in the center of attention, then full participants in the events. Often in the works mentioned Russian lands, areas where this or that story takes place. For example, the “Saga of the Freezing Pedestrian,” dating from the 14th century, transfers the action to Ladoga, where this hero marries the daughter of the king, defeats the Swedes and becomes ruler. Incidentally, it is in this legend that there is a plot very similar to the famous legend about Oleg the Prophet (a story about the prince and his horse). This once again proves how close cultural contacts between these peoples were.
It should also be mentioned here that the famous "The Saga of Ammund" also contains information about ancient Russian history. She tells how the protagonist, king, arrives at the service of Prince Yaroslav and enters his service. He takes part in the turbulent political events of the time associated with the struggle of this ruler for power. Thus, the Icelandic Viking sagas about Northern Russia are an interesting additional source on the history of our country.
S. Sturluson
This is the first writer and collector of Icelandic antiquities, about which news has been preserved. The scientist collected folklore works, poems and, most likely, it was he who compiled the two largest collections of Icelandic literature: a kind of textbook of skaldic poetry and a collection of sagas. Thanks to this man, we have a fairly detailed idea of what ancient legends were. He did not limit himself to retelling and processing ready-made essays, but inscribed the history of his people in the context of European events, starting from the most ancient times. The Royal Icelandic sagas about Eastern Europe of his authorship are the most valuable material on the geography and place names of this region.
In his work there are also some information about the Slavs. He tried at an almost scientific level to explain the techniques and methods of Scandinavian poetry using his own works as an example. This allows us to judge the lexical and linguistic methods of creating legends. Thus, his work is a certain summing up of the huge period of development of Old Icelandic literature.
Reviews
In general, opinions about Icelandic sagas are extremely positive. Readers and users say that it was interesting to get acquainted with the life and social structure of ancient peoples. They also note that in these tales very simple human relations are conveyed, which gives a unique charm to the plot. However, some readers note that the language of the sagas is rather dry and monotonous, that there are too many names, characters and characters in them, which can greatly complicate the perception of the whole story. Nevertheless, most users recommend that you be sure to familiarize yourself with at least some sagas to everyone who is interested in ancient Russian (and not only) chronicles and medieval history.