Andersson, Theodore M.. The King of Iceland

• Author: Andersson, Theodore M.
• Title: The King of Iceland
• Published in: Speculum 74/4
• Year: 1999
• Pages: 923-34
• E-text: JSTOR
• Reference: Andersson, Theodore M. "The King of Iceland." Speculum 74/4 (1999): 923-34.

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• Key words: characterization, social reality (persónusköpun, samfélagsmynd)

Annotation

Prior to 1262, Iceland was not ruled by a king. Andersson argues that "the absence of a king and the increasingly palpable presence of the Norwegian king were significant factors in the shaping of Icelandic literature" (p. 923). "The motivating impulse behind [skald] sagas must have been at least twofold, a wish to record as much old verse as possible and a desire to keep alive the memory of Icelandic figures who distinguished themselves in their dealings with Norwegian monarchs, whether those dealings were exemplary or contentious. In the four or five sagas that belong to this category there is a clear tension between loyal service to the king on the one hand and strong, independent Icelandic personalities on the other, a tension that culminates in Egils saga" (p. 931).

Lýsing

Fram til 1262 var Ísland ekki undir konungsstjórn. Andersson heldur því fram að konungsleysið en jafnframt vaxandi áhrif Noregskonungs á Íslandi hafi mótað íslenskar bókmenntir á síðari hluta 13. aldar. Hann telur að tvenns konar hvatir hafi legið að baki ritun svonefndra skáldasagna; löngun til að skrá eins mörg dróttkvæði og mögulegt var og löngunin til að halda lifandi minningu um íslenska menn sem áttu í eftirminnilegum samskiptum við norska konungsvaldið, hvort sem þau samskipti þóttu til eftirbreytni eða ekki. „Í þeim fjórum eða fimm sögum sem tilheyra þessum flokki er greinileg togstreita milli hollustu við konung annars vegar og hins sterka og sjálfstæða persónuleika Íslendingsins hins vegar, togstreita sem kemur skýrast fram í Egils sögu" (s. 931).

References

Egils saga

Chapter 25: Staðfestist það helst um ráðagerð þeirra að þeir mundu bregða búi sínu og fara af landi á brott. : "The Icelandic sagas tell the story of how Iceland separated from Norway, how it grew into its own, in short, how Iceland became a nation. In the very period in which Iceland experienced growing pressure to unite with Norway, Icelandic writers set themselves the task of creating a narrative of separateness." (p. 932).

Chapter 45: Konungur var hinn reiðasti: "It is tempting to suggest that the saga is in fact delicately calculated for a double audience, a Norwegian audience that would have read it as a humorous send-up of a self-willed Icelander and an Icelandic audience that would have read it as a serious celebration of an ancestral hero who could stand up to the kings of Norway, not unlike those Icelandic individualists who people the digressions of Morkinskinna." (p. 929).

Njáls saga

Chapter 75: að þú rjúfir sætt þína: "Njáls saga is often understood as the great general compendium of Icelandic experience, but it might also be viewed as a rather pointed comment on the ultimate failure of that experience. It foregrounds the unsurpassed hero Gunnarr of Hliðarendi, who makes the wrong decision and elects to stay in Iceland in contravention of a legal agreement, or, metaphorically, who elects to remain within the confines of an Icelandic heroic tradition that is doomed." (p. 933).

Links

• Written by: Katelin Parsons
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason