Ármann Jakobsson. Royal Pretenders and Faithful Retainers

• Author: Ármann Jakobsson
• Title: Royal pretenders and faithful retainers: The Icelandic vision of kingship in transition
• Published in: Gardar 30
• Year: 1999
• Pages: 47-64
• E-text:
• Reference: Ármann Jakobsson. "Royal pretenders and faithful retainers: The Icelandic vision of kingship in transition." Gardar 30 (1999): 47-64.

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• Key words: social reality, history (samfélagsmynd, sagnfræði)

Annotation

Examines what the sagas say about their authors’ mentality, what it was they intended to say to their audience and how this changes with time and politics. Egla is the most notable example of one of the two main types of attitudes towards kingship – entailing problematic and hostile relationships. It is argued that Egla is “directly hostile to the institution of kingship” (p. 50) and an atypical family saga in this respect, while the view of Heimskringla towards kings is occasionally hostile too but in a different way. Other key texts discussed: Hungrvaka saga, Laxdæla saga, Kormáks saga, Morkinskinna, and Vatnsdæla saga.

Lýsing

Ármann kannar hvað fornsögurnar hafa að segja um hugarfar viðkomandi höfunda; hverju vildu þeir koma á framfæri við áheyrendur eða lesendur og hvernig breyttist það með tímanum og nýjum pólitískum áherslum. Egils saga er athyglisverðasta dæmið um annað af tveimur ríkjandi viðhorfum sem fram koma til konungsvalds - sagan lýsir flóknum og illskeyttum samböndum. Ármann heldur því fram að í sögunni komi fram bein andúð á konungsvaldinu og að því leyti sé sagan ekki dæmigerð. Í Heimskringlu beri til dæmis stundum á andúð í garð konungsins en með allt öðrum hætti. Auk Eglu, fjallar Ármann um Hungurvöku, Laxdæla sögu, Kormáks sögu, Morkinskinnu and Vatnsdæla sögu.

References

Chapter 25: Eigi mun eg þjóna þér : „Egils saga is, of course, the primary example of an Icelandic saga that seems directly hostile to the institution of kingship. In Egils saga, those who serve kings loyally (the two men named Þórólfr) perish, whereas those who either refuse to serve any king (Skalla-Grímur) or the Norwegian king in particular (Egill) enjoy good fortune in life. This is very much contrary to how things work out in Laxdæla saga or, indeed, most of the sagas. In fact, Egils saga is not a typical family saga in this respect.“ (s. 50)

Links

• Written by: Jane Appleton
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason