Baldur Hafstað. Egils saga, Njáls saga, and the Shadow of Landnáma

• Author: Baldur Hafstað
• Title: Egils saga, Njáls saga, and the Shadow of Landnáma.
• Published in: Sagnaheimur: Studies in Honour of Hermann Pálsson
• Editors: Ásdís Egilsdóttir, Rudolf Simek.
• Place, Publisher: Wien: Fassbinder
• Year: 2001
• Pages: 21-37
• E-text:
• Reference: Baldur Hafstað. "Egils saga, Njáls saga, and the Shadow of Landnáma." Sagnaheimur: Studies in Honour of Hermann Pálsson, pp. 21-37. Eds. Ásdís Egilsdóttir, Rudolf Simek. Wien: Fassbinder, 2001.

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• Key words: textual relations, intertextuality, literary elements (rittengsl, textatengsl, bókmenntaleg einkenni)

Annotation

The indirect influence of Landnáma on Egils saga and parallels between narratives in the two works, which Baldur interprets as a deliberate attempt in Egils saga to connect Egill’s descendants, the Mýramenn, with Ingólfur Árnason and other illustrious figures from Landnáma by means of parallels and analogies.

Lýsing

Baldur fjallar um óbein áhrif Landnámu á Egils sögu og hliðstæður milli frásagna þessara tveggja verka. Hann túlkar það svo að í Eglu sé meðvituð tilraun gerð – með hliðstæðum og samsvörunum – til að tengja ættfeður Egils, Mýramenn, við Ingólf Arnarson og aðra mikilsháttar menn úr Landnámu.

References

Egils saga

Chapter 88: “Hidden silver of gold is a well-known motif, Atlakviða being another example. But this version – hiding your silver with the help of slaves who are then killed – appears only in these two sources in Old Icelandic literature [Egils saga and the Landnámabók account of Ketilbjörn gamli]. This reinforces the view that there are direct connections between the two works” (p. 28).

Njáls saga

Chapter 097: Höskuldur Hvítanesgoði: "The author of Njála 's innovative approach to Landnáma is revealed in several ways. With his knowledge of Landnáma and of genealogy, he appears to take names from the first generations of the settlement age, giving them to „invented“ people from the families concerned. Höskuldur Hvítanessgoði is a good example of this practice. He is mentioned nowhere except in Njála." (p. 33).

Links

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