Hermann Pálsson. The Borg Connexion

• Author: Hermann Pálsson
• Title: The Borg Connexion: Notes on Bjarnar saga, Egla, Gunnlaugs saga and Laxdæla
• Published in: Leeds Studies in English 20
• Year: 1989
• Pages: 47-63
• E-text: LUDOS
• Reference: Hermann Pálsson. "The Borg Connexion: Notes on Bjarnar saga, Egla, Gunnlaugs saga and Laxdæla." Leeds Studies in English 20 (1989): 47-63.

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

Annotation

Pálsson explores episodes from Bjarnar saga, Egils saga, Gunnlaugs saga and Laxdæla saga, in which the young saga character travels to a foreign kingdom where he proves himself to be a hero by playing a decisive role in the defense of the country in a significant historical event. Pálsson identifies several parallel traits which often follow literary conventions, rendering these adventures essentially fictional. However, these conventions are often broken in the character of Egil Skallagrimsson. The characters in all four sagas are interconnected through family relations and ultimately tied to the farm of Borg in Borgarfjörður. The author discusses the literary relationships between the sagas and points out several examples from Egils saga in which references to Bjorn the Hitardale-Champion and Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue are functionally placed in the text so as to remind the audience of their achievements. Pálsson concludes that the learned men in medieval Iceland attempted to create an image of their past and at the same time fit their forebears into the European tradition of the medieval romance.

Lýsing

Hermann Pálsson rannsakar atvik í Bjarnar sögu, Egils sögu, Gunnlaugs sögu og Laxdæla sögu sem fjalla um ferð ungrar söguhetju til útlanda þar sem hún tekur afgerandi þátt í að verja konungsríki á ögurstundu. Hermann dregur fram fjölda hliðstæðna milli þessara lýsinga sem oft fylgja bókmenntalegum hefðum þannig að sjá má þessar frásagnir frekar sem skáldskap en sögulegar lýsingar. Hins vegar eru þessar reglur oft brotnar í lýsingum á persónu Egils Skallagrímssonar. Persónurnar í öllum fjórum sögunum eru tengdar fjölskylduböndum og Borg á Mýrum. Hermann fjallar einnig um bókmenntaleg tengsl milli sagnanna og tekur nokkur dæmi úr Eglu þar sem tilvísanir til Bjarnar Hítdælakappa og Gunnlaugs ormstungu minna lesendur á afrek þeirra. Hann kemst að þeirri niðurstöðu að lærðir Íslendingar á miðöldum hafi í senn reynt að skapa ímynd fortíðarinnar og fella forfeður sína inn í ramma evrópskrar riddarabókmenntahefðar.

References

Chapter 52: bjóða orustustað: "The Battle of Vinheid in ESS is usually identified with the Battle of Brunanburh, which was fought at an unknown place in 937, but such an identification makes a complete mess of the chronology of ESS, once again suggesting that the saga is not history but fiction" (p. 55).

Chapter 57: Björn Hítdælakappi: "It should also be noted that the reference to Bjorn the Hitardale-Champion is appropriate at this stage, not only because he is Egil’s grand-nephew, but the heroic adventures of Egil in England remind us how Bjorn earned his nickname in Russia" (p. 60).

Links

• Written by: Zuzana Stankovitsóva
• English translation: Zuzana Stankovitsóva