Hrafnkel's saga

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The Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða ( Hrafnkatla for short ) is one of the shorter Icelandic sagas (Íslendinga sögur) and still one of the most important. It has appeared in twenty editions since 1839 and has been translated into fifteen languages. It stands in line with such famous Icelandic sagas as the Njáls saga and the Laxdœla saga . She describes events that are said to have happened in eastern Iceland . Characteristic is the obvious moral of the saga , which is its actual theme.

The first page of the Hrafnkel saga of an Icelandic manuscript (AM 156 fol) from the 17th century

Emergence

The Hrafnkels saga was written anonymously in the second half of the 13th century . In terms of tradition, it can be traced back to the 15th century : a parchment codex with the saga text (AM 162 I, fol. (M)), which today consists of only one sheet, comes from the 15th century. This manuscript survived into the 17th century and served as a template for several copies on paper. These transcripts are the main source for the saga text today. Another parchment codex (AM 551e, 4to), around 1640 , goes back to Þorleifur Jónsson from Grafarkot in Hólar. Today it is called Grafarkotsbók after its place of origin. The handwriting itself is in very poor condition and difficult to read.

Historicity and author

Sigurður Nordal described the Hrafnkels saga as a literary fiction written by a writer . According to him, the saga has neither a historical concern nor essential references to a formerly oral Hrafnkel tradition. In his opinion, the Hrafnkel saga is "one of the most perfect short novels in world literature ". In his opinion, the narrative, composition and characteristics of the main characters speak for this fact.

In the meantime, research no longer judges quite as rigorously: the saga neither claims to be derived from an oral tradition , nor does it want to be an exact historical tradition. However, the author of the Hrafnkels saga will not have got by entirely without resorting to oral sources, which, however, does not affect his literary skills or his merit. It is known that the author used the Landnámabók as a source. What other written sources he knew is uncertain. Dietrich Hofmann turned against Nordal's extreme rejection of oral influences in the Hrafnkel saga and made traces of oral tradition plausible in the main part of the saga.

Its author must have been an educated clergyman, because in the saga the reader is constantly confronted with Christian values . He certainly considered what he drew from oral and written sources and summarized in his compilation to be historical, and processed and interpreted the sources according to his level of knowledge and according to his possibilities. From today's point of view, the saga cannot be regarded as a historically reliable source for the events described, because by the time of the author the oral tradition will be far removed from reality. In his literary treatment of the sources, the author has further increased this distance. However, the mention of Hrafnkell Hrafnsson in the Landnámabók testifies that essential parts of the saga are based on a historical basis, even though transformation processes through the maintenance of the text and meaning of the traditional sources ultimately resulted in a literary work.

It is believed that the author of the Hrafnkels saga was the abbot and bishop Brandur Jónsson . The subject of the saga relates to events in the Freysgydling dynasty between 1248 and 1255 . The basic ethical attitude of the saga is believed to have been adopted from foreign works.

Value as a source

In addition to Christian values, the Hrafnkels saga expresses some old Icelandic cultural beliefs:

  • about Freyfaxi and the horse cult , about ritual riding and divination by neighing holy horses;
  • about the position of the Freyskult in pre-Christian Iceland;
  • about the obligation of godhood to found and maintain temples and to preside over the respective cults ;
  • the suspension of Hrafnkell and seven of his people by means of a rope that is pulled through his heels is reminiscent of the way Óðinns worshiped by hanging.
Places of the Hrafnkels saga

Synopsis

One of the protagonists of the Hrafnkels saga, the young farmer's son Einar, takes on a job as a shepherd at the Freysgoden Hrafnkell on Aðalból. Since Hrafnkell had sworn to kill anyone who rides his horse Freyfaxi, which he had dedicated to the god Freyr , he warns Einar not to ride the horse. But when the shepherd is missing a few sheep, he breaks the taboo, rides Freyfaxi, despite alternatives, and is subsequently slain by Hrafnkell.

Hrafnkelsdalr, the territory of the Goden Hrafnkell

In search of repentance for his slain son, Einar's father Þorbjörn goes to Aðalból to Hrafnkell. The latter brags that he has never paid penance for a man who was slain, but finally confesses that his act was evil. Therefore, he offers Þorbjörn generous compensation for the loss of his son. But old Þorbjörn rejects Hrafnkell's offer and demands that arbitrators be called in. Hrafnkell perceives this suggestion as presumptuous, since Þorbjörn puts himself on a social level with him, the influential Goden.

Þorbjörn now visits Bjarni, his brother, and Sámr, his nephew, one after the other, and asks for support in his legal dispute. First Sámr, like Bjarni before, suggests that Þorbjörn behave humbly and accept the offer of Goden. But when he refuses again, Sámr promises to play against Hrafnkell at the Althing . Both ride to the thing, where they have the bitter experience that none of the chiefs present wants to support their cause. This brings Þorbjörn to his senses and he wants to give in, but Sámr is ambitiously pursuing his uncle's homicide lawsuit. From here on, his motivation focuses less on the just cause than on the hope of gaining personal advantage. After Sáms case was initially not heard by anyone, he finally wins the help of the chiefs Þorkel and Þorgeirr from the Westfjord district. Together they achieve the ostracism of Hrafnkell. Þorkel and Þorgeirr also accompany him to Aðalból, where they confiscate Hrafnkell's farm and drive him from there. Sámr rejects the advice of the chiefs from the west to kill Hrafnkell and thus be safe from his revenge. He takes over Hrafnkell's farm, the horse Freyfaxi, which is to blame for Einar's fate and the legal dispute, is thrown over a cliff to its death. Hrafnkell's temple is destroyed.

Hrafnkell rises again to fame and fortune in his new settlement in Fljotsdalir and enjoys greater popularity than before in Aðalból.

Sámr's brother, Eyvindr, returns to Iceland, laden with trade goods, and crosses the lands of Hrafnkell on the way to Sámr. He learns about it, gathers men around him, ambushes Eyvindr and kills him. Immediately after the manslaughter, he rides on his former estate in Aðalból and drives Sámr from there.

Sámr turns to West Iceland and again to Þorkel and Þorgeirr for further assistance. The two refuse to get involved again in the east, far from their settlements, instead reproach him for not following their advice to kill Hrafnkell at the time. But they offer him to live under their protection, which Sámr cannot accept out of arrogance.

Hrafnkell maintains his reputation and influence as a gode. He did not get very old and died of an illness. His sons took over godhood and rule.

comment

In the Hrafnkels saga, two interpretive approaches that are difficult to reconcile collide:

On the one hand, the Hrafnkels saga is a Christian lesson: A man at the height of his power sins and falls, changes and rises to new honors (guilt and atonement theme). Hermann Pálsson is the most ardent advocate of this Christian interpretation of the saga. Against the medieval historical background, the saga is based on the following Christian motifs:

  • The warning dream in the first chapter of the Hrafnkels saga is reminiscent of a similar warning dream in the book of Joshua .
  • Einar's decision to ride Freyfaxi in spite of other freely available horses corresponds to the Fall of Man in Genesis .
  • Hermann Pálsson interprets the tactic of grabbing Þorgeir's toe in order to motivate him to support him in the context of Bernhard von Clairvaux's Christian concept of compassion .
  • The central statement of the saga, which culminates in the proverb "short is the range of intemperance" ( skömm er óhófs œvi ) seems to be based on a sentence from Martial : immodicis brevis est aetas .

Even without seeking Christian references, the Hrafnkels saga appears as a warning to a moral way of life: It traces the biographical development of Hrafnkell as a morally and religiously changed and purified person.

On the other hand, this interpretation should not be over-interpreted: Hrafnkell's change - more popular ( vinsæll ), more level-headed ( gæf ri), more sociable ( og hægri að öllu ) - relates primarily to his attitude towards his surroundings. He has changed his behavior towards the people subordinate to him. He has developed his social skills and put it entirely at the service of his striving for power and has entered into alliances. A political interpretation as a glorification of unbridled chief power, and the turning away from paganism and abuse of power after his fall is also justified.

The Hrafnkels saga is a didactic piece about the relationship between justice and injustice . But it also wants to teach that whoever has the power will get it back in the end. Sámr and Þorbjörn do not have the social and political skills to hold a position of power in society for a long time: They are farmers, not gods.

Hrafnkell's imperfection is social and religious. Above all, his socially inappropriate behavior provides the saga author with the background for Hrafnkell's case. His pride and hubris are the cause of his defeat; in the end, the Hrafnkels saga shows that Sámr fails for the same reasons. While Hrafnkell has changed and, at least outwardly, practices temperance and humility, Sámr remains in hubris and pride. The saga writer advocates a balance in social and religious behavior, the balance he has in mind is an ethical one. In the Hrafnkels saga, the moral of the story is the story.

Edits

  • Poul Vad: Iceland trip. On the trail of a saga . Translated from the Danish by Hanns Grössel, C. Hanser Verlag, Munich / Vienna, 1998.
  • In 2013, Butchers & Duchess, in cooperation with Radio Q, produced a radio play version of just under an hour and a half under the title The Freyspriest Hrafnkell , which was first broadcast on December 13, 2013.

Translations

  • The story of the Freyspriest Hrafnkel , Thule Collection , Old Norse Poetry and Prose, Vol. 12, Seven stories from the Ostland families, transferred from Gustav Neckel, Jena, 1913.
  • The Hrafnkels Saga , in: Sagas aus Ostisland , edited and translated from Old Icelandic by Dirk Huth, Munich, 1999: 71-101.
  • The saga of Goden Hrafnkell . From the old Icelandic by Ingrid Pak. In: Ingrid Pak (ed.): The people from the East Fjords - Old Icelandic stories . Leipzig: Verlag Philipp Reclam jun., 1973. pp. 114-145 u. 152-153. (Reclam's Universal Library. Volume No. 525.)

literature

  • Hrafnkel's saga. In: Theodore M. Andersson: The Icelandic Family Saga. An analytic reading. Harvard University Press, 1967, pp. 280-283.
  • Jónas Kristjánsson: Eddas and Sagas. Medieval literature of Iceland. Transferred from Magnús Pétursson and Astrid van Nahl, H. Buske, Hamburg, 1994, pp. 233f., Pp. 260-265.
  • Sigurður Nordal: Hrafnkatla. In: Walter Baetke (ed.): The Isländersaga. Darmstadt, 1974, pp. 235-247.
  • Hermann Pálsson: The Ethics of the Hrafnkelssaga. In: Walter Baetke (ed.): The Isländersaga. Darmstadt, 1974, pp. 370-390.
  • Dietrich Hofmann: Hrafnkels and Hallfreðs dream: To use oral tradition in the Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða. Scandinavistik 6, 1976, pp. 19-35.
  • Maria Bonner, Kaaren Grimstad: Muni vit ekki at því sættask. A Closer Look at Dialogues in Hrafnkel's saga. In: Bengt Pamp, Christer Platzack, et al. (Ed.): Arkiv för nordisk filologi (ANF) . tape 111 of the complete edition. Lund University Press, Lund 1996, pp. 5–26 (multilingual, journals.lub.lu.se [PDF]).
  • Kaaren Grimstad, Maria Bonner: Sá er svinnr er sik can. Persuasion and Image in Hrafnkel's saga. In: Göran Hallberg , Christer Platzack, et al. (Ed.): Arkiv för nordisk filologi (ANF) . tape 118 of the complete edition. Self-published, Lund 2002, p. 5–28 (multilingual, journals.lub.lu.se [PDF]).

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