Laxdæla saga
The Laxdæla saga , the saga of the inhabitants of Laxárdalr ('Salmon River Valley'), is a literary work of the 13th century. It stands on an equal footing with other great sagas such as the Njáls saga , the Grettis saga or the Egils saga , and represents a high point of Icelandic storytelling in the Middle Ages. It is the first family chronicle that has been deliberately worked out into a literary work. The Laxdæla saga is one of the longest and most complex of the Icelandic sagas . It deals with events that affect two of the most influential families on Hvammsfjörður in the 9th century to the 11th century, and which span seven generations.
Origin and author
The Laxdæla saga was very likely written between 1230 and 1250, but refers to a much earlier period, as the saga's genealogies only go back to the 11th century. The saga includes the Christianization (around 999 or 1000) , which was so important for Icelandic history .
It is very likely that the author used oral tradition as the source for composing his saga. He borrowed the material for his genealogies from Landnámabók . The view of Icelandic society is similar to that in Íslendingabók . The events described in the saga date back up to 300 years and are said to have occurred in West Iceland (in the west quarter), in the area of Breiðafjörður and Borgarfjörður , especially in the area around Hjarðarholt and Helgafell.
The author of the Laxdæla saga remains unknown. But he must have been a well-read, educated man who skillfully employed the stylistic devices of the church literature of his time in his saga. He was probably a clergyman, but he was also inspired by the medieval novels of chivalry , which had been increasingly translated into Icelandic since the 13th century.
Stylistic means
In his saga the author uses an authorial narrative situation : he is at the same time the narrator (Auctor), creator and inventor of his story, an omniscient narrator who himself does not take part in the plot. So he always knows exactly what is happening to his protagonists, regardless of the time and place. He comments on what has happened and interferes with the events. His view of the course of action remains external, a change of perspective - inner state of mind, external reality - does not take place. He reports impersonally without ever actively taking the floor himself. The authorial narrator can also be recognized by the well thought-out text structure of an Icelandic saga. Realistic and naturalistic liveliness characterize the Laxdæla saga, like any other sagas of the same genre.
The author articulates the inner processes of his protagonists in concise but very precise dialogues . He clearly portrays the characters of the saga in terms of their most outstanding characteristics, skills and competencies, strengths and weaknesses. He brings them to life through clothing, appearance and appearance and makes them perceptible as personalities for his readers. He cleverly hides his personal attitudes and opinions with regard to action and communication as well as the quality of the relationships between his protagonists behind the judgment of the general public, usually he refrains from subjective statements and comments.
The narrative reality statement of the Laxdæla saga shows the reader a real reality in which the narrative situation is determined by time and place. In his culture-specific historical awareness, the author writes his saga as if he had experienced it himself and can only be seen in connection with himself.
The Laxdæla saga is a characteristic Icelandic saga. The author divided them, perhaps the poetics of Aristotle Following this, in three sections:
- the prologue , a chronicle-like introduction that introduces the Icelandic families involved and clarifies their genealogical relationships;
- the main part, which revolves around the life of the Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir;
- the epilogue that gets lost in the fairy tale world of completely fictional chivalric novels ( Riddarasögur ).
The author adorns the side scenes with courtly narratives, so that the characters of the saga are transported into the courtly culture with its ideals, which is far from Icelandic society . This culture is exemplarily represented by the Norwegian royal court, which the protagonists of the saga visit in every generation, and where they are honored by the reigning king. The author makes this element particularly eye-catching in the appearance, charisma and male virtues of Kjartan Ólafsson pái, Bolli Þorleiksson and Bolli Bollason, whose chivalry is impressive. Two important women are also modeled on the courtly ideal: Guðrún Ósvifrsdóttir and Hrefna Ásgeirsdóttir, with contrasting personalities: Guðrún, as beautiful and passionate as they are inconsiderate, and Hrefna, soulful and sensitive, who, unlike their opponents, about the loss of their Guðrún Kjartan cannot put into action and therefore breaks with her suffering, while Gudrún becomes hard and uncompromising through her pain. The clothes, way of life and dialogue of the main characters in the saga are also reminiscent of the later Riddarasögur.
Synopsis
The Laxdæla saga focuses on the descendants of the Ketill flatnefr, an influential Hersen from Raumsdalr in western Norway, who flees to Scotland with his daughter Unnr djúpúðga and other relatives from the power and territorial claims of King Haraldr hárfagra (fair hair). His sons, who have heard of the unlimited opportunities to settle in Iceland, sail there. After the death of her father, Unnr moves on to the Orkneys and Faroe Islands , and from there to Iceland in the Breiðafjörður, where she settles in Hvammr. There she married her granddaughter Þorgerðr to a certain Kollr and gave her land in Laxárdalr as a dowry. Their son is Höskuldur. After Unnr looked after her followers and married her grandson Ólafr Feilan, she died. Kollr dies soon after her, and Höskuldr takes over the parental farm and calls it Höskuldsstaðir. Höskuld's mother Þorgerðr travels to Norway to see her relatives, where she marries the rich feudal man Herjólfr. Their son is Hrútr. After Herjólfr's death, she returned to Höskuldr in Iceland and stayed there until her death. After Þorgerð's death, Höskuldr also inherits his half-brother Hrútr. Höskuldr marries Jórunn Bjarnardóttir and has four children with her: Þorleikr, Bárðr, Hallgerðr and Þuríðr.
Höskuldr, who had become a powerful and influential man, promised his neighbors support against the troublemaker Víga-Hrappr, but then went to Norway to buy timber. In Norway he also buys the silent slave Melkorka from a Russian merchant. After returning to Iceland, Ólafr pái was born, Höskuld's son from Melkorka, who identified herself as the Irish princess, daughter of the Irish king Mýrkjartan.
The first serious conflict between the descendants of Ketill flatnefr ignites between the half-brothers Höskuldr and Hrútr over their common inheritance. Höskuld's pursuit of possession violates Hrúts' rights.
Hrútr, who lived with his relatives in Norway for a long time, finally came to Iceland and asked Höskuldr to give him his mother's inheritance, which he refused. After years of patient waiting, Hrútr and a band of recruited men steal part of Höskuld's cattle, and in an argument they kill some of Höskuld's servants who are chasing the cattle in order to win them back. On the advice of his wife Jórunn, Höskuldr compares himself to his half-brother Hrútr; the dispute between the two is settled.
Höskuld's children grow up, and Melkorka sends Ólafr pái to her father in Ireland. However, Ólafr decides to travel to Norway to see King Harald Graumantel to introduce himself at court. After returning to Iceland he married Þorgerðr Egilsdóttir, the daughter of the skald Egill Skallagrímsson . They have five children: Þuríðr, Kjartan, Halldórr, Steinþórr, Bergþóra and Þorbjörg.
The escalation of the conflict between the two brothers is further fueled by the problematic relationship between Þorleikr, Höskuld's son, and his uncle Hrútr. Hrútr settles one of his freedmen on Höskuld's land. Þorleikr kills the man and takes possession of the land himself.
Around the same time, Bolli, Þorleik's son and Höskuld's grandson, was born. But shortly afterwards Höskuldr dies, leaving his property to his son Ólafr pái, son of Melkorka and half-brother Þorleik. He is angry about his father's decision and falls out with Ólafr. In order to reconcile himself with his half-brother Þorleikr, he takes over the upbringing of Bolli, whereby he subordinates himself socially to Þorleikr. Kjartan, the son of Ólafr and Þorgerðr, is born, and Bolli and Kjartan grow up together in Ólafr's house as foster brothers.
Ólafr buys on a merchant ship and travels to Norway again, where he meets Geirmundr and is forced to take him back to Iceland. Geirmundr is courting Ólaf's daughter Þuríðr, whom he finally marries against Ólafr's will, but with the support of her mother Þorgerðr. But after three years, Geirmundr leaves his wife Þuríðr and sails back to Norway. A calm in Breiðafjörður delays the departure of Geirmund, so that Þuríðr manages to steal his sword Fótbítr, his most valuable possession. Geirmundr places a terrible curse on this sword: it is supposed to kill the man of her sex whose death hurts the family most. This sword is given to Þuríðr Bolli, Ólafr's foster son.
After Ólafr slaughtered the ox Harri, a woman appears to him in a dream and prophesies the death of his son Kjartan as a penance for the death of her son Harri.
Now the author turns to the Laugarmenn family and introduces Guðrún to the plot, which is subsequently haunted by significant dreams. A friend of her father Ósvífr, the wise Gestr Oddleifsson, interprets Guðrún's dreams as their four future weddings. A little later he sees Kjartan and Bolli in a group of other young people and prophesies that Bolli will kill his foster brother Kjartan.
Guðrún's first marriage to Þorvaldr Halldórsson ends very quickly with the divorce that she herself provoked. She then marries Þórðr Ingunnarson, who has separated from his wife Auðr. Auðr, out of anger and disappointment, carried out a murder attempt on Þórðr, but it failed. A little later Þórðr drowns in a storm conjured up by the magician Kotkell. Gestr then drives out Kotkell and his sons, but Þorleikr Höskuldsson resettles him on his land, for which Kotkell has to give him some valuable horses that Þorleikr desires.
A certain Eldgrímr tries to get the horses into his possession, but is caught and killed by Þorleik's uncle, Hrútr. Þorleikr interprets this as an assault, accuses his uncle of having grudged him the legitimate revenge on Eldgrímr, and falls out again with him. In revenge, he moves the Kotkell people to dishonor Hrút. These set a damaging spell in motion in which Hrúts son Kari is killed. Hrútr and Ólafr kill Kotkell and his family, but Ólafr pái can make peace between his relatives for a period, but induces his son Þorleikr to leave Iceland to avoid Hrút's revenge.
The climax of the conflicts between the relatives is the tragic constellation Kjartan - Guðrún - Bolli.
Kjartan and Guðrún fall in love and regulate their relationship. He and Bolli then leave Iceland and travel to the Norwegian royal court. Months later, Bolli returns alone and spreads rumors in Iceland of an affair between Kjartan and Ingibjörg, the daughter of the Norwegian king Ólafr Tryggvason . With this ruse, Bolli wins Guðrún as a wife. Kjartan is later released by the king. On his departure he receives a sword from the king and a headscarf from the princess. Once in Iceland, he feels cheated of his love.
Only with the help of his authority can Ólaf suppress the conflict for some time after Kjartan's return. Kjartan marries Hrefna Ásgeirsdóttir from northwest Iceland.
With this situation, the conflict reaches its final climax. Kjartan and Guðrún now inflict insults on each other in order to diminish each other's social position and to injure one's honor.
Guðrún incites her brothers, the Ósvífrs' sons, and Bolli to ambush Kjartan and kill him. Bolli gives Kjartan the death blow with the sword Fótbítr, which Kjartan accepts without resistance. Kjartan dies in Bolli's arms. In revenge, Ólafr pái's sons killed Þórhalla's sons, Oddr and Steinn Þórhölluson, who had actively participated in the attack on Kjartan.
After Kjartan's death, his father Ólafr forced another comparison between the conflicting parties. He causes the Ósvífs sons, Guðrúns brothers, to be ostracized until the death of the Kjartans brothers. Bolli is spared this fate, he gets away with compensation for the time being. The peace enforced by his authority remains stable until Ólafr pái's death.
After Ólafr pái's death, the settlement he had made breaks and a feud with several homicides breaks out between the families and their supporters. This time Þorgerðr Egilsdóttir, Kjartan's mother, incites to revenge after the death of her husband. Her son Halldórr hires men for a vengeance. Bolli is slain.
Bolli Bollason, Bollis and Guðrún's son, is born after the death of his father. To avoid further revenge, Guðrún and her two sons change their place of residence on the advice of Goden Snorri. Snorri also advises Guðrún to marry the influential Þorkell Eyjólfsson, who first wants to go on a trade trip to Norway. Snorri and Guðrún plan a vengeance against the Ólaf sons. They assure themselves of the support of a certain Þorgils Hölluson, to whom Guðrún promises marriage with fraudulent intent. Two of the men involved in the manslaughter of Kjartan are obliged to take part in Þorgil's vengeance against Helgi Harðbeinsson or to be killed themselves. Þorgils finally succeeds in killing Helgi.
Guðrún reveals to Þorgils her false marriage promise. Shortly thereafter, he was killed in response to the manslaughter of Helgi Harðbeinsson himself.
Guðrún marries Þorkell Eyjólfsson, who has since returned to Iceland.
Ósvífr and Gestr die and are buried in a common grave.
Þorleikr, Bolli's eldest son, leaves Iceland and goes to the Norwegian royal court, where he becomes a follower of Ólaf the Saint . Guðrún's youngest son, Bolli, marries Snorri's daughter Þórðis. As a final reconciliation for the slaughter of Bolli, Snorri arranges a fine for the Ólaf sons.
Bolli follows his brother to Norway, but travels from there to Denmark and Constantinople, while his brother Þorleikr returns to Iceland.
Þorkell Eyjólfsson also travels to Norway again to fetch timber for a church, but drowns when he tries to clear the timber in Iceland.
Snorri goði Þorgrímsson dies.
Guðrún spends her old age as a pious Christian in Helgafell (near Stykkishólmur on Snæfellsnes), becomes Iceland's first nun and hermit, and dies of old age.
There is a phrase famous in Iceland that is often quoted: When Bolli was visiting his mother once, he asked her insistently who she, who had been married four times, loved most. To which she replied with the verse:
- "Þeim var ek verst, / er ek unna mest."
- "The worst I was, the one I loved the most."
Rudolf Meißner transfers:
- "I created the bitterest hour for him, whom I loved from the bottom of my heart."
which meant Kjartan, whom she had killed by her brothers.
comment
historicity
The link between the Laxdœla saga and historical history is based on two pillars: the conquest and Christianization. In the saga criticism, the description of the conquest of the land was especially doubted because it deviates in essential points from the Landnáma and the Eyrbyggja saga. The most striking difference is the lack of attention to the relationship between the Ketill family and the other side of the North Sea. Landnámabók and Eyrbyggja saga describe that Ketill first sailed to the Hebrides and settled there. A few years later, Ketil's children and son-in-law Helgi come to Iceland. In the Laxdœla saga, it is only Ketill who sails off with his daughter Unnr and many of his friends, not to the Hebrides, but to Scotland. His sons Bjørn and Helgi and Þórunn hyrna and Helgi inn magri are sailing straight to Iceland. Unr's husband, who according to the other sources settles in the West, is not mentioned in the Laxdœla saga. Rolf Heller assumes that the author knew the other reports and consciously changed them. Others assume an independent tradition. However, the Laxdœla saga emphasizes Norwegian origins and diminishes Celtic relationships.
The narrative presentation of history has different standards than structural analysis and source criticism. So the question cannot be whether the events presented are historical, but how the author understood “history”. The narration of the saga about the emigration from Norway and Melkorka is not historical in today's sense, but it does contain an interpretation of early Icelandic history. The saga makes two references to Ari inn froði: he is mentioned once as the source for the case of Þorstein in Katanes, and at the end of the saga he is mentioned as the great-grandson of Þorkell Eyjólfsson and Guðrún. In Ari's book, too, the Celtic element is suppressed in Icelandic society as in the Laxdœla saga. In the Íslendingabók, he names four representative land-grabbing families and marks all four as Norwegian. Among these four are Auðr Ketilsdóttirs and Helgi inn magris families, but with no reference to their connections in Celtic space. Ari emphasizes the Norwegian origin of the Icelanders. But he also describes the separation from Norwegian society by portraying Iceland as a country with its own institutions that adopts Christianity on its own separate decision. One can assume that the representation in the Laxdœla saga about the relationship to the Celtic and Norwegian environment corresponded to the contemporary Icelandic self-image.
Statement intent
One of the main features of the saga is the motif of the equality of family relationships in contrast to the hierarchical order in Norway, as well as the propagation of intra-Icelandic marriages and the rejection of non-Icelandic people as fundamentally dangerous. Most marriages are unproblematic, an expression of a peaceful social order. Marriages that cross social and geographical boundaries are prone to conflict from the outset. This is especially true when women marry men who are rich but not equal: Vigdís to anórðr and Guðrún to Þorvaldr. Guðrún's marriage to Bolli is also not based on equality, probably from birth, but not in human quality. Kjartan is a better man than Bolli. That leads to an inevitable conflict. The peasant generation affirms their detachment through marriages within the country and not with people from Norway. Two such marriages lead to conflict: On the one hand, Þorgerðrs, Dala-Koll's widow, marriage to the Norwegian Herjólfr. Höskuldr, her son, criticizes his mother's trip to Norway and later rejects the inheritance rights of his half-brother Hrútr. The dispute is settled, but has consequences for the next generation. The half-Norwegian Hrútr comes to Iceland in a society where there is no space for him, so he has to take away wealth and prestige from others. The other is the Icelandic-Norwegian marriage between Þuríðr and Geirmund. Óláfur pá is against it and does not want to take Geirmund to Iceland either. It is true that there are no serious consequences because the father and his child perish. But the symbolic meaning is obvious. The fruit is the sword Fótbítr, with which Kjartan is later killed by Bolli. The reader is prepared to understand Kjartan's journey to Norway. But here too close contact with Norway leads to misfortune: the symbols that he brings back from Norway are the sword of the king and the headscarf of the princess. Both symbolize a status that has no place in the Icelandic chief society. Not only the symbols themselves, but also their owners must be destroyed.
Marital connections between Icelanders and people from the Celtic region do not appear in the plot of the saga. There is a marriage between Eyvindr and the Irish princess Rafarta, but their descendants are irrelevant. Neither Álfdís of the Hebrides, the wife of Ólafr feilan, nor the fact that Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir is descended from King Bjólan, both of which are reported in the Landnáma, are found in the saga. Possibly he wanted to bring this motif only in the story of Myrkjartan and Melkorka. The danger that arises from the Irish element is first caused by the disturbance of peace by Hrafn and Kotkell - people invented by the author according to Heller - who come from the Hebrides. The Celtic areas are shown in the saga in principle hostile. Ólafrr pá comes to Ireland and can only save himself from attacks by the residents through his knowledge of the Irish language and his ancestry. Melkorka's story would be meaningless if she were just an Irish slave. But because she turns out to be an Irish princess, Ólafr pá gains its special position and quality. If Ólafr pá had accepted his grandfather's offer to remain in Ireland as king on his trip to Ireland, the blood feud in Iceland would not have taken place and the saga would not have analyzed the principles of the balance of power in Icelandic society. It is therefore unimportant whether the trip is historical. The saga tells of the imbalance that was the principle of Icelandic society.
Among the descendants of Unr, the different social position between Ólafr feilans as the only son of the family and the daughter Þorgerðr is characterized by the fact that Ólafr receives the main farm Hvammr, but she receives Laxárdalr as a dowry. This is also expressed in the story by the fact that Ólafr's wedding is described in detail, while her marriage to Kollr is only mentioned. The most serious cause of the collapse of the social order is Ólafr pá, who acquires his social prestige and wealth at the expense of others, which the saga describes in detail. He receives land born out of wedlock, which the descendants of Ólafr feilan claim as inheritance. The celebration of the funeral beer that Ólafr pá holds for his father turns out to be much more festive than the wedding celebration of Unnr with Ólafr for sale. The focus shifts from the descendants of Ólafr feilans to the descendants of Þorgerðr and from Höskuld's legitimate descendants to the son of the slave girl Melkorka. But Icelandic society cannot tolerate such a shift, as the saga now describes. The fact that Ólafr pá rises so high in the king's reputation during his stay in Norway that he is even offered to marry the king's sister must disrupt the fundamental equality of families on his return to Iceland, which ultimately leads to a bloody feud. After death, there are other marriages that move the story forward. But you don't hear anything from Hjarðarholt's family. Their role was to represent the forces that were putting Icelandic society at risk.
literature
Translations of the original text
- The story of the people of the Salmon Valley (Laxdæla saga). Thule Collection , Old Norse Poetry and Prose, Vol. 6, transferred from Rudolf Meißner, Jena, 1913.
- Laxdœla saga. The saga of the people from the Laxardal, edited and translated from Old Icelandic by Heinrich Beck, Munich, 1997.
Secondary literature on the Laxdæla saga
- Laxdœla saga. In: Theodore M. Andersson, The Icelandic Family Saga. An Analytic Reading, Harvard University Press, 1967: 163-174.
- Gabriele Bensberg , The Laxdœla saga in the mirror of Christian-medieval tradition , Diss., Frankfurt / M. 2000.
- Dorothee Frölich, honor and love. Layers of storytelling in the Laxdœla saga (= Europäische Hochschulschriften, Series 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Vol. 1447; zugl. Bochum, Univ.Diss., 1999), P. Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al., 2000
- Rolf Heller: Studies on the structure and style of the Laxdœla saga . In: Karl Gustav Ljunggren, et al. (Ed.): Arkiv för nordisk filologi (ANF) . Episode 5, volume 19 (= band 75 of the complete edition). CWK Gleerups förlag, Lund 1960, p. 113–167 (multilingual, journals.lub.lu.se [PDF] dedicated to Walter Baetke on his 75th birthday).
- Rolf Heller, comments on the work of the author of the Laxdœla saga. In: Sagnaskemmtun, Studies in Honor of Hermann Pálsson, edited by Rudolf Simek, Jónas Kristjánsson and Hans Bekker-Nielson, Vienna, Cologne, Graz, 1986: 111-120.
- Rolf Heller, Laxdæla saga and Færeyinga saga , Alvíssmál 8, 1998: 85.92.
- Jónas Kristjánsson, Eddas and Sagas. Medieval literature of Iceland . Transferred from Magnús Pétursson and Astrid van Nahl, H. Buske, Hamburg, 1994, pp. 233f., Pp. 284-289.
- Claudia Müller: Narrated knowledge. The Isländersagas in Möðruvallabók (AM 132 fol.) (= Texts and studies on German and Scandinavian studies, vol. 47; also Bonn, Univ.Diss., 1999), P. Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 2001.
- Rudolf Simek , Hermann Pálsson : Lexicon of Old Norse Literature (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 490). Kröner, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-520-49001-3 .
- Preben Meulengracht Sørensen: Norge og Isand i Laxdœla saga . In: Preben Meulengracht Sørensen: At fortælle Historien. Telling history . Hesperides Triest 2001. ISBN 88-86474-31-8 . Pp. 71-80.
- Jan de Vries, Old Norse Literary History , Vol. 2, Berlin, 1967: 363-369.
Web links
- Laxdæla saga (New Icelandic)
- userpage.fu-berlin.de Rolf Heller, "Laxdœla saga and Færeyinga saga", Alvíssmál 8 (1998): 85–92 (PDF file; 67 kB).
- userpage.fu-berlin.de Daniel Sävborg, "Kärleken i Laxdœla saga - Höviskt och sagatypiskt", Alvíssmál 11 (2004): 75-104 (see English summary p. 104; PDF file, 301 kB).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sørensen 2001 p. 79.
- ↑ Ólafr pá = Olaf the peacock. This is not meant in a pejorative way, as it is today, in other words, in a dodgy manner, but rather appreciatively as an unusually beautiful man.
- ↑ Sørensen 2001 p. 72 f.
- ↑ Sørensen 2001 p. 79.
- ↑ For the previous section Sørensen 2001 p. 74 ff.
- ↑ Sørensen 2001 p. 78 ff.