Eyrbyggja saga

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Eyrbyggja saga (Eng. "Saga of the people of Eyr") is an Icelandic saga . It plays mainly on the north coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in western Iceland , in the early days of the conquest until the death of Goden Snorri goði Þorgrímsson (963-1031).

action

The saga first reports on the settlement of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland towards the end of the 9th century. The main plot, which takes place in the decades before and after the acceptance of Christianity in Iceland (around 1000), is primarily about rivalries between the most powerful families in the region, with Gode Snorri, who ultimately remains the winner in these, becomes more and more of the main character as the story progresses. Other important figures are Gode Arnkell as the main opponent of Snorri and his family, but above all his violent father Þórólfr bœgifótr - one of the most dangerous revenants (draugar) of the Icelandic Sagas after his death - or Bjǫrn Breiðvíkingakappi and his love affair with Snorri's married half-sister úríð. Again and again there are incidents with supernatural elements such as the eerie bull Glæsir or dying on Fróðá.

structure

The saga is considered episodic because it does not have a clear chronological course like other family sagas. Although Snorri is the hero of the saga, the text is not arranged around his biography, but is also dedicated to other characters in some places. Parts of Snorri's life that are well known from other texts are not mentioned at all. For example, the description of the last 18 years of his life is only marginal. In the meantime, however, there are also new interpretations. The Eyrbyggja saga is no longer seen only from the aspect of a family history or as the life story of a main character, but rather as a district history, with topics such as the land acquisition and the development of a community receiving increasing attention.

Lore

The Eyrbyggja saga was probably created in the middle of the 13th century on Helgafell, the former Snorris farm. Like most Icelandic sagas, it is anonymous. Sturla Þórðarson (1214-1248) is traded as a possible author because he was a descendant of Snorri, had access to the library of Helgafell and wrote some historiographical works himself.

Five parchment manuscripts are dated to the 14th and 15th centuries. According to Hugo Gering, they are divided into three groups:

  • A class : This refers to the collective manuscript Vatnshyrna . It was the only medieval manuscript that contained the entire text of the saga, but was lost in the great fire in the University Library of Copenhagen in 1728. Reliable copies that have survived are those by Ásgeir Jónsson and Árni Magnússon (448, 4 °), which were made between 1686 and 1688, and those by Ketill Jörundarson (442, 4 °). Its name comes from the place where it was found, the Vatnshorn farm in Haukadal.
  • B-Class : The most important manuscript in this class is the Wolfenbüttel manuscript from the mid-14th century, which also contains parts of the Egils saga .
  • C-Class : This means the handwriting AM 445, 4 °.

For the name Eyrbyggja Saga

As a title, the name commonly used today is not really appropriate. In the Middle Ages there are different names for the saga, most of which refer to a family or person involved in the event, e.g. B. Kjalleklinga saga , Þórsnesinga saga or Bjarnar saga Breiðvíkingakappa . In most of the manuscripts the saga ends with the sentence Ok lýkr þar sǫgu Þórsnesinga, Eyrbyggja ok Álptafirðinga (“And this is how the saga of the people from Þórsnes, Eyrr and the Álptafjǫrðr”), a title that does justice to the three main groups of the saga , but probably not prevailed due to its length and was later shortened to Eyrbyggja saga . It is interesting that the people of Eyrr are by no means the group to which the God Snorri belongs.

References to other Icelandic sagas

  • The story of Víga-Styrr, Snorri's later father-in-law, and the two berserkers Halli and Leiknir can also be found in the Heiðarvíga saga .
  • In the Laxdœla saga , Gode Snorri is the foster father of Bolli Bollason, who later also becomes his son-in-law, and a friend of his mother Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir , whom he advises several times and whose marriage to his relative Þorkell Eyjólfsson is concluded through his mediation.
  • The Gísla saga Súrssonar is also about the family of Snorri goði .
  • The plot about Bjǫrn Breiðvíkingakappi shows clear parallels to the Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa .

reception

The Fróðárunda episode was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson for his story The Waif Woman (1914).

expenditure

  • Felix Niedner (translator): The story of Goden Snorri ("Eyrbyggja saga"). Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf 1964 ( Thule Collection ; Vol. 7).
  • Klaus Böldl (Ed., Translator): The Saga of the People on Eyr ("Eyrbyggja saga"). Diederichs Verlag, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-424-01480-X .

literature

  • K. Böldl: Eigi einhamr. Contributions to the worldview of the Eyrbyggja and other Icelandic sagas (= H. Beck, D. Geuenich, H. Steuer (Ed.): Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 48). Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 2005. ISBN 3-11-018582-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ According to K. Böldl: Eigi einhamr. Contributions to the worldview of the Eyrbyggja and other Icelandic sagas (= H. Beck, D. Geuenich, H. Steuer (Ed.): Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 48). Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 2005. ISBN 3-11-018582-2 , p. 1
  2. ↑ a b Lee M. Hollander: The Structure of Eyrbyggja Saga . In: The Journal of English and Germanic Philology , Vol. 58, No. 2 (April 1959), p. 223.
  3. ↑ a b c Klaus Böldl: Eyrbyggja saga . In: Kindlers Literature Lexicon .
  4. ↑ An overview is given by K. Böldl: Eigi einhamr. Contributions to the worldview of the Eyrbyggja and other Icelandic sagas (= H. Beck, D. Geuenich, H. Steuer (Ed.): Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 48). Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 2005. ISBN 3-11-018582-2 , pp. 4-23.
  5. ↑ Hugo Gering (ed.): Eyrbyggja Saga . Max Niemeyer, Halle ad p. 1897, p. XXV ff.
  6. ^ According to K. Böldl: Eigi einhamr. Contributions to the worldview of the Eyrbyggja and other Icelandic sagas (= H. Beck, D. Geuenich, H. Steuer (Ed.): Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 48). Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 2005. ISBN 3-11-018582-2 , p. 2f.