Sverris saga

The Sverris saga is the main source of the life of the high medieval Norwegian King Sverre Sigurðarson . According to the Flateyjarbók, the author of the saga is the Icelandic abbot of Thingeyrar Monastery, Karl Jónsson . The period between 1185 and 1188, when Jónsson was staying with Sverre in Norway, is seen as the period in which it was written and Sverre is therefore one of the main contributors to the subject. The rise of Sverre and the associated power struggles and wars until he came to power until his death in 1202 is described.

Apparently, the saga was not completed long after Sverre's death in 1202 by Karl Jónsson or one of his confreres. Because Snorri Sturluson closes his Heimskringla , written around 1230, exactly where the Sverris saga begins. Apparently he was already familiar with the saga.

The first part of the saga got its name Grýla “Witch” because the rise of Sverre, perceived as supernatural, is described. It only covers the first two years of the war and at most extends just past Erling Skakke's death in 1179. According to the prologue, Sverre himself determined what should be included in the Grýla.

The second part of the saga is far less marked by propaganda than the first part and is apparently based on witness reports from Sverre's entourage. The border between the two parts is of course controversial. The author (s) of the second part also identified with the Sverres case and did not report impartially. However, since sources from the opposing party have also come down to us (English historians and Saxo Grammaticus ), Sverre is the king of the Norwegian Middle Ages who has the most accurate picture.

literature

Rudolf Simek , Hermann Pálsson : Lexicon of old Norse literature. The medieval literature of Norway and Iceland (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 490). 2nd, significantly increased and revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-520-49002-5 .
Jan de Vries : Old Norse literary history. 3rd, unchanged. Edition in one volume with a preface by Stefanie Würth, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016330-6 . ( Outline of Germanic Philology ; 15/16)

Remarks

↑ "The Sverrissaga also set an epoch: as a valid achievement in terms of material and presentation, it opened the series of contemporary sagas, which continued until the end of the 13th century, so that the overview works of the past that were created at the same time with the year 1177, the beginning of Sverrir in Norway , conclude." Siegfried Beyschlag in: Epilogue to Snorri's Königsbuch (Heimskringla) , Volume 1, Eugen Diederichs Verlag Düsseldorf-Cologne, 1965, p. 323.

Web links

Sverris Saga (Old Norse)
Talkative materials in Sverris saga konungs

[1] "The Sverrissaga also set an epoch: as a valid achievement in terms of material and presentation, it opened the series of contemporary sagas, which continued until the end of the 13th century, so that the overview works of the past that were created at the same time with the year 1177, the beginning of Sverrir in Norway , conclude." Siegfried Beyschlag in: Epilogue to Snorri's Königsbuch (Heimskringla) , Volume 1, Eugen Diederichs Verlag Düsseldorf-Cologne, 1965, p. 323.