The Íslendingasögur as Prosimetrum
Final Report Abstract
Scholarship on medieval Icelandic sagas in general and the Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders) in particular has been principally concerned with different aspects of the prose narrative of each work, with the quoted verses usually set to one side and discussed separately in the context of poetic traditions. To the extent that verse from the sagas has been studied, it has generally been in the context of establishing the authenticity or otherwise of verses or stanzas attributed to figures in the sagas and postulating possible dates for their composition. Recent studies have had a strong focus on developing a timeline for the development of the genre in relation to the verses contained in the texts, an aspect that was previously discussed in relation to oral transmission and the question of whether or not poems or single stanzas were accompanied by contextualizing prose. Drawing on evidence for the first time from all 26 of the prosimetric Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders), our project collected data relating to the function of quoted verse in saga narrative. We extended our enquiry into other formal aspects of the relation between prose and verse that had been raised in previous scholarship and developed criteria for the exploration of literary effects arising from the difference between narrators quoting stanzas themselves and stanzas presented as being ‘performed’ by saga characters. The substantial capture of data (covering over 300 specific sub-categories documented for each prosimetric instance in the corpus) allowed us to correct some previous assumptions about the way prosimetrum functions and to draw attention to new aspects of prosimetric style that can be identified and correlated with other literary features through our database tool. We have been able to demonstrate, for instance, that the postulated dichotomy between authenticating and situational stanzas is far too simple to account for the different functions of stanzas in saga prose. Our data also show how the conflict between voices is a generic aspect of saga prosimetrum and indeed has a bearing on the concept of authorship in these texts. In addition, we have demonstrated how the previously assumed relationship between certain metres and the gender of the speaker does not hold true. Furthermore, the prevailing assumption that verse conveys characters’ inner thoughts to a greater degree than prose does has been shown by our analysis to be too simplistic. Our research has revealed that the integration of stanzas has a profound impact on the narrative aesthetic and structure of saga literature.
Publications
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The Language of Feeling in Njáls saga and Egils saga : Construction of an Emotional Lexis. Scripta Islandica: Isländska Sällskapets Årsbok, 71.
Þorgeirsdóttir, Brynja
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Dissonant Voices in the Prosimetrum of Heiðarvíga saga. Þáttasyrpa – Studien zu Literatur, Kultur und Sprache in Nordeuropa, 179-187. A. Francke Verlag.
Wilson, Alexander
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Investigating the Íslendingasögur as Prosimetrum: A New Methodology. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 18, 51-81.
Þorgeirsdóttir, Brynja; Gropper, Stefanie; Quinn, Judy; Wills, Tarrin & Wilson, Alexander
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Þuríðr Barkardóttir and the Poetry of Eyrbyggja saga. Þáttasyrpa – Studien zu Literatur, Kultur und Sprache in Nordeuropa, 167-177. A. Francke Verlag.
Quinn, Judy
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Grotesque Emotions in Old Norse Literature: Swelling Bodies, Spurting Fluids, Tears of Hail. Emotional Alterity in the Medieval North Sea World, 17-42. Springer International Publishing.
Þorgeirsdóttir, Brynja
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The Creativity Paradox: Verse Quotation in the Íslendingasögur [Mediävistische Perspektiven 14]. Zürich: Chronos, 2023.
Quinn, Judy
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Intrusive Dreams and Converging Worlds in the Íslendingasögur. Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, 31-55. Brepols Publishers.
Wilson, Alexander
