A saga (word Icelandic , plural) is a literary genre developed in the Icelandic medieval to ^twelfth and ^thirteenth centuries. Nowadays the word saga is improperly taken to designate some epic works, even if expressed in a form other than the literary medium, like the cartoon Saga Leatherstocking saga or movie Star Wars.

According to Regis Boyer , "is called a saga narrative prose, also in prose, this point is crucial, bringing life and the doings of a character, worthy of remembrance for various reasons, from his birth to his death , omitting or his ancestors or his descendants if they have any significance " ^Categories

It was long thought that the different categories of sagas had succeeded. It seems now established that we can not do the chronology of these different categories, but they have arisen concomitantly.

The royal sagas (Konungasgur)

These are the sagas that deal with Danish kings , Norwegian and Swedish. The best known example is the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson , which includes sixteen sagas actually spent all the kings of Norway until the end of the twelfth century.

Outside the Heimskringla, one can also cite the Fagrskinna the Morkinskinna or the Saga of King Sverrir. The history of the island of Gotland is treated in Gotlands Saga , which is the only saga written outside of Iceland and Norway.

The sagas of Icelanders , also called family sagas

They relate to the deeds of an ancestor who lived in the ^tenth and ^eleventh centuries. Their authors are unknown. The heroes of these sagas are usually famous because shipments Vikings they have conducted or personal qualities (sense of friendship, poetic talent, manners, chivalry, etc.)..

Rgis Boyer as especially given six units: the saga of Hrafnkell , the Saga of Egill, son of Grim the Bald , the Saga of Snorri the Godi , The Saga of the people of the Val-au-Saumon , the Saga of Grettir the Strong and the Saga of Njal.

The sagas of contemporaries (Samtarsgur)

These sagas are, as their name suggests, the narrative of contemporary events in the life of the author. These include the sagas of bishops, but also the descendants of Sturla Saga , the Saga of Sturlungar. This is the jewel in this category because it relates the misfortunes of Icelanders between the ^twelfth and ^thirteenth centuries. Several sagas from this book were written by Sturla Thordarson.

The sagas of knights (Riddarasgur)

Works of the fourteenth century, it is fairly free adaptation of French epics and romances of the Round Table. The wonderful element of fantasy or have a special place. The role of love is not neglected, however. We can quote a Saga of Charlemagne. The main interest of some of these texts is that they were written from texts now lost. Many translations were made in Norway , at the instigation of the Kings (see: Rgis Boyer, Icelandic sagas).

The legendary sagas

These sagas were not written for historical purposes but are more up to the legends and wonderful as Vlsunga saga narrates the deeds of the hero Sigurd Fafnir the dragon killer (cf: Rgis Boyer, The Saga of Sturlungar). In addition, there are few purely popular themes. Many of the sagas being part of this category have been written in Iceland but not limited to the role of Norway is not negligible.

References

See also

• Saga of Erik the Red
• Saga of the Greenlanders

External Links

• (In) Snorri on Wikisource
• (En) The saga of Njal 's site Project Gutenberg
• (In) The Sagas online in English, Norwegian, Icelandic, Danish, Old Norse and / or German

Bibliography

: Source used for this article

• Rgis Boyer, medieval Iceland, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2001.

• Rgis Boyer, Icelandic Sagas, Gallimard, Coll. "The Pleiades" No. 338, 1987 (r-d. 1994), 1993 p. ISBN 2-07-011117-2

Notes: Bibliogr. p. LXI-LXV Index - p. 1977-1990.

• Rgis Boyer, The saga of Gunnlaugr-tongue snake & The saga of the skald Hallfredr difficult Edition Joseph K., Paris, 1999.

• Rgis Boyer, The Saga of Sturlungar Edition Les Belles Lettres, collection classics Nord, Paris, 2005.

• Rgis Boyer, The Book of Settlement of Iceland: different versions of Sturla Thordarson (Sturlubk) edition Brepols, collection mirror the Middle Ages, Turnhout, 2000.

• Regis Boyer, "The miracle of Iceland," Religion and History, No. 32, Paris, 2010, p. 18-21.

• Rgis Boyer, Icelandic sagas, Edition Payot, Paris, 1978 (reissued in 1986, 1992 and 2007).

• Rgis Boyer, Morals and Psychology from the ancient Icelanders' sagas contemporary, edition of the Sword Collection Heritage of Europe, Paris, 1987.

• Rgis Boyer, Saga of Gsli Srsson Edition Gallimard, collection Folio, Paris, 2004.

• Rgis Boyer, Saga Hrolf Lackland Anacharsis edition, Paris, 2004.

• Rgis Boyer, Saga Yngvarr the flyer & Stated Eymundr Hringsson, Anacharsis edition, Paris, 2009.

• Regis Boyer, "Some important landmarks include Iceland," Religion and History, No. 32, Paris, 2010, p. 22-27.

• Franois-Xavier Dillmann, "Snorri Sturluson and the History of the Kings of Norway," Proxima Thule, volume 4, Paris, 2000 69-100.

• Daniel W. Lacroix, "The academic culture in medieval Iceland ', Religion and History, No. 32, Paris, 2010, p. 34-39.

• Maillefer Jean-Marie, "Iceland origins in the thirteenth century," Religion and History, No. 32, Paris, 2010, p. 28-33.

• Vsteinn lason, "The Icelandic sagas, a literary genre at the crossroads of two worlds," Proxima Thule, volume 4, Paris, 2000 45-67.

• Torfi H. Tulinius, The Matter of Northern Sagas legendary and fiction in Icelandic prose literature of the thirteenth century, University Press edition of Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, 1995.

• Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, History of the Kings of Norway, Part One, translated by Franois-Xavier Dillmann, Edition Gallimard, collection of peoples Dawn, Paris, 2000. ISBN 2-07-073211-8

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