See also:

• SAGA (literally a story committed to writing)

SAGA (literally a See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story committed to See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing)  , a word derived from Icel. segja, to say . The See also:

• TERM

term is See also:

• COMMON

common to most of the See also:

• TEUTONIC
• TEUTONIC (GERMANIC) LANGUAGES

Teutonic See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages, where we find Eng. say, Ger. sagen, the O . Eng. secgan, See also:

• DAN

Dan. sige and Swed. segja, all identical in meaning . A See also:

• SAGA (literally a story committed to writing)

saga, therefore, was originally something reported, segin saga, a See also:

• TALE (O.Eng. talu, number, account, story; the word is common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Zahl, number, Erzahlung, narrative, Du. taal, speech, language)

tale told, in See also:

• ENGLISH

English a saw . But the earliest literature of Scandinavia goes back to an See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age before See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing was invented, and when the legends were first put down they were called sagas because they were things which had been told or repeated from mouth to mouth . The See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early books speak of sagas which, apparently, had never been written down and were in consequence lost; but, as soon as the See also:

• ART

art of writing was understood, the word saga began for the future to be used exclusively for written See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical books . A See also:

• VOLUME

volume made up of such histories was known as a sogubdk or See also:

• BOOK

book of sagas . They were not rigidly historical; any See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story which was written down, and repeated according to the See also:

• LITERARY

literary See also:

• FORMULA
• FORMULA (Lat. diminutive of forma, shape, pattern, &c., especially used of rules of judicial procedure)

formula, was called a saga . The telling of tales was a recognized See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of entertainment at Icelandic banquets, and in Haraldssaga Hartrlifa there are very interesting details regarding these public saga-tellings; the See also:

• PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person who repeated or read the tale being known as the sogumab'r or saga-See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man, and being held in high See also:

• HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour at the feast . The saga was properly a creation of the See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar conditions under which Icelandic society was constituted in the earliest See also:

• MEDIEVAL

medieval times . The aristocratic Icelander had no diversions, except See also:

• GAMES, CLASSICAL

games of strength and skill out of doors and the listening to professional story-tellers indoors . As has been often pointed out, the saga is a See also:

• PROSE

prose epic, and in its various kinds it follows strict See also:

• LAWS

laws of See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition .

The lesser epic, in its See also:

• ORIGINAL

original form, was the See also:

• BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography of some heroic Icelander who had lived in the loth or 11th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . It was composed with See also:

• GREAT

great regularity, so as to proceed uniformly from the See also:

• BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth of the See also:

• HERO (Gr. open)
• HERO, THE YOUNGER

hero to his See also:

• DEATH

death, and indeed from before the one date until after the other . The See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style is brief, clear and conversational; the hero was often a distinguished poet, and in that See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case some of the best of his verses are interwoven into the narrative, being put in his mouth on striking occasions . See also:

• ALLITERATION (from Lat. ad, to, and littera, letter)

Alliteration takes a great See also:

• PART

part in the See also:

• ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament of the style . The skill with which the story is told, the high romantic sense of honour and courage which is displayed, the See also:

• QUICK

quick turns of the See also:

• DIALOGUE

dialogue, the brilliant See also:

• EVOLUTION

evolution of the' See also:

• PLOT
• PLOT, ROBERT (164o-1696)

plot, all these give enduring See also:

• CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm to the more successful and ample of the sagas, and in the earlier examplesthese qualities are very rarely missing . It is to. be remembered, however, that the saga was intended to be listened to, not read, by an See also:

• AUDIENCE (from Lat. audire, to hear)

audience which was mainly interested in. three subjects, namely fighting, litigation and See also:

• PEDIGREE

pedigree . It was illegitimate for the saga-man, in the preparation of his epic, to allow himself to stray for any length of See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time from one of those three themes; since even love must be considered in the See also:

• LIGHT

light of an See also:

• EPISODE

episode . The See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period of the saga-age, as it was called, the sogu-Old or See also:

• EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch celebrated in the sagas, is now confined between the years 890 and 1030, and opens with the original colonization of See also:

• ICELAND (Dan. Island)

Iceland . The deaths in 1030 of two great statesmen, Snorri and Ska,pti the Lawman, See also:

• MARK
• MARK, CARL (1858– )
• MARK, GOSPEL OF ST
• MARK, ST

mark its See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close; almost immediately afterwards, before the end of the 11th century, the actual age of saga-composition is in full See also:

• ACTION

action; and lastly comes the rit-old, or age of writing when the sagas were preserved in their See also:

• PRESENT

present literary form, the blossoming time of which was the 13th century . According to the definite statement of the great historian, Sturla, the first man who wrote down in the Norse See also:

• TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue, in Iceland, " histories See also:

• RELATING

relating to times See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient and See also:

• MODERN

modern," was See also:

• ARI

Ari Fr61Si (1067-1148); who was therefore the earliest of the saga-writers . He, as we know, was the author of three See also:

• WORKS

works of vast importance in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of Icelandic literature . These were Konunga-b6k or the Book of See also:

• KING
• KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
• KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
• KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
• KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
• KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
• KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
• KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
• KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
• KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
• KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
• KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)

King, Landnama-bOk or the Book of Settlements and Islendinga-b6k or the Book of Icelanders .

The second of these, in which Ari was assisted by Kolsegg Asbjornsson, survives and is of priceless value . Of the first and third, we possess abbreviations and summaries . It is believed that the admirable style in which the sagas are composed was the invention of Ari, to whose individual See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius the form of classic prose tradition is attributed . He has no See also:

• RIVAL

rival in this respect, and is the true See also:

• FATHER

father of the Icelandic saga . The works of Saemund See also:

• VIGFUSSON, GUDBRANDR (1828-188g)

Vigfusson (1056-1133), who succeeded Ari as a writer of the lives of See also:

• KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings, are unfortunately lost . We now pass to what are called the Greater or Islendinga sagas, which are of a more intense and romantic See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character than the historical See also:

• BIOGRAPHIES

biographies . Among these the greatest is Njalssaga (or Njala), which few critics will question to be the most eminent masterpiece of Icelandic literature . There is no See also:

• CLUE

clue to the name of the author, who was evidently a lawyer; extensive as is the See also:

• WORK

work, it is evidently written by one See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, for peculiarities and felicitous originalities of style recur through-out the whole saga . It must have been composed between 1230 and 1280 . Vigfusson has described Njala as being, See also:

• PAR (Lat. par, equal)

par excellence, the saga of See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law, and adds, " the very spirit indeed of Early Law seems to breathe through its pages." The See also:

• SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene in which Njal, the Lawman of See also:

• JUDGMENT

judgment and See also:

• PEACE
• PEACE, BREACH OF THE

peace, is burned in his See also:

• HOMESTEAD

homestead by his enemies is perhaps the most magnificent passage which has been preserved in the whole ancient literature of the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

North . The story of Njala is placed at the close of the loth and the first years of the 11th century . Eyrbyggiasaga deals with politics as Njalssaga deals with law; it is a See also:

• PRECIOUS (O. Fr. precios, mod. precieux, Lat. pretiosus, of high value or price, pretium)

precious compendium of history and tradition handed down from See also:

• HEATHEN

heathen times .

It has been suggested that it may be, at all events in part, the work of Sturla the Lawman, who died in 1284 . Extremely beautiful in its relation to See also:

• EXTERNAL

external nature, a See also:

• MATTER

matter often ignored in the sagas, is Laxdaelasaga, which is also the most romantic in sentiment . It was probably written about 1235, but by whom is unknown . The aristocratic spirit of the great Icelandic families finds its most characteristic exposition in Egilssaga, a very vigorous tale of See also:

• ADVENTURE (from Lat. res adventura, a thing about to happen)

adventure, the central figure of which, Egil, is depicted with more psychological subtlety than is usual in the sagas; it probably belongs to about 1230 . Into Grettissaga there enter See also:

• BIOGRAPHICAL

biographical and mythical elements, curiously mingled; it is also confused in form, and is probably a recension, made about 1310, of two or more earlier sagas now lost, the finest parts of which it is thought that Sturla may have written . These are the five famous See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups of See also:

• ANONYMOUS

anonymous narrative which are known as the Greater Sagas . The See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

Minor Sagas must be treated more briefly . Hensa-] Orissaga, belonging to the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south-See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

west of Iceland, deserves See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention because of its extreme antiquity; it has been dated 993• Gunnlaugssaga Ormstungu (The story of Gunnlaug See also:

• WORM

Worm- Tongue) is a love-story of great sentimental charm . In Gislasaga the gloom of the Icelandic outlaw-See also:

• LIFE

life is strikingly depicted in the adventures of Gisli, who is under a See also:

• BAN

ban and is hunted from See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to place . A very unusual specimen of the minor saga is Bandamannasaga, a comic story of See also:

• MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners in the north of Iceland in the r 1th century, in which an intrigue of the old families banded against the pretensions of a wealthy parvenu, is told in a spirit of broad See also:

• HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour . The most archaic of the minor sagas is Kormakssaga, the story of the loves of the dark-eyed Kormak and Steingerda; this is, according to Vigfusson, the most See also:

• PRIMITIVE

primitive piece of Icelandic prose writing that has come down to us . Another very ancient and very See also:

• SIMPLE

simple saga is Vatzdaelasaga .

Among sagas which See also:

• DEAL

deal with the earliest history of See also:

• AMERICA

America in the See also:

• CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

chronicles of See also:

• GREENLAND (Danish, &c., Gronland)

Greenland and See also:

• VINLAND (Old Norse, Vinland, i.e. Vineland or Wineland)

Vinland, a foremost place is taken by Floamannasaga, which possesses peculiar See also:

• INTEREST

interest from its description of the shipwreck of colonists on the See also:

• COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of Greenland; this belongs to the close of the loth century . We possess a See also:

• LATE

late (13th century) recension of what must have been equally important as a See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record of the Greenland See also:

• COLONY (Lat. colonia, from colonus, a cultivator)

colony in the 1 rth century, Fostbraedrasaga . Vigfusson formed a class of still shorter sagas than these, thaettir or " morsels " of narrative . At the close of the great period of the composition of all these anonymous sagas, of which few can have been written later than 1260, a work of enormous length and value was composed or compiled by a poet and historian of great See also:

• EMINENCE (Lat. eminentia)

eminence, Sturla Thordsson (1215-1284) . About the See also:

• YEAR

year 1270 he began to compile the See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of sagas which is now known by his name as Sturlungasaga . The theory that Sturla was the author of the whole of this bulky literature is now abandoned; it is certain that Hrafn Sveinbiornssaga, for instance, belongs to an earlier See also:

• GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation, and the same is true of GnOmundar Saga See also:

• GOA

Goa . Vigfusson distinguished these and other sagas, which Sturla evidently only edited, from those which it is certain that he composed, and gathered the latter together under the See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Islendingasaga . It is certain that it is to Sturla that we owe almost all our knowledge of Icelandic history from 1200 to 1260 . Islendinga is divided into two See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main sections, the former closing in a See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• MASSACRE

massacre of the characters of the story in about 1240, the latter dealing much more minutely with new persons and subsequent events . To Sturla also are attributed two saga-biographies, the Hakonssaga and the Magnussaga . It is a remarkable fact that while Icelandic saga-literature begins and ends with a definite figure of a writer, all that lies between is wholly anonymous . Ari was the earliest and Sturla the latest of the saga-writers of the classical period, but in the authors of Njala and Laxdaela we have nameless writers whose genius was still greater than that of the See also:

• PIONEER

pioneer and of the See also:

• REAR

rear-guard of Icelandic literature .

These unknown men deserve a place of honour among the best narrative-writers who have ever lived . The See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder See also:

• BROTHER

brother of Sturla was called See also:

• OLAF
• OLAF (II.)
• OLAF, or ANLAF (d. 981)

Olaf Hvitaskald, or the See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

White Poet (12o9?—1259); he was a learned man, who worked at the arrangement and compilation of the sagas which form the mass of Sturlunga . In another class are the stories of bishops, Biskupasogur, which are not sagas in the true sense, but have considerable value as biographical material for reconstructing Icelandic social life in the.'sth century . The admirable saga of See also:

• BISHOP (A.S. bisceop, from Lat. episcopus, Gr. irio-Korros, " overlooker " or " overseer ")
• BISHOP, ISABELLA (1832-1904)
• BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY (1786-1855)

Bishop Laurence (1266—1331) was composed by his private secretary, Einar Haflidason (1304—1393), who also wrote See also:

• ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

Annals, and is the latest Icelandic biographer . After his time a See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long silence See also:

• FELL
• FELL, JOHN (1625-1686)

fell on the literature of the See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, a silence not broken until the revival of Icelandic learning in the i7th century . It is evident that a vast number of sagas must be lost; when we consider how many are preserved, we can only See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express amazement at the fecundity of the art of saga-telling in the classic age . The See also:

• MSS

MSS., on which what we have were preserved, were all on vellum, and there were no sagas written on See also:

• PAPER
• PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

paper until the time of Bishop See also:

• ODD (in middle English odde, from old Norwegian oddi, an angle of a triangle; the old Norwegian oddamann is used of the third man who gives a casting vote in a dispute)

Odd, who died in 163o; there was an enormous destruction of vellums during the dark age . After 1640 it became the practice to make transcripts on paper from the perishing vellum MSS . The best authority on the history of the sagas is the copious prolegomena to Dr Gudbrandr Vigfusson's edition of the See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text of Sturlungasaga, published in 2 vols., by the See also:

• CLARENDON, CONSTITUTIONS OF
• CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, 1ST EARL OF (1609-1674)
• CLARENDON, GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK VILLIERS, 4TH EARL OF (in the Villiers line) (1800-r87o)
• CLARENDON, HENRY HYDE

Clarendon See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

Press at See also:

• OXFORD
• OXFORD, EARLS OF
• OXFORD, EDWARD DE VERE, 17TH EARL
• OXFORD, JOHN DE VERE, 13TH EARL OF (1443-1513)
• OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF
• OXFORD, ROBERT DE VERE, 9TH EARL OF (1362-1392)
• OXFORD, ROBERT HARLEY, 1ST

Oxford in 1878 . See also the edition of Biskupasogur, issued by the same author, at See also:

• COPENHAGEN (Danish Kjobenhavn)

Copenhagen, it} ! 1858 . See also:

• MOBIUS, AUGUST FERDINAND (1790-1868)

Mobius and Vigfusson published the Fornsogur or archaic sagas in 186o, and all the work of Vigfusson calls for the closest attention from those interested in this subject .

In connexion with the descents of Northmen on the shores of See also:

• BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain particular interest attaches to the four volumes of sagas edited for the " Rolls " See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series (1887–1894) . See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

William See also:

• MORRIS
• MORRIS [MORRISON], CLARA (1849– )
• MORRIS, GOUVERNEUR (1752–1816)
• MORRIS, JOHN (1810-1886)
• MORRIS, RICHARD (1833–1894)
• MORRIS, ROBERT (1734–1806)
• MORRIS, SIR LEWIS (1833–1907)
• MORRIS, WILLIAM (1834-1896)

Morris, who had done much to interpret the spirit of the sagas to English readers, and who published a See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of Grettissaga in 1869, started in 1891 the " Saga Library," in See also:

• CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with Mr E . Magnusson; of this a See also:

• SIXTH

sixth volume appeared in 1906 . Mr Sephton has published versions of several of the purely historical sagas . No See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account has been given above of the famous Heimskringla or " See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

Round of the See also:

• WORLD

World," of Snorri Sturlason, because this great work, although it contains stories of the kings of See also:

• NORWAY
• NORWAY (Norge)

Norway, hardly belongs to the same class as the biographical sagas of Iceland . The Heimskringla is purely a storehouse of primitive See also:

• NORWEGIAN

Norwegian history . See also Jonnson, Der oldnordiske og oldislandske Literaturshistorie (Copenhagen, 1893–1902) ; F . W . See also:

• HORN
• HORN (a common Teutonic word, cognate with Lat. cornu; cf. Gr. Kipas)
• HORN (Lat. cornu; corresponding terms being Fr. cor, trompe; Ger. Horn; Ital. corno)
• HORN, ARVID BERNHARD, COUNT (1664-1742)
• HORN, PHILIP DE MONTMORENCY, COUNT

Horn, Geschichte der Literatur See also:

• DES

des skandinavischen Nordens (See also:

• LEIPZIG

Leipzig, 1879) . (E .