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The home pages for the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.nordic

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Subject: 5.5 
The Sagas, Eddas, and subsequent
Icelandic literature.

1. Eddic poetry, i.e mythological and heroic poems;
2. skaldic poetry, or court poetry in praise of some event or person;
3. saga literature -- prose works ranging from fairly factual history writing to pure fiction.

5.5.1 The Sagas

Among the more historical Saga literature, based on both oral and written sources, the best known are Ari Þorgilsson's Íslendingabók (a history of Iceland), Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla ('The Disc of the World', a history of Swedish and Norwegian kings), and the anonymous Knytlinga Saga (a history of Danish kings). An excellent example of the fictional Saga is Hrafnkels Saga, a short bildungsroman. The family Sagas, such as Egils Saga (the story of Iceland's greatest skald, Egill Skallagrímsson) and Njáls Saga, fall somewhere between the fictional and factual varieties of sagas.

Heimskringla is the most celebrated of the sagas, but the dramatic Egil's Saga (circa 1220) comes closer. The more ornate Laxdæla Saga (circa 1250) elaborates tragic themes from the poems of the Edda. In Grettis Saga (circa 1300), which shares motifs with the Old English poem Beowulf, the hero succumbs to pagan sorcery. Njáls Saga (circa 1230-90) both glorifies and repudiates the Saga Age (870-1050), and provides an important description of the ancient Icelandic legal system. The most important of the legendary sagas is Völsunga Saga (circa 1250); it was a major source for Wagner's operas, and Retell's parts of the Edda.

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5.5.2 The Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda

I know I hung
on the wind swept Tree
through nine days and nights

I was struck with a spear
and given to Odin,
myself given to myself

They helped me neither
by meat nor drink
I peered downward,

I took up the runes,
screaming, I took them -
then I fell back.

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5.5.3 Later Icelandic literature

After the Reformation, Iceland experienced three centuries of poverty, which also affected its literature, although in the 17th century Hallgrímur Pétursson wrote his important Passion Hymns. Romanticism bloomed in the 19th century in the poetry of Jónas Hallgrímsson and Grímur Thomsen, while the novelist Jón Thoroddsen foreshadowed realism. In the early 20th century some Icelanders began to write in Danish; the most important of them was the novelist Gunnar Gunnarsson.

After World War I, Icelandic literature experienced a renaissance, especially in form of the poetry of Stefán frá Hvítadal, Davíð Stefánsson, and Tómas Guðmundsson. Of the prose writers of this era the most prominent were Þórbergur Þórðarson and the Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness, the most important figure of modern Icelandic literature. After World War II another generation of poets emerged, introducing modernist features into the heavily traditional Icelandic poetry. Among the leaders of this avantgarde style were Steinn Steinarr and Jón úr Vör. Some of the writers active in Iceland today are the poets Hannes Pétursson and Snorri Hjartarson, and the novelists Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson (who is also a poet), Thor Vilhjálmsson, and Indriði G. Þorsteinsson.

Most of the Icelandic sagas are available in Icelandic at the "Netútgáfan" (Net publishing) homepage. We have also published other Icelandic works, i.e. short stories, poetry, and the Norse legendary sagas.

For electronic versions of some of the works of Nordic literature, see the collection of Project Runeberg:

• Icelandic Literature
• Literature from the Viking Age
• Medieval Nordic Literature
• Danish Literature
• Norwegian Literature
• Literature of Finland
• Literature from the Age of Liberty [ in Sweden and Finland (1719-1772) ]

Biographical and bibliographical data are given also in English for a few of the Nordic authors.

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