The Icelandic saga of Edward the Confessor: the hagiographic sources

Autor: Christine Fell
Rok vydání: 1972
Předmět:
Zdroj: Anglo-Saxon England. 1:247-258
ISSN: 1474-0532
0263-6751
DOI: 10.1017/s0263675100000181
Popis: The author or compiler of the saga of Edward the Confessor Saga Játvarðar konungs bins helga frequently refers to his sources. Sometimes he does this in vague terms such as ‘svá segja sannfróðir menn’ (ch. 1) and ‘segja menn’ (ch. 6). At other times he seems to be bringing together two sources as in the phrases ‘Þat er ok sumra manna sögn’ (ch. 6) and ‘Ok er þpat margra manna sögn’ (ch. 8). Two references indicate English provenance for part of his material: ‘Svá segja Enskir menn’ (ch. 5) and ‘Þat er sögn Enskra manna’ (ch. 8). He also mentions Scandinavian sources, indicating awareness of Danish tradition in ‘Ok þat hafa Danir til þess’ (ch. 9) and alluding to a history of the kings of Norway in ‘Sem sagt er í Æfi Noregs-konunga’ (ch. 7). But he does not always find Scandinavian scholarship well-informed: ‘Þá þykkjaz fróðir menn í Noregskonungs veldi eigi (víst) vita hverr þessi konungr hefir verit.’ Fortunately Icelandic learning can supply the missing detail: ‘þat er sagt frá orðum Gizurar Hallz sonar, eins hins vitrasta mannz á Íslandi’ (ch. 2). This is his only reference to an authority by name.
Databáze: OpenAIRE