Six Sagas of Adventure (6 page)

[1]
   transl. Stallybrass,
Teutonic Mythology
, vol. 1, p. 10.

[2]
   Murray,
Manual of Mythology
, p. 356.

[3]
   MacGregor, “Scandinavian Mythology from the Picturesque Side”, p. 136-137.

[4]
   “The Early Literature of the North—Iceland”; ed. LeMire,
The Unpublished Lectures of William Morris
, p. 181.

[5]
   Driscoll, “The Long and Winding Road,” pp. 50-53,
Unwashed Children of Eve
, pp. 13-25, 38-46; Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon,
Wasteland with Words
, pp. 85-87, 147-160.

[6]
   Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 1-5, gives an overview.

[7]
   See Quinn, “Interrogating Genre”, for a recent discussion of the controversy.

[8]
   Mitchell,
Heroic Sagas and Ballads
, p. 27.

[9]
   Schier,
Sagaliteratur
, pp. 72-91.

[10]
   Harris, “The Prosimetrum of Icelandic Saga”, pp. 131-135; Tulinius,
The Matter of the North
, pp. 55-63.

[11]
   Righter-Gould, “The
Fornaldar Sögur Norðurlanda
,” pp. 423-435; Tulinius, “Sagas of Icelandic Prehistory”, pp. 447-449.

[12]
   Elizabeth Ashliman Rowe, quoted in Quinn,
Interrogating Genre
, pp. 284-286.

[13]
   Quoted in Driscoll, “Late Prose Fiction”, p. 197; see also Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 18-19.

[14]
   Driscoll, “Late Prose Fiction,”p. 198.

[15]
   Tulinius,
The Matter of the North
, pp. 290-295.

[16]
   Driscoll, “Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda,” pp. 258-261; “A New Edition of the
Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda
,” pp. 9-11. As Driscoll points out, uncatalogued manuscripts continue to be discovered; his 2003 article lists only 68 manuscripts of
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
, and his 2009 article lists 69. I have updated his figures using the online database “Stories For All Time”.

[17]
   Vésteinn Ólason, “The Marvellous North,” p. 117.

[18]
   O’Connor, “History or Fiction?”, pp. 130-133.

[19]
   For example, the ending of the shorter recension of
Friðþjófs saga
(transl. Waggoner,
Sagas of Fridthjof the Bold
, p. 128), or the end of
Mírmanns saga
(transl. O’Connor,
Icelandic Histories and Romances
, p. 296).

[20]
   Thompson,
Motif-Index of Folk Literature
, F159.1, “Otherworld reached by hunting animal” (vol. 3, p. 27); N774, “Adventures from pursuing enchanted animal” (vol. 5, pp. 130-131). There are over two dozen episodes in Arthurian romances in which a hero is led to otherworldly adventure while hunting a mysterious white stag, or sometimes another beast (Webster,
Guinevere
, pp. 89-104). Other parallels appear in the Welsh
Mabinogion
(e.g. Pwyll’s hunt leading him to Annwn; Goronwy’s hunt leading him to Blodeuedd; Pryderi and Manawyddan’s pursuit of the boar). As Webster writes, ““The office of the white stag in these romances is to toll the hero to the other world, to get him into the power of a supernatural being. He who succeeded with the stag crossed into fairyland, won a fairy queen for his bride, or released her from a spell, and so on, with innumerable variations of the theme.” (
Guinevere
, p. 90) The ultimate origin of the motif may be Celtic, but Ogle argues for Classical origins, comparing it with the myth of Hercules hunting the Ceryneian hind (“The Stag-Messenger Episode”), and Littleton points out close parallels in Scythian legend (
From Scythia to Camelot
, pp. 101-103).

[21]
   Five Breton
lais
feature variations on the motif of a hunted beast leading the hero to an otherworldly encounter, and three of these are known to have been translated into Norse:
Graelent
(
Grelents saga
, whose hunting episode is probably the closest to the native sagas, although
the hunting scene has not survived in the fragmentary Norse manuscript),
Guigemar
(
Guiamars ljóð
),
Desiré
(
Desire ljóð
),
Tyolet
, and
Guingemor
(not known in Norse translation). Grimm’s tale “The Six Swans” also opens with such a hunt. The French romance of Parténopeus de Blois begins with a similar hunt, and this was translated into Norse as
Partálopa
saga
. Ogle (“The Stag-Messenger Episode”, pp. 410-412) points out that the Roman pagan Placidus was said to have hunted an uncatchable stag that revealed itself to be Christ, resulting in Placidus converting to Christianity and taking the name of Eustace. Placidus’s life was well known in Norse literature from the prose
Plácitus saga
and the long poem
Plácitusdrápa.

[22]
   Aside from
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
in this book (ch. 15), hunts leading to otherworldly encounters appear in the
fornaldarsögur
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
[U-redaction; Tolkien,
The Saga of King Heiðrek
, p. 68] and
Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar kappabana
(ch. 6), and in the indigenous romance
Gibbons saga
(ch. 1; ed. Page, pp. 3-4). In
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
and
Gibbons saga
, the hero is led to a beautiful and supernaturally powerful lady. Although he is not actually hunting an animal, the hero of
Helga þáttr Þórissonar
(ch. 1) also meets a beautiful lady after getting lost in the woods.

[23]
   Gauti’s dealings with the family resemble Aarne-Thompson tale type AT 1544, “The Man Who Got a Night’s Lodging”, although Gauti does not cheat his hosts outright, as is usual in folktales of this type. (Aarne,
The Types of the Folktale
, p. 446).
Marianne Kalinke has argued that Gauti’s hunt is simply an example of the folk motif, without any parodistic intent (“Endogamy and the Crux of the “Dalafífla Táttr”, pp. 109-111); but I think that Rowe, “Folktale and Parable,” p. 157 n7 makes a stronger counterargument in favor of parody.

[24]
   e.g. Turville-Petre,
Myth and Religion of the North
, p. 254.

[25]
   Milroy, “The Story of
Ætternisstapi
”, pp. 206-212.

[26]
   Rowe, “Folktale and Parable,” pp. 159-160.

[27]
   Mitchell,
Heroic Sagas and Ballads
, pp. 55-58. Ref’s constant “trading up” resembles what Aarne calls “cumulative tales” (AT 2000-2047,
The Types of the Folktale
, pp. 522-535), although none of his specific tale types match exactly.

[28]
  
History of the Danes
VIII:296-298; transl. Davidson and Fisher, pp. 270-273.

[29]
   Chesnutt, “The Content and Meaning of
Gjafa-Refs saga
”, pp. 101-102; Wikander, “Från Indisk Djurfabel till Isländsk Saga,” pp. 101-107.

[30]
   Chesnutt, “The Content and Meaning of
Gjafa-Refs saga
”, pp. 102-104. See also Lincoln, “
Gautrek’s Saga
and the Gift Fox,” pp. 179-182.

[31]
   For example, Arrow-Odd’s death song at the end of
Örvar-Odds saga
; Hjalmar’s death-song in the same saga and in
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
(ch. 3); and the
Krákumál
, associated with
Ragnars saga loðbrókar
although not formally a part of it. See also
Grettis saga
, not part of the
fornaldarsögur
corpus as such, but with many fantastic elements and other points of similarity.

[32]
   e.g.
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
(U-redaction); ed. transl. Tolkien,
The Saga of Heidrek the Wise
, pp. 66-67.

[33]
   Saxo,
History of the Danes
VI:183; transl. Davidson and Fisher, p. 170.

[34]
   Brodeur,
The Art of Beowulf
, pp. 174-175.

[35]
  
Hávamál
138-139; Orchard,
The Elder Edda
, p. 35.

[36]
   Snorri Sturluson (Anthony Faulkes, ed.)
Edda
, vol. 1, p. 21; vol. 2a, pp. 5, 7, 67, 68, 71; vol. 2b, p. 471.

[37]
   quoted in Cronan, “The Thematic Unity of the Younger
Gautreks saga
”, p. 81, n2.

[38]
   For a discussion of how
Víkars þáttr
was probably reshaped from an earlier form of the Starkaðr legend, see Bampi, “Between Tradition and Innovation,” pp. 88-96.

[39]
   See also Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, “Changing Layers of Jurisdiction,” pp. 175-178. Jón Viðar Sigurðsson also points out that in the old Icelandic economy, marked by reciprocal gift-exchanges and redistribution of wealth through traditional avenues such as gifting and feasting, chieftains could not accumulate large amounts of wealth. Once Iceland had come under royal control and the old social networks had faded, chieftains could accumulate much more property in the market-dominated economy that replaced the old mixed economy. (pp. 182-184.)
Gautreks saga
may be seen as a comment, and not a favorable one, on the new market economy in Iceland.

[40]
   Durrenberger, “Reciprocity in Gautrek’s Saga”, pp. 25-32. Chesnutt, “The Content and Meaning of
Gjafa-Refs saga
”, p. 103, critiques Durrenberger’s analysis, but the general conclusion that the saga is “all about” generosity and exchange seem widely accepted.

[41]
   Rowe, “Folktale and Parable,” pp. 162-164.

[42]
   Rowe, “Folktale and Parable,” pp. 155-157.

[43]
   Cronan, “The Thematic Unity of the Younger
Gautreks saga
”, pp. 85-89.

[44]
   Driscoll and Hufnagel, “Stories for All Time”, http://nfi.ku.dk/fornaldarsogur/

[45]
  
Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda
vol. 2, pp. 309-355.

[46]
   Ranisch,
Die Gautrekssaga
, p. cx.

[47]
   For a general overview see Bampi, “What’s in a Variant?”, pp. 57-67.

[48]
   Ranisch,
Die Gautrekssaga
, pp. cx-cxi.

[49]
   Anderson, “‘Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar’ and European Bridal-Quest Narrative,” pp. 70-74.

[50]
   Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 59-60.

[51]
  
Germania
ch. 8; transl. Hutton, p. 143.

[52]
   e.g.
Maxims I
, 81-92, in which a lord’s wife must
rune healdan
, “keep secrets”, and
ræd witan. .  . þæm ætsomne
, “formulate advice. . . for both of them.” (Krapp and Dobbie,
The Exeter Book
, p. 160). See also Wealhtheow’s speeches to Beowulf in
Beowulf.

[53]
   Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir,
Women in Old Norse Literature
, pp. 25-45.

[54]
   Clover, “Maiden Warriors and Other Sons,” pp. 35-43.

[55]
   Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir, “From Heroic Legend to ‘Medieval Screwball Comedy’?”,  pp. 229-238.

[56]
   Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir,
Women in Old Norse Literature
, pp. 131-133.

[57]
   Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir, “From Heroic Legend to ‘Medieval Screwball Comedy’?”,  pp. 240-243; see also
Women in Old Norse Literature
, pp. 112-116. In her willingness to resume her discarded shield-maiden role to help her husband, Thornbjorg resembles Lathgertha, the first wife of Ragnar Lodbrok, in Saxo’s
Danish History
(IX.303-304, transl. Ellis Davidson and Fisher, pp. 282-283). See also Clover, “Maiden Warriors and Other Sons,” pp. 40-41. Jóhanna Friðriksdóttir speculates that the character of Thornbjorg could be a reflection of Margaret Valdemarsdatter, the de facto ruler of Scandinavia from 1375 to 1412 (
Women in Old Norse Literature
, p. 116). The saga itself is known to be older than Margaret, but perhaps she had an influence on later redactions.

[58]
   At least he is portrayed as wise and courteous in the later recension of the saga. Marianne Kalinke points out that in the older recension, he’s quite rude and aggressive in his wooing of Thornbjorg / Thorberg. (“Textual Instability,” pp. 204-209)

[59]
   Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 56-57.

[60]
   Tulinius,
The Matter of the North
, pp. 169-173.

[61]
   Driscoll and Hufnagel, “Stories for All Time”, http://nfi.ku.dk/fornaldarsogur/

[62]
  
Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda
vol. 2, pp. 309-355.

[63]
   Hollander, “The Gautland Cycle of Sagas II,” pp. 209-217.

[64]
   Vésteinn Ólason, “The Marvellous North,” pp. 116-117.

[65]
   Barnes, “Romance in Iceland,” pp. 279-283.

[66]
   Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir,
Women in Old Norse Literature
, p. 68.