Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Denmark and the Baltic in the Thirteenth Century
- Chapter 2 The Work
- Chapter 3 Political Conceptions
- Chapter 4 Euhemerism and the East in Saxo Grammaticus
- Chapter 5 Virtues and Values in Saxo Grammaticus: The Four Cardinal Virtues
- Chapter 6 The Thematic of the Counsellor
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 List of the Kings in Books I–VIII of the Gesta Danorum
- Appendix 2 Rulers and Archbishops of Denmark in Relation to Events in the Baltic, the Empire, and the Papacy
- Appendix 3 Genealogy of the Valdemarian Kings
- Bibliography
- Index of Persons
- Index of Places and Peoples
- Index of Authors and Primary Sources
- Index of Subjects
Chapter 3 - Political Conceptions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Denmark and the Baltic in the Thirteenth Century
- Chapter 2 The Work
- Chapter 3 Political Conceptions
- Chapter 4 Euhemerism and the East in Saxo Grammaticus
- Chapter 5 Virtues and Values in Saxo Grammaticus: The Four Cardinal Virtues
- Chapter 6 The Thematic of the Counsellor
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 List of the Kings in Books I–VIII of the Gesta Danorum
- Appendix 2 Rulers and Archbishops of Denmark in Relation to Events in the Baltic, the Empire, and the Papacy
- Appendix 3 Genealogy of the Valdemarian Kings
- Bibliography
- Index of Persons
- Index of Places and Peoples
- Index of Authors and Primary Sources
- Index of Subjects
Summary
THE DIFFERENT THEORIES related to the composition of Gesta Danorum as well as the study of isolated parts from it interfere in its interpretation on many levels, including the comprehension of its political targets and conceptions. There is no room to fully assess the topic; some trends, however should be addressed.
Georges Dumézil, focused in the “mythical” books, judges to find there a glorification and defence of the Valdemarians and, consequently, the monarchy. His argument is based upon the already quoted Praefatio of the Gesta Danorum, particularly the following excerpt:
0.1.6 [1] Te ergo, salutaris princeps ac parens noster, cuius illustrissimam a priscis temporibus prosapiam dicturus sum, clarissima lux patriae, Valdemare, dubium laboris huius progressum favore prosequi rogo: quia propositi pondere constrictus vereor, ne magis imperitiae meae habitum ingeniique debilitatem patefaciam quam tuam, sicut par est, originem repraesentem. [2] Siquidem praeter paternae hereditatis amplitudinem conspicua regni incrementa finitimorum oppressione sortitus Albiaeque reciprocos fluctus propagatae dominationis labore complexus, haud mediocre claritatis momentum celeberrimis laudis tuae titulis adiecisti.
(So, my gracious lord and father of us all, brilliant light of our country, Valdemar, whose illustrious descent from early times I shall be describing, I beg you to look kindly on the wavering course of this task; for I fear that I shall be shackled by the weight of my subject and, far from properly depicting your lineage, I shall only reveal my lack of aptitude and meagre talents. By remarkably enlarging the kingdom inherited from your father through subjugation of your neighbours, by encompassing in the toil of extensive conquest the ebbing and flowing waters of the Elbe, you have added no mean element of glory to the register of your fame.)
Dumézil's argument is partially supported as he lists kings’ deeds in the Gesta Danorum in the attempt to amass evidence from glorification of the dynasty of Valdemar II. A good point is made by the author as he points to the Angers fragment as evidence, particularly the additions made in the same and corrections listed in its margins, in order to enhance deeds from the Valdemarian kings, mostly Valdemar II. The manuscript contains a small part of book I, ending before de Hadingus's story. It was supposedly written by Saxo himself or some scribe in his service
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- Saxo GrammaticusHierocratical Conceptions and Danish Hegemony in the Thirteenth Century, pp. 47 - 52Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2017