Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-rvbq7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T08:29:54.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Criticism and literary theory in Old Norse-Icelandic

from IV - VERNACULAR CRITICAL TRADITIONS: THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

Alastair Minnis
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Ian Johnson
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Get access

Summary

The social and intellectual milieu of the courts gave an impetus to the development of a courtly or skaldic poetry that privileged abstruse diction, fractured syntax, riddling allusions to Old Norse myth and heroic legend and complex verse-forms. The history of literary theory and criticism in Old Norse is mainly one of an indigenous theory of poetry and poetics, partly encouraged by a knowledge of Latin grammatical rhetoric and metrics, rather than a theorising of prose literature. Modern scholarship divides Old Norse poetry into two kinds, eddic and skaldic. Old Norse poetry and medieval Scandinavian attitudes to poetry developed in an oral society and display many signs of the close relationship between poetic genres and social interactions. Old Norse terms used to differentiate kinds of skaldic verse are largely based on formal criteria, including metrical and syntactic considerations, or refer to the context in which the poem was composed or the patron for whom it was intended.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almqvist, Bo, Norrön niddiktning: Traditionshistoriska studier i versmagi, Nordiska texter och underökningar, 21, 23 (2 vols., Uppsala and Stockholm, 1965–74). I: Nid mot furstar; II.1–2: Nid mot missionärer: Senmedeltida nidtraditioner.Google Scholar
Amory, Frederic, ‘Second Thoughts on Skáldskaparmál’, Scandinavian Studies, 63 (1990).Google Scholar
Amory, Frederic, ‘Things Greek and the Riddarasögur’, Speculum, 59 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benediktsson, H.The First Grammatical Treatise, ed. University of Iceland Publications in Linguistics, 1 (Reykjavik, 1972).Google Scholar
Brown, U.Porgils saga ok Hafliða, ed. (London, 1952).Google Scholar
Clover, Carol, ‘Skaldic Sensibility’, Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 93 (1978).Google Scholar
Clunies, Ross Margaret (ed.), ‘The Skald Sagas as a Genre: Definitions and Typical Features’, in Poole, R. (ed.), Skaldsagas: Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets, Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Ergänzungsband 27 (Berlin and New York, 2001).Google Scholar
Clunies, Ross Margaret (ed.), Prolonged Echoes: Old Norse Myths in Medieval Northern Society, I: The Myths, The Viking Collection, 7 (Odense, 1994).Google Scholar
Clunies, Ross Margaret (ed.), Old Icelandic Literature and Society (Cambridge, 2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clunies, Ross Margaret (ed.), Skáldskaparmál: Snorri Sturluson's ‘Ars Poetica’ and Medieval Theories of Language, The Viking Collection, 4 (Odense, 1987).Google Scholar
Collings, Lucy G., ‘The Málskrúðfræði and the Latin Tradition in Iceland’, M.A. diss., Cornell University, 1967.Google Scholar
Faulkes, Anthony, ‘Edda’, Gripla, 2 (1977).Google Scholar
Faulkes, Anthony, ‘The Sources of Skáldskaparmál: Snorri's Intellectual Background’, in Wolf, A. (ed.), Snorri Sturluson: Kolloquium anläβlich der 750. Wiederkehr seines Todestages (Tübingen, 1993).Google Scholar
Foote, Peter, ‘Latin Rhetoric and Icelandic Poetry: Some Contacts’, in Aurvandilstá: Norse Studies, The Viking Collection, 2 (Odense, 1984). [Originally published in Saga och sed (1982)]Google Scholar
Frank, Roberta, ‘Skaldic Poetry’, in Clover, C. J. and Lindow, J. (eds.), Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide, Islandica, 45 (Ithaca NY and London, 1985).Google Scholar
Frank, Roberta, ‘Snorri and the Mead of Poetry’, in Dronke, U. et al. (eds.), Specvlvm Norrænum: Norse Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre (Odense, 1981).Google Scholar
Harris, Joseph, ‘Eddic Poetry’, in Clover, C. J. and Lindow, J. (eds.), Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide, Islandica, 45 (Ithaca NY and London, 1985).Google Scholar
Heusler, Andreas, Die altgermanische Dichtung (1943; rpt. Darmstadt, 1957).Google Scholar
Holtsmark, Anne, Studier i Snorres mytologi, Skrifter utg. av det norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo, II Hist.-filos. Klasse, n.s. 4 (Oslo, 1964).Google Scholar
Johansson, Karl Gunnar, Studier i Codex Wormianus: Skrifttradition ochavskriftsverksamhet vid ett isländskt skriptorium under 1300-talet, Nordistica Gothoburgensia, 20; Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis (Gothenburg, 1997).Google Scholar
Klingenberg, Heinz, ‘Types of Eddic Mythological Poetry’, in Glendinning, R. J. and Bessason, H. (eds.), Edda: A Collection of Essays, University of Manitoba Icelandic Studies, 4 (Winnipeg, 1983).Google Scholar
Kreutzer, Gerd, Die Dichtungslehre der Skalden (2nd edn, Meisenheim-am-Glan, 1977).Google Scholar
Krömmelbein, Thomas, ‘Creative Compilers: Observations on the Manuscript Tradition of Snorra Edda’, in Bragason, Ü. (ed.), Snorrastefna (Reykjavik, 1992).Google Scholar
Lehmann, W. P., The Development of Germanic Verse Form (Austin TX, 1956).Google Scholar
Lönnroth, Lars, ‘Den muntliga kulturens genrer: Diskursformer i Snorre Sturlassons Edda’, in Hedman, D. and Svedjedal, J. (eds.), Fictionens förvandlingar: En vänbok till Bo Bennich-Björkman (Uppsala, 1996).Google Scholar
Marold, Edith, ‘Die Poetik von Háttatal und Skáldskaparmál’, in Fix, H. (ed.), Quantitätsproblematik und Metrik: Greifswalder Symposium zur germanischen Grammatik, Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, 42 (Amsterdam, 1995).Google Scholar
Meulengracht, Sørensen, Preben, Fortælling og ære: Studier i islændingesagaerne (Aarhus, 1993).Google Scholar
Meulengracht, Sørensen, The Unmanly Man: Concepts of Sexual Defamation in Early Northern Society, tr. Turville-Petre, J., The Viking Collection, 1 (Odense, 1983).Google Scholar
Micillo, Valeria, ‘Classical Tradition and Norse Tradition in the Third Grammatical Treatise’, Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 108 (1993).Google Scholar
Micillo, Valeria, ‘Die grammatische Tradition des insularen Mittelalters in Island: Spuren insularer Einflüsse im Dritten Grammatischen Traktat’, in Poppe, E. and Tristram, H. (eds.), Übersetzung, Adaptation und Akkulturation im insularen Mittelalter (Münster, 1999).Google Scholar
Nordal, S.Egils saga Skallagrímssonar, ed. Íslenzk Fornrit, 2 (Reykjavik, 1933).Google Scholar
Nordal, Guðrún, Tools of Literacy: The Role of Skaldic Verse in Icelandic Textual Culture of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Toronto, 2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pétursson, E. G.Jón Guðmundsson læði, Eddurit… I: Pættir ür fræðasögu 17. aldar; II: Texti, ed. Rit Stofnunar Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi, 46 (2 vols., Reykjavik, 1998).Google Scholar
Pórarinsson, Hallr, and Rognvaldr, Orkney Earl of, Háttalykill enn forni, ed. Helgason, J. and Holtsmark, A., Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana, I (Copenhagen, 1941).Google Scholar
Pórðarson, Óláfr hvitaskáld, Dritte Grammatische Abhandlung, ed. and tr. Krömmelbein, T. (Oslo, 1998).Google Scholar
Pórðarson, Óláfr hvitaskáld, et al. [Third and Fourth Grammatical Treatises], Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda Tilligemed de Grammatiske Afhandlingers Prolog og To Andre Tillæg, ed. Ólsen, B. M., Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 12; Islands grammatiske litteratur i middelalderen, 2 (Copenhagen, 1884).Google Scholar
Quinn, Judy, ‘The Naming of Eddic Mythological Poems in Medieval Manuscripts’, in Barnes, G. et al. (eds.), Medieval Icelandic Fiction and Folktale, Parergon, n.s. 8 (1990).Google Scholar
Raschellá, F. [The Second Grammatical Treatise], The So-Called Second Grammatical Treatise, ed. (Florence, 1982).Google Scholar
Raschellà, Fabrizio, ‘Die altisländische grammatische Literatur: Forschungsstand und Perspektiven zukünftiger Untersuchungen’, Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen, 235 (1983).Google Scholar
Raschellà, Fabrizio, ‘Grammatical Treatises’, in , P. Pulsianao and Wolf, K. (eds.), Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (New York and London, 1993).Google Scholar
Snorrason, Oddr, Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar of Oddr Snorrason munk, ed. Jónsson, F. (Copenhagen, 1932).Google Scholar
Steblin-Kamenskij, M. I., ‘On the Etymology of the Word skáld’, in Benediktsson, J. et al. (eds.), Afmælisrit Jóns Helgasonar 30. júní 1969 (Reykjavik, 1969).Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Edda: Háttatal, ed. Faulkes, A., University College London, Viking Society for Northern Research (1991; rpt. London, 1999).Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning, ed. Faulkes, A., University College London, Viking Society for Northern Research (1982; rpt. London, 1988).Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Edda: Skáldskaparmál, ed. Faulkes, A., University College London, Viking Society for Northern Research (2 vols., London, 1998).Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the Seventeenth Century, ed. Faulkes, A., Rit Stofnunar Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi, 13, 14 (2 vols., Reykjavik, 1977–9). I: Edda Magnúsar Olafssonar (Laufás Edda); II: Edda Islandorum: Völuspá, Hávamál [P. H. Resen's edition of 1665].Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, ed. Jónsson, F. (Copenhagen, 1931).Google Scholar
Sturluson, Snorri, Edda, tr. Faulkes, A. (London and Melbourne, 1987).Google Scholar
Tómasson, Sverrir, Formálar íslenskra sagnaritara á miðöldum, Rit Stofnunar Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi, 33 (Reykjavik, 1988).Google Scholar
Tranter, Stephen, ‘Medieval Icelandic Artes Poeticae’, in Ross, Clunies (ed.), Old Icelandic Literature.
Tranter, Stephen, Clavis Metrica: Háttatal, Háttalykill and the Irish Metrical Tracts, Beiträge zur nordischen Philologie, 25 (Basel and Frankfurt, 1997).Google Scholar
Whaley, Diana, ‘A Useful Past: Historical Writing in Medieval Iceland’, in Ross, Clunies (ed.), Old Icelandic Literature.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×