Series Foreword by Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy

Foreword by Lars Lönnroth

Preface

INTRODUCTION: WRITTEN TEXTS AND ORAL TRADITIONS

The Medieval World View and the Individuality of Iceland

Oral Preservation, Latin Learning, and Snorri's Edda

The Origins of the Sagas: Two Types of Theory

Christianity and the Arrival of Literacy

Do Origins Matter for the Sagas as Literature?

Direct References to Oral Tradition--Evidence of What?

Impasse--and New Perspectives

The Comparative Approach

About this Research

Part I: Oral Tradition in Iceland in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

1. FROM LAWSPEAKER TO LAWBOOK

A Power Struggle Between the Church and Secular Leaders?

Power and Prestige in Oral Society

Literacy and the Key to Power

An's Records of the Earliest Lawspeakers

Lawspeakers After the Earliest Writing of the Laws

Three Main Groups of Lawspeakers in the 11th and 12th Centuries

Conclusions 2. ÓLÁFR ÞÓRÐARSON HVÍTÁSKALD AND THE ORAL POETIC TRADITION IN THE WEST OF ICELAND c. 1250

Collections, Anthologies, and the Literary Corpus

Scholarly Neglect of Óláfr's Poetic Examples

The Provenance of Óláfr's Citations

Conclusions

3. CONCLUSIONS TO PART I

Part II: The Saga World of the East of Iceland

4. THE SAME CHARACTERS IN MORE THAN ONE SAGA

Literary Relations: Premises and Practices

The Austfirðingasögur: Single Entity or Discrete Works?

The Same Character in More than One Saga

Literary Relations between Vdpnfirðinga Saga and Other Sources

5. THE SAME EVENT IN MORE THAN ONE SAGA

Parallel Genealogies

The 'Same' Events in Different Sagas

6. CONCLUSIONS TO PART II

Part III The Sagas and Truth

7. THE SAGA MAP OF VÍNLAND

Floating Memories

The Sagas and Other Records of VInland

Using the Textual Evidence

The Limitations of Oral Evidence

Part IV New Perspectives

8. IMPLICATIONS FOR SAGA RESEARCH

The Feud Between Finnbogi the Strong and the Men of Hof

Mythological Overlays in Hoensa-Þóris saga

New Growths on Ancient Roots

Repercussions

Bibliography

Published Editions of Works Referenced by Page Number

Other Sources

Pronunciation Guide

Index of Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Works and Characters

Index of Subjects

Gísli Sigurðsson is a research professor at Árni Magnússon Institute, Iceland.