The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason|Hardcover
- ️Barnes & Noble
- ️Mon Sep 08 2003
The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Oddr Snorrason, a Benedictine monk in northern Iceland in the late twelfth century, composed a landmark Latin biography of the legendary Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason (died 1000 C.E.). This biography was soon translated into Icelandic, and the translation (though not the Latin original) is preserved in two somewhat differing versions and a small fragment of a third. The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason is the first English translation of this text, augmented by an introduction and notes to guide the reader.
There is a strong possibility that Oddr's biography was the first full-length saga of the Icelandic Middle Ages. It ushered in a century of saga writing that assured Iceland a unique place in medieval literature and in the history of prose writing. Aside from being a harbinger of the saga tradition, and indeed of the modern novel, The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason has its own literary merits, including an epic description of the great Battle of Svoldr, in which King Olaf succumbed. In significant ways the narrative of this battle anticipates the mature style of the classical sagas in the thirteenth century.
1005930815
The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Oddr Snorrason, a Benedictine monk in northern Iceland in the late twelfth century, composed a landmark Latin biography of the legendary Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason (died 1000 C.E.). This biography was soon translated into Icelandic, and the translation (though not the Latin original) is preserved in two somewhat differing versions and a small fragment of a third. The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason is the first English translation of this text, augmented by an introduction and notes to guide the reader.
There is a strong possibility that Oddr's biography was the first full-length saga of the Icelandic Middle Ages. It ushered in a century of saga writing that assured Iceland a unique place in medieval literature and in the history of prose writing. Aside from being a harbinger of the saga tradition, and indeed of the modern novel, The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason has its own literary merits, including an epic description of the great Battle of Svoldr, in which King Olaf succumbed. In significant ways the narrative of this battle anticipates the mature style of the classical sagas in the thirteenth century.
5 1
English 0801441498
Oddr Snorrason, a Benedictine monk in northern Iceland in the late twelfth century, composed a landmark Latin biography of the legendary Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason (died 1000 C.E.). This biography was soon translated into Icelandic, and the translation (though not the Latin original) is preserved in two somewhat differing versions and a small fragment of a third. The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason is the first English translation of this text, augmented by an introduction and notes to guide the reader.
There is a strong possibility that Oddr's biography was the first full-length saga of the Icelandic Middle Ages. It ushered in a century of saga writing that assured Iceland a unique place in medieval literature and in the history of prose writing. Aside from being a harbinger of the saga tradition, and indeed of the modern novel, The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason has its own literary merits, including an epic description of the great Battle of Svoldr, in which King Olaf succumbed. In significant ways the narrative of this battle anticipates the mature style of the classical sagas in the thirteenth century.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780801441493 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Cornell University Press |
| Publication date: | 09/08/2003 |
| Series: | Islandica , #52 |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Theodore M. Andersson is Professor of Germanic Studies Emeritus at Indiana University. He is the author of several books, including The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130–1265),The Partisan Muse in the Early Icelandic Sagas (1200–1250), Early Epic Scenery: Homer, Virgil, and the Medieval Legacy and The Legend of Brynhild; translator of The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason; and cotranslator, with Kari Ellen Gade, of "Morkinskinna": The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030–1157), all from Cornell.
Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Contents of the Saga
The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Notes to the Text
Appendix: Olaf Tryggvason in the Synoptic Histories
Bibliography
Index
What People are Saying About This
Roberta Frank
This close and readable translation, put together by a scholar who knows so much about the craft of saga-writing, is exemplary. From the wan dignity of persecuted pagans to the son-et-lumiére drama of a disastrous sea-battle, there is much here to surprise and delight.
David McDougall
Theodore M. Andersson's translation is the first complete English rendering of Oddr Snorrason's Olafs saga Tryggvasonar, one of the earliest of the sagas of the kings of Norway and a work that deserves to be much better known. Apart from its significance for students and scholars of Old Icelandic literature, medievalists, and historians, the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason is intrinsically interesting—a good story well told.