SAGA

in medieval Icelandic literature, any type of story or history in prose, irrespective of the kind or nature of the narrative or the purposes for which it was written. Used in this general sense, the term applies to a wide range of literary works, including those of hagiography (biography of saints), historiography, and secular fiction in a variety of modes. Lives of the saints and other stories for edification are entitled sagas, as are the Norse versions of French romances and the Icelandic adaptations of various Latin histories. Chronicles and other factual records of the history of Scandinavia and Iceland down to the 14th century are also included under the blanket term saga literature. In a stricter sense, however, the term saga is confined to legendary and historical fictions, in which the author has attempted an imaginative reconstruction of the past and organized the subject matter according to certain aesthetic principles. Using the distinctive features of the hero as principal guideline, medieval Icelandic narrative fiction can be classified as: (1) kings' sagas, (2) legendary sagas, and (3) sagas of Icelanders. The origin and evolution of saga writing in Iceland are largely matters for speculation. A common pastime on Icelandic farms, from the 12th century down to modern times, was the reading aloud of stories to entertain the household, known as sagnaskemmtun (saga entertainment). It seems to have replaced the traditional art of storytelling. All kinds of written narratives were used in sagnaskemmtun; secular, sacred, historical, and legendary. The Icelandic church took a sympathetic view of the writing and reading of sagas, and many of the authors whose identity is still known were monks or priests. in medieval Icelandic literature, broadly, any kind of story or history in prose, irrespective of the nature of the narrative or the purposes for which it was written; more narrowly, legendary and historical fictions in which the author has attempted an imaginative reconstruction of the past and organized the subject matter according to certain aesthetic principles. Modern scholars recognize several subdivisions of the genre, including the kings' sagas, recounting the lives of Scandinavian rulers; the legendary sagas, treating themes from myth and legend; and the sagas of Icelanders, sometimes called family sagas. The latter group, the best-known and most important in terms of literary merit, are fictionalized accounts of life in Iceland during the so-called saga age (about 930 to 1050) and were written down during the period from about 1190 to 1320. In Icelandic, saga (related to segja, to say) means what is said, or told, and this derivation indicates the importance of oral tradition in the development of the form. Indeed, it used to be thought that the sagas of Icelanders were little more than collections of oral traditions, concerning real individuals, that had finally been given written form after generations of circulation among the people. This view has been largely discredited, and nowadays scholars are increasingly inclined to regard these works as something very much closer to the modern conception of a historical novel, in which characters and situations may be real or imaginary but in which artistic rather than historical considerations are paramount. Although this view tends to decrease their value as historical record, it does not undermine the importance of the sagas of Icelanders in helping modern readers to understand the ethos of a past civilization; and, if their factual information about the pagan period cannot always be accepted uncritically, it can sometimes be verified by ethnology and folklore. Human tragedy is dominant in the sagas of Icelanders. Ideals of heroism and loyalty are important, and revengein particular, the blood feudoften plays a significant part in the unfolding of the narrative. Reflection is eschewed in favour of action, so that the inner motivation of the protagonists and the point of view of the author obtrude far less than in most modern novels. Characterizations of surprising depth and subtlety are often achieved by this technique, and parallels have been drawn between this feature of saga writing and the works of some modern writers. There are some 30 sagas of Icelanders in all, of which the best known are probably Egils saga, often attributed to Snorri Sturluson (11791241), the most illustrious of the known medieval Icelandic authors; Gsla saga, a great outlaw story; and Njls saga, usually considered the greatest Icelandic saga of all, telling of the fortunes of the hero Gunnar and of the wise Njll and his sons. The period from about 1230 to 1290, during which these works appear to have been written, has been described as the golden age of saga writing. The kings' sagas tell of the kings of Norway and reflect the continued interest of the Icelanders in their old homeland. The earliest collections of them appeared in the period from 1200 to 1235. These are the anonymous Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna and the monumental Heimskringla (Orb of the World) by Snorri Sturluson. As the 13th century wore on, legendary sagas became increasingly popular. These make no pretentions to historical truth and express a delight in the bizarre and the supernatural. They are concerned with the Scandinavian and Germanic past, before the settlement of Iceland, and their heroes are usually legendary or semilegendary figures. They are of considerable antiquarian interest. A well-known example of this type of work is Vlsunga saga (c. 1270), a retelling of the legends of the Nibelungen cycle.