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    The Sagas of Icelanders A Selection PDF

    Hochgeladen von

    MaradonaPele

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Als PDF herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
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    ‘Praise for The Sagas of Ieelanders “What better way to begin a nev century than with a generous collection—the frst such in English—of some of the greatest stories ‘ver told... resistibletales that are, as surely as tho masterpiaeas of Homer and Cervantes, the forerunnors of the mederm European novel.” Kirkus Reviews "The Sagas are the terature not only ofthe Island where they were written, but ofthe whole Wastern world of thelr day—undoubtedly ‘one of the greatest contributions made by Nordic culture to world literature, Eren today, they provide the modem reader with fascinating insights; they aro stories which reveal an imanense variety of human conduct and condition.” ‘Jostein Gaandor “Wonderful. splendid edition will inaugurate the diseovery of these great works by adventuresome readers of English for years to —The San Diego Tribune “Bacellent...It would be hard to imagine a finer introduction to this extraordinary body of work... the bes hing is the seletion itself, ‘which relets the great variety of saga narrative, fom comples family chronicles to bref wity tales. We are taken from the ‘male-dominated worl of feuding and Elling t the remarkable dapiction of power, clever women in The Saga of the People of Laxardel: from the farmstead in Iceland to the North America of the Vinland sagas...fill of vivid and haunting soenes.” ~The Sunday Daily Telegraph (London) “The English is wonderfully accessible to this modern reader. Only now can I fully appreciate my own deep debt as a storyteller to ‘oalandio writers oflong azo.” Kurt Vonnegut, Jt. WORLD OF THE SAGAS ‘Editor: Gmélfur Thorsson, ‘Assistant Edltor: Bernard Scudder Advisory Editorial Board: ‘Theodor M Andersson (Stanford Unorety), Robt Cock Caley of ean, Tay Gul (Unies offend, eer ‘Heinemann (University of Essen), Vidar Hreinsson (Reyigavik Academy), Robert Kellogg (University of Vi sizgansoon (Unvrtyefesland, Kenora ans (Norra, techn, Veseinn Oezon (Oniary of elandh, ih ‘Sigurdsson (University of eslangd), Andree Wawn (University of Leeds), Diana Whaley (University of Neweastle) ‘Translators Katrina C. Attwood George Clark ‘Ruth C Ellison ‘Terry Gunnell Anthony Maxiwall ‘Martin S. Regal ‘Andrew Wawn THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS: ASelection Preface by JANE SMILEY Introduetion by ROBERT KELLOGG PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Ponguin Group ‘Penguin Group (USA) Ine., 375 Hudson Szeet, Now York, New York 10034, U.S.A Penguin Group (Canada), 9 Egliron Avenue East, Ste 700, Teront, Ontario, Canada MaP 2¥3 (vision ofrarson Penguin Ine.) Penguin Books Lid, 8o Strand, London WOR ORL, England Penguin ireland, 25 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) ‘Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Cambervall Road, Cambervall, Vietoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Py Lid) ‘Penguin Bocks India Pit Lt, ss Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 10 017, India ‘Penguin Group (2), ent Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 3510, New Zealand (a division of Pearson Now Zealand Lid) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Py) Ltd. 24 Starde Avenue, Resebank, Johannesburg 2406, South Afica ‘Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Oiflees: So Strand, London WCaR oRL, England ‘Fast: published in the United States of america by Viking Panguin, adivision of Penguin Purnam Ine, 2000 Published in Penguin Books 2001 Copprght© LefrEarkeson Publishing Lx, 2907 Preface copyright GJane Smiley, 2000 All rights reserved ‘Translations first published in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders Volume -V (forty-nine tales), Leifur Biriksson Publishing Ltd, Teeland 1997 ‘Loifur Eirksson Publishing Ltd gratafully acknowledges the support ofthe Noréie Cultural Fund, Ariane Programme of the Earopean Union, UNESCO, and others. Exceptin the United States of America, this book is sold subjectto the condition that t shall not, by way of rade or othenwise, be lent, rescld, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in ‘which itis published and without a similar condition including this eondition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ‘The scanning, uploading and distribution ofthis book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission ofthe ‘publisher is illegal and punishable by law, Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage sleetronte piraey of copyrighted materials. Your support ofthe auther's rights ts appreetated. ISBN: 978-0-24:109926-9 Table of Contents List of Illustrations and Tables Preface by JANE SMILEY Tntrosiuction by ROBERT KELLOGG Further Reading ‘A Note on the Texts SAGAS Eil’s Saga (trans. BERNARD SCUDDER) ‘The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (trans. ANDREW WAWN) ‘The Saga of the People of Laxardal (rans, KENEVA KUNZ) Bbeeee Fanav eal ‘The Saga of Hrafnkel Frevs Godi (trans. TERRY GUNNELL) ‘The Saga of the Confederates (rans RUTH C ELLISON), Gees ate ee ‘The Saca of Gannlsus Serpent tongua (trans. KATRINA C. ATTWOOD) ‘The Saga of Raf the Sly (trans. GEORGE CLARK} The Vinland Sagas ‘The Saca of the Greenlanders (trans, KENEVA KUNZ) irik tho Rad's Saga (trans, KENEVA KUNZ) TALES The Take of Thorstein Stat. ‘The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II (trans. TERRY GUNNELL) ‘The Tale of Sareastie Halll (trans, GEORGE CLARK) ee HOS MEMWELL ‘The Tale of Audun ftom the West Fords (trans. ANTHONY MAXWELL) ‘The Tale ofthe Ston-wlse loslandor (trans, ANTHONY MAXWELL) ‘Mlustrations and Diagrams The Form ‘Soclal and Politics] Seueture Glossary Indos of Characters Mlustrations and Tables ‘Ages ofleelandie History The Duy of! ‘and the Right to Inheritance Dyesoffaea Family Ties between Six Sagas Ingimund's Ancestors and Familyin Vamnsdal ae Gudrun’ Family and Husbands ‘Main Charactars in Gisli Sursson’s Sage yao Knorr Warship Icelandic Fam ‘The Farmhouse at tong ‘Social and Pollties] Srueture JANE SMILEY ‘The prose literature of medieval Iceland is a great world treasure — elaborate, various, strange, profound, and as eternally current as any ofthe other grat iterary reasures ~ the Homer epios, Dante's Divine Comedy, the werks of Wiliam Shakespeare o of any modem writer you could name. Mysteries surround these stories — how were they composed and by whom? what were the motives of ‘the authors? why were they written in prose when the currency of medieval literature was poetry? how did their contemporaries tinderstand thems ~ did they even read them, or dd they hear them read aloud? But the questione fl arayas we read the sagas and tales themselves, They are written with such immediacy and forthrightness and they concern such basic human dilemmas that for the most pat they are readily accessible and sedactne. Reading one creates the appetite for another and ancher. Inthe preset selma, Penguin has drawn upon thenewlytransatal and edied Complete Sagas of elanders to offer the English-speaking reader arich selection of Icelandic prose. Long and short, complex and simple, fantastic and realistic — there is a taste of everything here, Sn abundant introduction toa wold a thousand yeas separate rom ous, bth intnsty familiar and intensdlyctrange, ‘the Telandie sagas, inform and apparent purpose, were anomalous for thelr tne, the thinenth,fourenth and fitenth ‘centuries, that is, the time of Chaucer, the Romance of the Rose and Dante. If English, French and Italian readers had had access to thar in ther orn day they might have found thom stranger than redo, We have becn tained by tho form of thonoval, which aose Infingland in the elghtacnth eontuy to accept the significance ofa pose narrate that concerns self with the dalngs and options and fates of what we would call ordinary citizens, that is, men and women who live in communities of people who are more or less their oqals, whoce prsonal qualities determine the outcome oftheir intentions and whose stories constnito models of social and ppehologe behaviour uc ofthemadleval erature we now of had an aristocrat, llsuredauilence,eeanders wrote foreach cother, that is, a relatively small population of related and isolated (in the world-geographical sense) families who were all aware of ‘ho ther ancestors were and how their ancasors had setled and doveloped tho world that saga sors and readers ived in. MattoralTadland shared with the modern world 2 considerable degre of socal mablty anda considerable amblguousness bo how men (and women) of exceptional qualities (strength, talent, beauty, passion) could be fitted into the fabric of society. Such concerns arose in mainland Earope in tines ofsoeial and economic disruption, for example during the Hack Death, baress co than they dd at tmes of seal and conomle salty they were a the very heat ofhow Telandi solely created islf and sustalned itself. Just as the settlement of Iceland in the ninth century prefigured the westward expansion of Europe into America five and six ‘conturies later, the terature of Teeland written in the high Middle Ages prefigured the literature of the modern world, “And yet these stories are so cleanly medieval. “Andyet, they are not. ‘This is thelr faselnating paradox. ‘A powerful man, Hrafnkel, makes an unbreakable vow that his horse Is dedicated to his favourite god, and that he will ill anyone ‘who tides the horse without his permission, He announces this vow to every one of his workers. One day some sheep are lost, and, of ‘course, the only horse who will allow itself to be caught isthe forbiddon animal. When the man who attempts to ride the horso in ‘sero finally dismounts, the horse gallops stright to his master and presents himself, dirty and done-in. Hrainkel falls his vow, then attempts to soften the blow by offering to take care of the victim's family, but they are so incensed by his attitude that they tum own his otf. Another powerfil man, Thorstein, has a dream that his daughter willbe co beautifl as to eause the death oftwo men. He attempts to ‘evade this fate by having the child exposed, ust as Laartes attempted to evade his death at the hands of Oadipus by having Oedipus ‘exposed, Thorstein is as unsuccessful in his evasion as Laettesis. A beautifal and well-meaning woman, Gudrun, falls in love with a suitor she cannot have. Her frustration leads her into other, ‘unsuitable marriages. Several couplas live together in close quartrs. Jealousies and tempers flare, and two men are killed. Conflicting loyaltis and readiness for revenge interfore with the early resolution of the argument, and a man, Gisli, who might otherwise have lived a peaceful ‘and prosperous farming life with his well-loved wife, is foreed to live by his wits in exile and oatlawny. ‘These stories are familiar ~ not because we have read them before (though in some-cases we have), but because they sound just like ‘things that happen all the time. People are always making rash commitments and foolish chcices, speaking unvwisely, taking ‘stubborn positions, ignoring the wise counsel of others, hoping to get something more on a gamble than what they are already. ‘assured of, refusing to submit or lose face. Like Hrainkel's horse, animals often seem to act with perverse intelligence. In some ‘quarters ofthe world and in some periods these mistakes lead to unhappiness. In other quarters and other periods they lead wo death and social devastation. These cslandic stores are unique because their understanding ofthe consequences of foolishness and folly, ‘especialy in its relationship to character, is uniquely plain, unvarnished and direct. ‘Typleal saga style bespeaks an agricultural word where Ielsure was ata premium, The sagas and tales are fil of work. The acon takes place in a contest of sheep-herding, horse-bresding, weaving, cocking, washing, building clearing land and expanding holdings, rading by ship with mainland Burope andthe Brith Isles, Disputs often begin humbly in The Saga of Rethe Siu, for ‘example, a man kills his neighbour's shepherd so that hs sheep can have access to his nelghbour's grazing. His motives go without ‘analsis ~ greed needs no analysis. What is interesting to both writer and audience is what happens next and shat the other ‘characters say about it. Likowise, that aman liko Hal Skallagrimsson should ba. great post as well as hot headad, stiff nockod and Gangerous also needs no analysis. Much more isto be learned from what happens to Egil than from investigation of the whys and ‘wherefore of his character. Thus Icelandic sagas and tales seem far removed from modern literary subjectivity, and yet, the gossip ‘and the commonts of othar characters supply a practial and readily understandable payehclogical eontaxt. Characters speak up. ‘They say what they want and what thelr intentions are. Other characters disagree with them and judge them. The saga wltor sometimes remarks upon public opinion concerning these events. The results thatthe sagas are psychologically complex and yet ‘economical im thir analvsis. Nething like the courtly manners ofthe rest of Surope gots in the way of plain speaking, and wo soam tobehearing the ve words oftrue evenday people. This, of course, isan illusion, especially in the context ofthe translation ffom Icelandic to English. The plainness of saga soe is ‘also highly riualizad, Similar incidantsceeur in similar ways throughoutte body af the literature, The entire bady of sagas and tales Isa country unto itso, and no less kesyneratie than any ater ltarary country ~ It's only that the country has dierent expectations ‘and customs, and thes go ina different direction from that of cher medieval literatures. ‘There is no single saga that stands with other single works as an unalloyed example of greatnass and universality, lke The Divine Comedy, King Lear onthe Homeric epies. A saga not included in this wolume, Njal’s Sopa, and two sagas included here, The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Epis Sago, make the strongest claims for greatness, but one of the unique characteristics of saga [itratur is its eohesivaness 25 group of storie in which, although they are by diferent authors, thelr similarities are greater and more obvious than their differences. They are like an extended family of individuals who all ook rather alike and all share basic ‘values. Our enjoyment of Shakespeare's or Dickens's or Mozar's works is not significantly enhanced by reading ar understanding ‘the works oftheir eontamporares ~ the eontax is intresting but not assantal tothe average readar or listane. The reador of Njl’s Soga, though, can hardly understand or appreciate this great work ot ofthe contextof the other sagas. They surround it the way a landscape of fields surcunds the best, most frie one ~ they are an essential part of its ecosystem, its plant patter, its water pattern, its weather pater. Its goodness is set off by their difering characersties of sandiness, steepness, weediness. Mediaval Teelandic literature is different from almost every other world literature — itis a Titerature in which individual authors seem to

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