Description
The skàldasögur are a highly structured subset of the Icelandic sagas featuring, as their protagonists, young Icelandic men famed equally for skill in verse and with the sword. These twin skills lend themselves to the skàlds being portrayed as troublesome characters who struggle to navigate the social expectations of Icelandic culture, invariably leading to a period of exile. The exiled skàld then journeys abroad, gaining renown as a poet in the courts of northern Europe and performing incredible feats of bravery along the way.Anglo-Saxon England often featured on the skàld’s itinerary, frequently the setting for the most heroic of deeds. According to Egils saga, Egil Skallagrímsson fought with King Ǣthelstan (925-939) at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 and it was on his actions that Ǣthelstan’s victory hinged. In Gunnlaugs saga Ormstongu, Gunnlaug won the friendship of King Ǣthelred (978-1016) through the quality of his verse, duelled with a berserk on behalf of the king, and stood ready to resist the invading forces of King Knútr (1017-1035). While King Knútr himself was saved from dragon attack by Bjorn in Bjarnar saga Hìtdœlakappa, rewarded the skàld at the Anglo-Saxon court for his heroics. By comparing these three portrayals of the English court, this paper explores its role as a narrative device to frame Icelandic identity in the skàldasögur. Owing as much authorial context as cultural memory, it is a picture of Anglo-Saxon kingship that exemplifies the Icelandic distrust of kingship and attests a nostalgia for an imagined Icelandic heroic age.
| Period | 7 Feb 2019 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies |
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | National |