Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas

The Icelandic sagas can be read and interpreted in many ways. This article examines the sagas both as literary expressions of a longstanding oral tradition and as part of a collective and cultural memory. The focus in the first part is on people and places in the sagas as "realms of memory"...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michael Riber Jørgensen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Norwegian
Swedish
Published: Novus 2010
Subjects:
Modern history
1453-
D204-475
Medieval history
D111-203
Iceland
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5
id ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5 2023-05-15T16:48:53+02:00 Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas Michael Riber Jørgensen 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5 EN NO SV eng nor swe Novus http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/123 https://doaj.org/toc/0801-9282 https://doaj.org/toc/2387-6700 0801-9282 2387-6700 https://doaj.org/article/bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5 Collegium Medievale, Vol 23 (2010) Modern history 1453- D204-475 Medieval history D111-203 article 2010 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-30T22:03:06Z The Icelandic sagas can be read and interpreted in many ways. This article examines the sagas both as literary expressions of a longstanding oral tradition and as part of a collective and cultural memory. The focus in the first part is on people and places in the sagas as "realms of memory": things that help construct a common past and a common identity. The second part of the article explores the role of the sagas in medieval Iceland as "key myths" that explain the origin and uniqueness of a society, and as moral and legal role models legitimizing the current social order. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
Norwegian
Swedish
topic Modern history
1453-
D204-475
Medieval history
D111-203
spellingShingle Modern history
1453-
D204-475
Medieval history
D111-203
Michael Riber Jørgensen
Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
topic_facet Modern history
1453-
D204-475
Medieval history
D111-203
description The Icelandic sagas can be read and interpreted in many ways. This article examines the sagas both as literary expressions of a longstanding oral tradition and as part of a collective and cultural memory. The focus in the first part is on people and places in the sagas as "realms of memory": things that help construct a common past and a common identity. The second part of the article explores the role of the sagas in medieval Iceland as "key myths" that explain the origin and uniqueness of a society, and as moral and legal role models legitimizing the current social order.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Michael Riber Jørgensen
author_facet Michael Riber Jørgensen
author_sort Michael Riber Jørgensen
title Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
title_short Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
title_full Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
title_fullStr Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
title_full_unstemmed Constructing History: The Use of the Past as a Model for the Present in the Icelandic Sagas
title_sort constructing history: the use of the past as a model for the present in the icelandic sagas
publisher Novus
publishDate 2010
url https://doaj.org/article/bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_source Collegium Medievale, Vol 23 (2010)
op_relation http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/123
https://doaj.org/toc/0801-9282
https://doaj.org/toc/2387-6700
0801-9282
2387-6700
https://doaj.org/article/bff2d21aa4f049af89e69ef1e5f247e5
_version_ 1766038968083677184

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