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"...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Novus forlag
2010
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/123 |
| Summary: | 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. |
|---|