Sturlung the Pot: Investigating Sturla Þórðarson's Contributions to Sturlunga saga

• Main Author: Freyja Elizabeth Petersen 1997-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Miðaldabókmenntir; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/43866

Sturlunga saga is a compilation of many Icelandic samtíðarsögur or ‘contemporary sagas’. The contents of the compilation are not standard across all manuscripts, however, most generally, Sturlunga saga traces the history of Iceland from the late twelfth century to the late-middle thirteenth century encompassing Iceland’s transition from decentralised independent governance to consolidated governance subject to the Norwegian crown. For several centuries, Icelandic scholars have researched and debated the authorship of the sagas within Sturlunga saga and the compilation of the collection itself. In the past century scholarship has largely rallied around the idea that Sturla Þórðarson, a member of the famous Sturlung family central to the events detailed within Sturlunga saga, composed the central saga of the compilation, Íslendinga saga, and that the rest of the compilation was assembled and constructed around Íslendinga saga by Þórðr Narfason, his protege. This thesis examines recent scholarship about the individuals responsible for Sturlunga saga and Sturla Þórðarson specifically and presents original stylistic analysis of Sturlunga saga to further investigate Sturla Þórðarson’s contributions to the compilation. Examining both the methods that the various authors of the sagas within Sturlunga saga use to express time and date and the inclusion or omission of pagan imagery within the poetry present in the collection, this thesis suggests that Sturla Þórðarson likely composed an Íslendinga saga which extends to the 1260s but likely had little authorial or editorial influence over the rest of Sturlunga saga. Finally, the thesis concludes with a brief discussion of the nature of authorship, compiling, and editing with regard to Sturlunga saga.