Die Middeleeuse Yslandse saga: 'n kreatiewe Afrikaanse perspektief

• Main Author: Senekal, Burgert Adriaan
• Other Authors: Van Coller, H. P., Raftery, M. M.
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of the Free State 2004
• Subjects: Viking (víkingr); Transience; Revenge/feud; Poetry (skaldic/eddic); Northern mythology/religion; Medieval literature; Sagas of the Icelanders (Íslendingasögur); Heroic literature; Fatalism; Germanic culture; Icelandic literature > History and criticism; Sagas > History and criticism; Dissertation (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch)) > University of the Free State; 2004; Old Norse literature > History and criticism; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11660/1637

English: Theoretical part The medieval Icelandic saga can be divided into various categories, but the most widely known category is the Íslendingasögur and it is on this that the focus of this study has fallen. It was committed to writing in mainly the thirteenth century and some scholars (for example Sigurðsson, 2004) allege that these writings are based on an oral tradition. Actions described in the Íslendingasögur take place in the tenth- and early eleventh centuries and are based on the history of the Scandinavian world and Iceland, and more specifically they are based on those people who established a name for themselves in this period. The narrative style is simple and objective: the narrator tells the saga as it would be perceived by an outsider and therefore depicts characters without detailed character sketches or by relating their thoughts. Rather are the characters revealed by their actions and dialogue. The sagas are not moralizing in character and therefore they differ considerably from other medieval literatures. It was argued in this study that the majority of characteristics exhibited by the sagas are determined by the focus on character and the attempt at creating a realistic narration. This focus on character determines for example that detailed descriptions of scenery and moralizations are omitted: the narrator strives to depict his characters rather than embedding his text with lessons in morality. The attempt at creating a realistic narration is established by incorporating scenes from their everyday lives and by not omitting the peasants or even slaves. The Icelandic sagas also belong to the Germanic heroic literature and its characters are heroes of this heroic milieu. A further characteristic of the Íslendingasögur is that poetry is also found which belongs mainly to the skaldic branch, and for this reason Old Norse poetical genres are briefly discussed in the theoretical discussion and its characteristics indicated. Skaldic poetry is the most complex of these and terms such as kenning ...