ICELAND
618
ICELAND
one-sided Protestant account: Baumgartner in Kirekenlex.,
s. V. IsUmdisrhr. Litrrnfur, extensive bibliographical references,
a corrective to Schweitzer: Idem, Die Lilje, German tr. of the
Icelandic poem (Freiburg, 1SS4); Lnndshagoskyrslur , Statistics:
iyrir Island (Reykjavilt, 1907), 65, 244.
P. WirniANN.
Icelandic Literatitre is in its beginning closely connected with that of Norway; in fact it is originally Norse. Iceland was colonized in the ninth and tenth centuries by Norwegians who left their native land when Harold Hiirfagri, forced all Norway to submit to his sway (a. d. 872). Iceland, though politically independent until 1262, remained in close contact with the mother country; its language also remained Norse. The introduction of Christianity into the island (a. d. 1000) did not interrupt the literary de- velopment, as in other Germanic lands. Literature was zealously cultivated by priests and lajTncn, and never lost its popular character.
The oldest Norse poems date from about 8.50; of the poetry preceding this date almost nothing is known. The first transmission of literature was oral; a written literature did not begin until the twelfth century. Most of the manuscripts that we possess, and which are preserved chiefly at Copenhagen, Up- sala, and Stockholm, date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Old Norse poetry, like all ancient Germanic poetry, is alliterative; but, whereas Old English as well as Old High German poetry is written in the epic long line, Old Norse poetry is strophic. The oldest and most important mon- ument of Old Norse poetry is the Edda, which is di.scussed in a special article. Besides Eddie poetry there was also Skaldic poetry. While the two kinds cannot always be clearly distinguished, still there are important differences. The Eddie poems are anonymous, the Skaldic poems are almost always of known authorship and deal W'ith historic personages or events. Skiddic poetry was e.s.sentially a courtly art; it usually sings the praise of some princely pa- tron. While the Eddie poems arc simple, the Skaldic poems are extremely artificial in structure and lan- guage, employing alliteration and assonance, as well as making elaborate u.se of such rhetorical devices as heili and kenningar (metaphors and figurative para- phra.ses). The most pretentious kind of Skaldic poem was the drdpa (literally "fall of men").
The beginnings of Skaldic art are lost in mythic obscurity. The earliest skalds were Norwegians, the first historical name being Bragi, who later figures as the god of poetry in Valhalla. With King Harold Hdrfagri (872-9.30) we get on historic groimd. To this circle of poets belong Thorbjcirn Hornklofi and Thj6dholf of Ilvin, both authors of famous pane- gyrics. Eyvintl Finnsson, surnamed Skaldaspillir (spoiler of skalds), composed on King Hakon's (leath (901) the "Hakonarm:il" on the model of the "Eirfks- mdl", which an unknown skald had composed in honour of the memory of King Eirikr (d. 9.50). But the greatest skalds came from Iceland, the most famous being Egill Skallagrims.son (d. 982), whose wiUl career is the subject of a well-known saga. Of his poems the "Htifudhlausn" (Redemption of the Head) and "Sonartorrek" (Loss of the Son) are the most famous. Ulfr L'ggason is known for his "Iliis- drapa" (9S.5), an important poem for the study of mythology. Most of the Icelandic poets were court poets of ..Norwegian and other kings. Such were Kormdk Ogmundarson (d. 967), Einar Helgason, and Hallfred Ottarsson, a follower of King Olaf Tryg- vason, whose death in battle he commemorated in the "Olafsdrapa" (1000), as also Gunnlaugr, surnamed Ormstunga (serpent's tongue), on account of his biting satire. Among the skalds of St. Olaf (101.5-1030) the most prominent were Thormodhr Bersason and Sigh- vatr Thordharson (d. about 104.5), the king's fa- vourite poet, who in his "Bersoglivisur" (Strains of
Candour) addressed a fearless warning to King Mag-
nus, Olaf's son and succes.sor. .^fter the eleventh
century Skaldic art <leclines. Of later Skaldic poems
Einar Skulason's "Geisli" (beam), a drdpa in honour
of St. Olaf, is noteworthy, as al.'^o the "Hdttatal" of
Snorri Sturluson (q. v.). With Snorri's nephews, Olaf
and Sturla, the list of skalds closes.
Poetry continued in the old forms, but its content was chiefly religious. Poems were written in honour of Christ, the Virgin, and various .saints. Of this kind are the "Solarljodh" (Song of the Sim), com- posed about 1200. and the famous "Lilja" (Lily) written about 1340 by Eysteinn Asgrimsson, an Augustinian monk. After the foiirteeiith century the chief form of Icelandic poetry were the rimur, narrative poems in ballad style, the content of which was drawn chiefly from older sagas.
The finest and most characteristic product of Ice- landic genius is the saga, the prose narrative of his- torical events. L^nlike Skalilic poetry the saga is of purely Icelandic origin and can be traced back as far as the tenth century. The mjiteriiil is taken from real life; the sagas are frequently the biography of eminent Icelanders {istendirigasdgur) or else of Nor- wegian kings (konungasdgur). The sagamen treated their material with poetic freedom anil in a perfectly objective manner; dialogue enlivens the narrative, and poetic citations are freely interspersed. In this the saga resembles Old Irish prose narrative, and Irish influence is (]uite possible. No Germanic litera- ture of medieval times can boast of prose writings as idiomatic and excellent as those of Iceland.
After the Latin language and script had been introduced as a consequence of the adoption of Christianity, the sagas after 1170 were written down. Historiography began. The earliest historians were Sa;mund Sigfvis.son, who wrote in Latin, and .\ri Thorgilsson (d. 1148), who first wrote history in the vernacular. Of his history of Icel;ind only an ab- stract is preserved. The "Landndmabok", the most complete history of the settlement of Iceland, made liberal use of .\ri's work. While .Vri's work is exact and scholarly, the writings of the sdgur are more literary. The sagamen tell their story with poetic freedom. The greatest of the islendingasdnur, or Icelandic family sagas, are the "Egilssaga", the hero of which is the .skald Egil, the "Laxda>la", which tells of the inhabitants of the Laxd valley in Western Ice- land, the "Eyrbyggja", which has for its main theme the life of the godhi (chieftain) Snorri, and the "Njdls- saga", the longest and most prominent of all the sagas, the scene of which is laid m Southern Iceland. In this work two originally different sagas, those of Gunnar and Njdl, have been fused. No saga gives clearer insight into the state of the island's civilization during the perioil from 960 to 1016.
Of the numerous other sagas of this kind, mention may be made of those of Gunnlaug Ormstunga, of Kormdk, of Grettir the Strong, of Gfsli Siirsson, as well as of the "Vatzdsla" and the "Vdpnfirdhinga- saga". The discovery of Greenland and Vinland (.\merica) is related in the "Eirikssaga raudha" (Saga of Eric the Red), which was written about 1200.
The heroic age of Iceland terminates in 1030. Later events are treated in the "Sturlunga-Saga", which arose about 1300 in Western Iceland. It is a col- lection of sagas grouped around the main portion, the "Islendingasaga" of Sturla Thordharson. The history of the Icelandic Church is presented in the "Biskupa- .sogur" (bishops' sagas), composed for the most part by clergymen and narrating the lives of the first Ice- landic bishops. The story of the conversion of Ice- land is told m the "Kristnisaga", which seems a con- tinuation of the "Landndmab6k" ba.sed on .\ri's work.
The history of the Norwegian kings is related in the kunungasoguT . The oldest extant attempt at a com- plete mstory is the "Agrip af N6regs Konungasogum"
