Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.04.1980, Blaðsíða 2

2
Haraldur Bessason
Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 4. apríl 1980
IHE UIBMS JWD M WIEIOPMEIIT Vllf HO
Tolerancé and respect:
The Old Icelandic
literature is a very im-
portant part of the national
heritage of Iceland, her
spiritual culture and
political independence.
Some writers have
described this literature as
the finest legacy which the
Old Teutonic culture ever
created. Without con-
tradicting this statement one
may point out that to some
people the reference to
Teutonic culture may evoke
totally pre-Christian
notions. Therefore it is
necessary to emphasize that
to a large extent the best-
known literary works of Old
Iceland were composed or
recorded in the 12th and the
13 th centuries, i.e., from
one to three centuries after
the Icelanders formally
accepted Christianity. It is
of further interest to us that
a certain portion of the
literature in question
originated in Icelandic
monasteries among the more
creative members of the
lioly brotherhoods. The Old
Icelandic literature deals
with the pre-Christian era
and was composed or
recorded by . Christians;
however, readers of this
literature are not justified in
drawing a clear-cut line of
demarcation between
heathen and Christian
elements in the Old
Icelandic literary com-
positions. One may only go
as far as to state that the
main quality 'óf the
literature in question lies in
the very successful methods
by which its creators often
fused heathen and Christian
concepts into a meaningful
whole. Tolerance and
respect for their subj.ect
matter were the guiding
principles of these old
masters as they applied
themselves to the task of
writing about the past, or as
they proceeded to use the
past as a mirror in which to
view contemporary devel-
opments.
Natlve and foreign
elements:
In a brief outline one
would first mention
mythological poetry and
prose. Then comes the
heroic poetry and prose
narratives ,about the
Icelandic society from its
very beginnings around 870
A.D. until the year 1000
(999?) when Christianity
was legislated in the
country: next on the list are
biographies of Scandinavian
kings extending from the
remote antiquity down to the
latter part of the 13th
century and the Sagas of
Icelanders; these narratives
dealing with events both in
Scandinavia' and in Iceland
were based on historical or
semi-historical foundations.
Other narratives, similar in
form to the Sagas of
Icelanders and Sagas of
Kings, but of purely fictional
charactor. are the so-called
mythical-heroic sagas and
chivalric romances, many of
which must be regarded as
somewhat loose adaptations
of foreign material. Then the
Old Icelanders wrote ex-
tensively on various
branches of sc.ience such as
astronomv. geography,
chronology. and philology.
In addition. they were
prolific translators of
C.hristian religious writings.
Tlieir eulogies about Kings
and other influential
characters must also be
noted.
A contribution to medieval
learning:
The above outline should
indicate that although the
old Icelandic literature
deals with pre-Christian
themes and is therefore to
some extent of Teutonic or
Germanic character, it often
reflects the moral attitudes
of Christian authors who not
infrequently hint at the
possibility that problems
brought on by heathen
attitudes may call for a
Christian solution. Thus one
must avoid talking about
Icelandic Sagas and poetry
as something rather
primitive which just hap-
pened to be composed long
ago on a geographically
isolated island; rather one
must regard the Old
Icelandic literature as an
integral part of Medieval
European culture and
learning. But in addition to
keeping abreast of literary
and scholarly trends as
these revealed themselves in
creative works , on the
Kuropean continent and the
British Isles. the Icelanders
certainly wove a new strand
into the European fabric,
which was Iceland’s sub-
stantial contribution to
universal life and learning
in the Middle Ages.
Nostalgic sentiments and
royal households:
Reference may be made
hero to thc reassessment of
ancient cultural values as
ono of tho most compelling
tasks undertaken by the
Norse or Norwegian settlers
of lceland. At the same time
as certain values were
dofined in the minds of the
pionoers as being of greater
rolevance than other parts
of thcir heritage. the im-
portance of preserving and
perpetuating certain
spiritual assets became
increasingly obvious. One
woidd bo justified in stating
that. up to a point, the
desire to preserve some of
the hcritage of the homeland
was generated and kept
alive by purely nostalgic
scntiments. but nostalgia
sharpens the memory of
those affected by it. If one
asks the question why the
Icelanders were the only
Scandinavian nation during
the Middle Ages to write
major historical ánd literary
works in their own
language, our reference to
their nostalgic sentiments
for an old homeland would
at least provide us with the
beginning of an answer to
that question. But in the
hope that we may find a
fuller answer, it is well to
discuss briefly an ancient
tvpe of poetry which was a
national profession among
the Icelanders for many
centuries. To a considerable
extent this poetry consists of
eulogies about the heroic
deeds of influential men.
chiefly Scandinavian kings
who vied with one anpther
in summoning the most
c.ompetent bards or poets to
thoir courts. The Scan-
dinavian term for a bard or
a poet is scald (skald), and
the eulogies composed by a
scald are commonly
referred to as scaldic poety.
The oldest scaldic poetry
which has been preserved
was supposedly composed in
Norway about the middle of
the 9th century by the poet
Bragi the Old, in honour of
King Ragnar Sigurdarson.
Ragnar was a member of the
Danish dynasty of the Sk-
joldungs. From the last
decades of the 9th century
until about the middle of the
lOth century we know for
certain that both Norwegian
and Icelandic scalds were
'held in high regard and
were much in demand at the
Royal Houses of Scan-
dinavia. But about the
middle of the lOth century a
certain change took place in
that the geographic domain
of scaldic poetry was
greatly narrowed down.
From that time one, and for
the next three hundred and
fifty years. scaldic poetry
was virtually monopolized
by Icelandic scalds, who
during this long period were
frequently found at the
Royal Courts of Scan-
dinavia. To ensure that his
poetry would be pleasing to
the ear of the king or
chieftain in question, a
scald would include in his
poem a careful enumeration
of praiseworthy deeds, such
as victories on the bat-
tlefield and conquests, or
other spectacular ac-
complishments attributed to
the individual in whose
honour the poem had been
composed. Locations where
such events took place are
often mentioned in the
scaldic poems as well as the
identity of those constituting
the army fighting against the
praiseworthy leader. In
short. bits of historical
■interest are scattered
throughout virtually all the
Old Norwegian or Icelandic
scaldic compositions.
Mockery or praise:
Scaldic poems were
composed under intricate
mctres. with every verse
containing highly involved
metaphors or mythological
allusions. Thus their formal
features demanded that
thev bc memorized either
verbatim or not at all. It is
the opinion of scholars that
a large portion of the scaldic
verse which was recorded
in Iceland in the 12th and
the 13th centuries had then
survived in oral tradition for
centuries without having
undergone any appreciable
change. Writers and
historians in Medieval
Iceland were evidently of
the same opinion because
scaldic verse was precisely
onc of their most valuable
historical sources. Bearing
in mind that scaldic poems
were often eulogistic in
content. one may wonder if,
as a result of that they did
not tend to exaggerate their
accounts of spectacular
events. The best-known
writer of Medieval Iceland,
Snorri Sturluson, asked
himself this question in his
scholarly introduction to his
Sagas of Scandinavian kings
(Heimskringla) written
about 1230. About the
historical content of the
scaldic poetry he had this to
sav:
“We regard all that to be
truc which is found in those
poems about their ex-
peditions (i.e. the ex-
peditions of the kings) and
battles. It is (to be sure) the
habit of poets to give highest
praise to those princes in
whose presence they are;
but no one would have
tlared to tell them to their
faces about deeds which all
who listened. as well as the
prince himself. knew were
only falsehood and
fabrications. That would
have been mockery, still not
praise".
An additional reason for
vernacular writing:
In essence one may
thorofore regard scaldic
poetry as having a strong
factual basis. If one also
recalls that it was not
without reason that this kind
of poetry has been referred
to as one of Iceland’s most
im])ortant items of export,
i.o.. if it is proper to use a
commercial idiom in the
])resont context. it becomes
<|uite evident that, on the
part of the Icelandic
populace in general. scaldic
pooms must have generated
and maintained a certain
dcgroc of interest in
historical matters. Any
person who either wished to
compose or just comprehend
this verbal art had to be
reasonably well versed in
history. Also, anyone who
wished to cite the ancient
jioetrv in writing i.e., after
the Icelanders began to
write books. such citations
had to be recorded in the
vernacular. It would be
considered entirely frivolous
to suggest that scaldic verse
could ever have been
succ.essfully reproduced in
l.atin. Thus our discussion
of the scaldic poetry has
brought up two points one
might wish to include in his
roflections upon the
(íuestion why the Icelanders
began to write in their own
language rather than in
Latin.
To be continued
in next issue
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