Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 80

JÓNAS KRISTJÁNSSON
ÍSLENDINGADRÁPA
AND ORAL TRADITION
The University of Iceland’s first professor of Icelandic philology was
Bjöm Magnússon Ólsen who held this position from 1911-1918. One
of his principal activities during the years 1913-1917 was the deliver-
ing of a series of lectures on the íslendingasögur. These lectures were
published some twenty years after his death, by which time many of
his opinions had appeared in the writings of younger men, especially
in the introductions to the íslenzk Fomrit series. In fact, it is now
difficult to determine just how much of the material in these introduc-
tions owes its origins, directly or indirectly, to Björn himself.
It may perhaps be thought that he showed an unwarranted bias in
allotting four of his seven years of office to the study of this one
element of Icelandic literature, but if we take note of his methods or
of his achievement, then we must also grant that the time was well
spent, since Björn M. Ólsen’s lectures are, I believe, pioneering works
of unequalled value in the field of old Icelandic literature. This be-
comes only too clear if we compare the lectures with two other major
contemporary works which dealt with the same material: Die An-
fange der islándischen Saga, by Andreas Heusler (1914), and the
second edition of Finnur Jónsson’s literary history (1920-24). As
regards the íslendingasögur these two works now stand as memorials
to two great scholars on the wrong track, whereas Björn’s lectures
prepared the way for present-day methods and opinions, and they
retain their value, in many respects, even today. He takes the written
text as being the principal object of research; he fully acknowledges
the role of the author; he investigates sources and influences; he notes
the relation of the sagas one to another and plots the growth and
development of the genre.
‘How did the sagas originate?’ This is a question which Bjöm
poses, and he answers himself: ‘There can be little doubt but that