Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 173

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THE RISE OF LITERATURE IN ‘TERRA NOVA’
land has had a literary tradition from the middle ages and that a
sense of art and style, form and structure of literary texts has been
preserved or developed through many centuries. But from this answer
even more complex questions arise: what are the reasons for the enor-
mous wealth of literature in Iceland during the high and late middle
ages?
We all know that this has been asked very often, and we also
know that the answers have never been quite satisfactory. Neverthe-
less I think it to be worth while reflecting on this problem somewhat
more. I am sure it is not possible to explain the role of literature in
the old Icelandic society or to solve the riddle of its development in a
simple way; naturally these reflections can only be regarded as an
attempt to present some possibilities of explanation.
I want to begin with two generally accepted statements:
1) The medieval literature of Iceland as a whole is incomparable
with any other contemporary literature in Europe. Of course
there are many continental influences on the literature of Old
Iceland, especially in historical and theological works, but also
in the narrative art of several kinds of saga literature. Neither
writings in Latin nor any European national literature in the
middle ages explains fully the complexity of saga art, its char-
acteristic combination of subject, art and style, historical or
pseudohistorical connections and a system of ethic values.
Though we find a lot of influences in several aspects, saga
literature as a whole is a specifically Icelandic phenomenon.
2) In Norway the conditions for the development of literature were
obviously nearly the same as in Iceland. The differences be-
tween the Old Norwegian and the Old Icelandic language are
of no importance for our problem. The fact that the number of
Celtic people in Icelandic society must have been considerable
does not provide the main reason for the development of medie-
val Icelandic literature. — The pre-literary traditions were most
likely the same in Norway and in Iceland; for instance Eddic
lays (in an older shape maybe) or the themes of fornaldarsogur
were known in both countries. The influences of the European
literatures, particularly the historical and theological literatures,