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GRIPLA
process of gradual alteration, the entire piece may have changed
beyond recognition. However, since gradual change is seldom
noticed, its cumulative effect will be accepted as “the way things
have always been”. Some things may still remain from the old
versions, so that one finds words being used in recitation which
the bard no longer understands and historical details which are, to
say the least, unfamiliar to the performer and his society.
The historical value of the court poems can only be determined by
comparing their testimony in each particular case with the testimony
of other independent sources. But such sources are rare and the results
have turned out to be meager.16
But considering what has been discussed in (a)-(e) above, it is clear
that there is no reason whatsoever to put much faith in the historical
value of the court poetry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Almqvist, Bo. Norrön niddiktning I. Stockholm 1965.
Campbell, Alistair. Skaldic Verse and Anglo-Saxon History. London 1971.
Corkery, Daniel. Thc Hidden Ireland. Dublin 1956.
Curtius, Ernst Robert. Europaische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter. Bern
1965.
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte I. Berlin 1964.
Den store saga om Olav den hellige I. Utg. av Oscar Albert Johnsen og Jón
Helgason. Oslo 1941.
Den tredje og fjterde grammatiske afliandling i Snorres Edda. Udg. af Björn
Magnússon Ólsen. K0benhavn 1884.
Emeneau, M. B. “Oral Poets of South India—the Todas.” Journal of American
Folklore 71, 1958.
- “Style and Meaning in an Oral Literature.” Language 42, 1966.
Finnegan, Ruth. Oral Literature in Africa. Nairobi 1976.
Grágás II. Udg. af Vilhjálmur Finsen. Kj0benhavn 1852.
Hallberg, Peter. Old Icelandic Poetry, Eddic Lay and Skaldic Verse. Lincoln 1975.
Heimskringla I—III. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson gaf út. Reykjavík 1941-1951.
Helgason, Jón. “Norges og Islands Digtning.” Nordisk Kultur VIII:B. Stockholm
1953.
Jackson, W. T. H. The Literature of the Middle Ages. New York 1962.
Jónsson, Finnur. Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie I. K0benhavn
1920.
is See on this, e. g., Campbell 1971.