Saga - 1996, Qupperneq 353

RITFREGNIR
351
,n^e,y Hervarar saga og Heiðreiks, Hálfs saga og Hálfsrekka, Ragnars saga
fókar, and Völsunga saga. To these he adds two later texts, Örvar-Odds
a8a and Hrölfs saga Gautrekssonar, which leave behind the tragic elements
e °lder texts and introduce new romantic features that came to domi-
"ate later narratives as the genre developed. Based on evidence from
th°rSe P°etry anct ^at'n ar,d Anglo-Saxon prose, he argues that much of
e subject matter in the fornaldarsögur had been in circulation at least
*nee the twelfth century. As to their form, he follows the lead of Anne
smark and suggests that the sagas emerged slowly as more and more
xPlanatory prose was added to poetic stories. Although manuscripts
new °n^y trom the fourteenth century, Torfi argues convincingly that the
popular genre of leeendary saeas was in evidence bv the first
de«desofthethirteenth.
to °rrowm8 the notion „the aristocratic model" from the French his-
lan Georges Duby, Torfi argues that a class of powerful chieftains was
6rrierging in Iceland as in France. Owners of vast properties, established
11 ,ar8e households and surrounded by retainers, these leaders were
eager for the accouterments of a noble culture, not the least of which was
Prose literature in the vernacular. The popularity of the genre was the
6Su|t of this new audience's demand for entertainment. They were
Particularly interested in stories about their own ancestors, subjects for
Ich „la matiére du Nord" was well suited.
any readers may be willing to follow Torfi this far, but they may have
°re trouble accepting his proposition that the fornaldarsögur, set in dis-
n times, reveal the tensions of the society that produced them. He
rgues, in fact, that the great temporal distance between audience and
in °rS m t,1ese oarratives allowed the authors a large fictional component
rvhich they could present contemporary problems and their resolu-
j Us' They enjoyed more freedom than the authors of the sagas of
^ e anders who were constrained by closer proximity and therefore more
asSt0r'c'ty. As Torfi explains in a pertinent overview, the notion of the text
e a Communication between author and reader is common among mod-
s.rn ,Uerary critics interested in narratology. Their demonstration that ten-
ons ;n texts are Qften same as those in society enables scholars to
tin n * ' 3 c,,a,°gue between texts and their time in any chronological set-
8- The fornaldarsögur may therefore represent „ideal realities" in the
r s of Maurice Godelier, resolutions desired by literary authors to
a tu ems they Perceive as urgent in their own society. Less overtly, the
• 0rs °f the íslendingasögur were more likely to resort to typology and
Vvli ^ extua,ity. subtle references to figures and to events in other texts in
r Cn cor>temporary problems were dealt with openly, in the hope that
ers Would understand the underlying agenda.
^ong the six fornaldarsögur treated here the analysis of Hervarar saga