Gripla - 01.01.1998, Page 138

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GRIPLA
SUMMARY
In his introduction the author notes the importance of Virgil as an author studied in
medieval schools and points to direct and indirect references to him in Old Icelandic
literature. The author argues that the links between Virgil and Old Icelandic literature
would repay investigation.
In the second chapter of the study the author discusses the Æneid, paying
particular attention to the love story of Dido and Æneas, which was particularly influ-
ential in the middle ages. He points to the many features which the Æneid has in
common with Eddic poems.
In the third chapter attention is drawn to further parallels between the Æneid and
Germanic and Norse poetry (the Edda, Þiðreks saga and the Nibelungenlied). The
author argues that Virgil’s influence is particularly discemible in a two-fold motif: (A)
a woman who is deceived by her beloved and who avenges herself on him; (B) fate
causing the woman to be deceived while she remains true in her love. The author then
lists the parallels and differences in the treatment of each motif in classical and Old
Icelandic literature.
The fourth chapter discusses Old Icelandic saga writing and classical epic (epos).
It begins by considering Virgil’s influence on Aristotle’s ideas about narrative unity
and how these in turn find expression in Old Icelandic writings. He then examines
how Old Icelandic saga writers treat the role of fate in the lives of characters, com-
paring this with the role of moira and Fatum (Fata) in classical works. He also com-
pares stories in which divine intervention plays a part. He identifies the narrative
techniques which classical and Old Icelandic literature have in common; for example,
dreams, foreshadowing, character descriptions of the hero before he confronts his
death, along with other elements such as prophetic irony and retardation. He points to
examples of these features in Heimskringla, Sverris saga, Egils saga, Njáls saga,
Laxdœla saga and Gísla saga. The author argues that saga writers derived these
narrative devices from many sources, with the Æneid as one important influence.
In an appendix, the author discusses the similarities between the description of
Tumus’s killing of Amycus and Diores in Æneid XII 509-572, and the Fóstbrœðra-
saga account of how Þórarinn killed Þorgeir Hávarsson.
The author concludes by discussing the elements which Latin and Icelandic litera-
ture do not have in common.