Gripla - 20.12.2018, Qupperneq 138

GRIPLA138
en accord avec de nombreux emplois qui sont relevés tout particulièrement dans
les œuvres islandaises contemporaines de la rédaction de l’Óláfs saga ins helga
par Snorri Sturluson. Des conclusions sont ensuite esquissées à grands traits
concer nant à la fois les institutions politiques de Suède, les peines de mort chez
les anciens Germains et l’importance des traditions suédoises que l’auteur a dû
recueillir au cours du séjour qu’il fit au Västergötland pendant l’été 1219.
S U M M A R Y
Þeir steypðu fimm konungum í eina keldu á Múlaþingi…
observations on the end of the speech of the lawman Þorgnýr at the assembly
at uppsala (Óláfs saga ins helga, chap. lxxx)
Keywords: Snorri Sturluson, Óláfs saga ins helga, Þorgnýr lǫgmaðr, assembly at
uppsala, assembly at Moraþing, five kings, kelda
this article concerns the end of the famous speech which, according to the account
of Snorri Sturluson in chapter lxxx of Óláfs saga ins helga in Heimskringla, the
magistrate of Tíundaland, Þorgnýr Þorgnýsson, delivered at an assembly of Swedes
at uppsala early in the year 1018. the phrase Þeir steypðu fimm konungum í eina
keldu á Múlaþingi […] is analyzed in detail from a lexical, philological, and narrative
perspective. the mention of the number of kings of Sweden who were killed in
the distant past is explained in the light of the context of the chapter, which is
at the center of the narrative concerning the relations between the kingdoms of
norway and Sweden at the beginning of the 11th century. readers are re minded
that the reading á Múlaþingi must be considered an error on the part of the
Icelandic author – or of his scribe – for a form like *á Moraþingi. The meaning
of the word kelda is then discussed, and it is shown that here it must designate ‘a
swampy or marshy area’, a meaning found in numerous examples from Icelandic
works contemporary to Snorri Sturluson’s Óláfs saga ins helga. the conclusions are
put into the context of the political institutions of Sweden, death penalties of the
ancient Germanic peoples, and Swedish traditions that Snorri might have been able
to collect during his visit to Västergötland in the summer of 1219.
François-Xavier Dillmann
École pratique des Hautes Études
Section des Sciences historiques et philologiques
Sorbonne
45-47, rue des Écoles
75005 Paris
France
francois-xavier.dillmann@ephe.sorbonne.fr