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KATARZYNA ANNA KAPITAN
HRÓMUNDUR IN PROSE AND VERSE
On the Relationships between Four Versions
of the Story of Hrómundur Greipsson*
Introduction
thinKing of medieval Icelandic literature, one of the first associations
that comes to mind is probably the famous saga form, which has its origins
in the twelfth century and blossomed in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
turies. Even though this form of literary production is usually associated
with the medieval period, the writing of the sagas did not stop with the end
of the Middle Ages, as Icelanders continued to produce sagas throughout
the early modern period and all the way into the twentieth century.1 This
long life of saga literature, entertaining generations of Icelanders, makes the
saga into a truly timeless literary form. However, it is not the sole Icelandic
literary form to have stood the test of time. Rímur (sg. ríma), a form of
Icelandic secular poetry (metrical romances), have an almost equally long
history – spanning from the fourteenth century onwards – even though
their popularity as a research subject is nowhere near that of sagas.2 What
1 For an introduction to saga literature see, for example, publications by McTurk (2005),
Clover and Lindow (1985), and Stefán Einarsson (1961). On post-medieval saga-production,
see, for example, works by Driscoll (1997; 2006; 2012; 2017). One could even say that the
saga form, if not strictly practised today, has influence on modern literary land scape, deli-
vering inspirations for works such as Halldór Laxness’ novel Gerpla and Einar Kárason’s
novels Óvinafagnaður and Ofsi.
2 For a detailed overview of rímur see the publications by Björn K. Þórólfsson (1934), Craigie
Gripla XXXII (2021): 257–288
* This article draws mainly on the research conducted during my doctoral fellowship at the
Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen (2015–18),
but its writing was made possible thanks to a postdoctoral fellowship from the Carlsberg
Foundation, H. M. Queen Margrethe II Distinguished Research Project on the Danish-
Icelandic reception of Nordic antiquity (2019–21), hosted collaboratively by the University
of Iceland, the National Museum of Iceland and the Museum of National History at
Frederiksborg Castle. I would like to thank my colleagues at the respective institutions
for their support, especially Sheryl McDonald Werronen for her valuable comments
on the language and style of the present article, while all shortcomings are solely my re-
sponsibility.