Gripla - 2023, Page 369

“SHOULD SHE TELL A STORY …” 367
are considered, it can be seen as part of a centuries-long literary tradi-
tion of layered narratives that focus on storytelling. The three classic
works that have been presented here are all “on the border between oral
and written narrative techniques.” Plenty of other classical works featur-
ing nested narratives could have been examined in that context, such as
Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decamerone (The Decameron, 1348−1353), Geoffrey
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (c. 1387−1400), and Snorri Sturluson’s
“Gylfaginning” in Snorra Edda (The Prose Edda, c. 1220−1230).41 European
writers continued producing extended narratives in this tradition through-
out the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Such works
have been labeled novel cycles or novel streams (Fr. roman-fleuve) in France,
one of the earliest examples being L’Astrée (Astree, 1607−1627) by Honoré
d’Urfé.42 Published in five volumes, it contains a multitude of digressions
held together by the main story of the love between shepherdess Astrée
and shepherd Céladon. Interesting novel cycles from Eiríkur Laxdal’s day
include Jan Potocki’s Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse (The Manuscript Found
in Saragossa, 1805) and Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer (1820).43
Before we part with Ólafssaga, it is tempting to take one final look at
The Poetics of Prose. Todorov points out that although The Quest of the Holy
Grail largely revolves around interpreting the meaning of the Grail in light
of Christian theology, no definitive answer is ever given. He rejects the
theory, espoused by Pauphilet and other scholars, that the Grail represents
God himself. Todorov claims that according to medieval thinkers, God
would never reveal himself to mankind through secular literature. Hence,
he suggests that the quest of the Holy Grail is not only a quest for a code
or meaning but also a quest for a story that can communicate that which
41 Cf. Jón Karl Helgason, “Omkring Snorres poetikk. Skaldskapens rolle i Vafþrúðnismál
og Snorra Edda,” Snorres Edda i Europeisk og Islandsk kultur, ed. Jon Gunnar Jørgensen
(Reykholt: Snorrastofa, 2009), 107−30.
42 María Anna Þorsteinsdóttir mentions Astree in a footnote in her discussion about the struc-
ture of Ólafssaga without discussing in detail the possible connection between the works.
See María Anna Þorsteinsdóttir, Tveggja heima sýn, 242. See also Rósa Þorsteinsdóttir,
“Íslensk og ólensk ævintýri,” 133. Additional interesting Italian titles from this period are
Le piacevoli notti (The Facetious Nights, 1550) by Giovanni Francesco Straparola and the
seventeenth-century Il Pentamerone (The Pentamerone, 1634−1636) by Giambattista Basile.
See Romina Werth, “Inngangur,” 15−16.
43 In the chapter “Narrative Men,” Todorov briefly compares The Manuscript Found in
Saragossa to The Thousand and One Nights. Todorov, The Poetics of Prose, 70−71.