Gunnlaugs saga
Encyclopedia
Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu or the Saga of Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue is one of the Icelanders' sagas
. Composed at the end of the 13th century it is preserved complete in a slightly younger manuscript. It contains 25 verses of skaldic poetry attributed to the main characters. It is an important work in both Norwegian and Icelandic literary history.
The saga relates the story of two Icelandic poets Gunnlaugr ormstunga
and Hrafn Önundarson, and their competition for
the love of Helga the Fair, granddaughter of Egill Skallagrímsson
. The story opens with a prophetic dream of two eagles
fighting over a swan, prefiguring the love triangle
in the story. The narrative then follows Gunnlaugr and is sympathetic towards him as it describes his ambitious career as a court poet across Scandinavia and the British Isles. He first competes with Hrafn in verse and later in battle.
The saga has similarities to earlier sagas of poets, such as Kormáks saga
and Bjarnar saga, but it is more refined and elegant with strong characterization and emotional impact. Long considered a masterpiece, the saga is often read by beginning students of Old Norse literature. Printed with a Latin translation and commentary already in 1775, it was the first of the Icelanders' sagas to be published in a scholarly edition.
Icelanders' sagas
The Sagas of Icelanders —many of which are also known as family sagas—are prose histories mostly describing events that took place in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature.The Icelanders'...
. Composed at the end of the 13th century it is preserved complete in a slightly younger manuscript. It contains 25 verses of skaldic poetry attributed to the main characters. It is an important work in both Norwegian and Icelandic literary history.
The saga relates the story of two Icelandic poets Gunnlaugr ormstunga
Gunnlaugr ormstunga
Gunnlaugr Ormstunga was an Icelandic poet, born ca. 983. His life is described in Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, where several of his poems are preserved....
and Hrafn Önundarson, and their competition for
the love of Helga the Fair, granddaughter of Egill Skallagrímsson
Egill Skallagrímsson
Egill Skallagrímsson was a Viking Age warrior and skald. Egill is one of the great anti-heroes of the Icelandic sagas.-Life:...
. The story opens with a prophetic dream of two eagles
fighting over a swan, prefiguring the love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
in the story. The narrative then follows Gunnlaugr and is sympathetic towards him as it describes his ambitious career as a court poet across Scandinavia and the British Isles. He first competes with Hrafn in verse and later in battle.
The saga has similarities to earlier sagas of poets, such as Kormáks saga
Kormáks saga
Kormáks saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It tells of the tenth-century Icelandic poet, Kormákr Ögmundarson, and Steingerðr, the love of his life. The saga preserves a significant amount of poetry attributed to Kormákr, much of it dealing with his love for Steingerðr. Though the saga is...
and Bjarnar saga, but it is more refined and elegant with strong characterization and emotional impact. Long considered a masterpiece, the saga is often read by beginning students of Old Norse literature. Printed with a Latin translation and commentary already in 1775, it was the first of the Icelanders' sagas to be published in a scholarly edition.
External links
- Full text and translations into many languages at the Icelandic Saga Database
- The Story of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald Translated by Eiríkr MagnússonEiríkr MagnússonEiríkr or Eiríkur Magnússon was an Icelandic scholar who was Librarian at the University of Cambridge, taught Old Norse to William Morris, translated numerous Icelandic sagas into English in collaboration with him, and played an important role in the movement to study the history and literature of...
and William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement... - Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu Text with modern Icelandic spelling
- Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu Index of poetry from the saga
- Gunnlaugssaga An Old Norse edition
- La Saga de Gunnlaug Langue de Serpent A French translation
- Sagan om Gunnlög Ormtunga och Skald-Ram A Swedish translation
- Die Saga von Gunnlaug Schlangenzunge A German translation
- Die Geschichte von Gunnlaug Schlangenzunge Another German translation
- Sagan af Gunnlaugi Ormstungu ok Skalld-Rafni The 1775 Latin translation with parallel Old Norse text
- Søgan um Gunnleyg Ormstungu A Faroese translation
- Sagaen om Gunnlaug Ormstunge og Skalde-Ravn A Norwegian translation
- Sagaen om Gunløg Ormstunge og Helga den Fagre An illustrated Danish retelling
- Proverbs in Gunnlaugs saga Ormstunga