Hulda-Hrokkinskinna
Encyclopedia
Hulda-Hrokkinskinna is one of the kings' sagas
. Written after 1280 it relates the history of the Norwegian kings from Magnús góði, who acceded to the throne in 1035, to Magnús Erlingsson, who died in 1177.
The saga is based on Snorri Sturluson
's Heimskringla
but supplemented by prose and poetry from a version of Morkinskinna
which is no longer extant. Hulda-Hrokkinskinna is especially valuable in places where the preserved Morkinskinna manuscript is defective. It preserves eight verses of skaldic poetry found nowhere else by the poets Arnórr Þórðarson, Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Bölverkr Arnórsson and Þórarinn stuttfeldr.
Some early commentators believed Heimskringla to be based on Hulda-Hrokkinskinna, rather than the other way around. This theory has recently been championed again with the argument that it leads to a simpler stemma for the manuscripts of the sagas.
The saga is preserved in two manuscripts. Hulda ("the hidden manuscript") or AM 66 fol. is an Icelandic manuscript from the last part of the 14th century. It consists of 142 leaves while the first six (the first quire) are lost. Hrokkinskinna ("wrinkled parchment") or GKS 1010 fol. is an Icelandic manuscript from the beginning of the fifteenth century. Its first 91 leaves contain the text of Hulda-Hrokkinskinna while its last four leaves, added in the 16th century, contain an incomplete version of Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar. The text of Hulda is better than that of Hrokkinskinna.
Hulda-Hrokkinskinna contains a number of þættir
.
The text of Hulda-Hrokkinskinna was printed in the sixth and seventh volumes of Fornmanna sögur in 1831 and 1832. As af 2006 the saga has not been published again. The Danish scholar Jonna Louis-Jensen has done extensive work on Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. In 1968 she published a facsimile edition of Hulda and in 1977 a critical analysis of the saga. She has almost completed a new critical edition of the saga.
Kings' sagas
The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....
. Written after 1280 it relates the history of the Norwegian kings from Magnús góði, who acceded to the throne in 1035, to Magnús Erlingsson, who died in 1177.
The saga is based on Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
but supplemented by prose and poetry from a version of Morkinskinna
Morkinskinna
Morkinskinna is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275....
which is no longer extant. Hulda-Hrokkinskinna is especially valuable in places where the preserved Morkinskinna manuscript is defective. It preserves eight verses of skaldic poetry found nowhere else by the poets Arnórr Þórðarson, Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Bölverkr Arnórsson and Þórarinn stuttfeldr.
Some early commentators believed Heimskringla to be based on Hulda-Hrokkinskinna, rather than the other way around. This theory has recently been championed again with the argument that it leads to a simpler stemma for the manuscripts of the sagas.
The saga is preserved in two manuscripts. Hulda ("the hidden manuscript") or AM 66 fol. is an Icelandic manuscript from the last part of the 14th century. It consists of 142 leaves while the first six (the first quire) are lost. Hrokkinskinna ("wrinkled parchment") or GKS 1010 fol. is an Icelandic manuscript from the beginning of the fifteenth century. Its first 91 leaves contain the text of Hulda-Hrokkinskinna while its last four leaves, added in the 16th century, contain an incomplete version of Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar. The text of Hulda is better than that of Hrokkinskinna.
Hulda-Hrokkinskinna contains a number of þættir
Short tales of Icelanders
The þættir are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries....
.
- Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar
- Hrafns þáttr Guðrúnarsonar
- Hreiðars þáttrHreiðars þáttrHreiðars þáttr heimska or the Tale of Hreiðarr the Stupid is one of the short tales of Icelanders. It tells of Hreiðarr, an apparently mentally disabled Icelandic man who travels to Norway in the time of the joint rule of the kings Magnús góði and Haraldr harðráði...
- Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar
- Auðunar þáttr vestfirzkaAuðunar þáttr vestfirzkaAuðunar þáttr vestfirska is a short tale preserved in three distinct versions as part of the saga of Harald III of Norway , as the saga is told in the manuscripts Morkinskinna, Flateyjarbók, and several others...
- Brands þáttr örvaBrands þáttr örvaBrands þáttr örva is a very short þáttr which tells how king Haraldr Sigurðarson put Brandr Vermundarson's generosity to the test. It may have been written at the end of the 13th century....
- Þorsteins þáttr sögufróða
- Þorvarðar þáttr krákunefs
- Sneglu-Halla þáttr
- Odds þáttr Ófeigssonar
- Stúfs þáttr
- Gísls þáttr Illugasonar
- Ívars þáttr IngimundarsonarÍvars þáttr IngimundarsonarÍvars þáttr Ingimundarsonar is a short þáttr which emphasizes king Eysteinn's goodness.Ívarr, an Icelander, lived at the court of king Eysteinn, who liked him much. His brother Þorfinnr went to Norway too, but he was jealous of Ívarr and soon came back. Before his departure, Ívarr asked him to...
- Gull-Ásu-Þórðar þáttr
- Þinga þáttr
The text of Hulda-Hrokkinskinna was printed in the sixth and seventh volumes of Fornmanna sögur in 1831 and 1832. As af 2006 the saga has not been published again. The Danish scholar Jonna Louis-Jensen has done extensive work on Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. In 1968 she published a facsimile edition of Hulda and in 1977 a critical analysis of the saga. She has almost completed a new critical edition of the saga.
Further reading
- Louis-Jensen, Jonna (1977). Kongesagastudier: Kompilationen Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. Reitzel, Copenhagen. ISBN 87-87504-44-8