Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum
Encyclopedia
Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum or Ágrip is a synoptic history of the kings
of Norway, written in Old Norse
. The preserved text starts with the death of Hálfdan svarti and ends with the accession of Ingi krókhryggr but the original is thought to have covered a longer period, probably up to the reign of Sverrir. The work was composed by an unknown Norwegian writer around 1190. The only surviving manuscript is Icelandic from the first half of the 13th century. The preserved parchment
book consists of four quires, a fifth quire has been lost. The first leaf is also missing, therefore the original title of the book, if it had any, is unknown. The name Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum ("A Synopsis of the Sagas of the Kings of Norway") was first used in an edition in 1835.
Ágrip is often compared with the two other Norwegian synoptic histories from the same period, Historia Norvegiae and the work of Theodoricus monachus. It broke ground by being the first one written in the vernacular. Ágrip is also the first of the kings' sagas to quote skaldic poetry in the text. The narrative is brief, and much less detailed than the narratives of the later kings' sagas, such as Fagrskinna
and Heimskringla
. The story is noticeably more detailed in descriptions of events and locations in the Trøndelag
region and the city of Nidaros
. Together with linguistic factors, this has been seen as an indication that the work was composed in Nidaros.
Ágrip has been translated to Danish
(1834), Latin (1835), German
(1929), Norwegian (nynorsk)
(1936) and English
(1995).
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....
of Norway, written in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
. The preserved text starts with the death of Hálfdan svarti and ends with the accession of Ingi krókhryggr but the original is thought to have covered a longer period, probably up to the reign of Sverrir. The work was composed by an unknown Norwegian writer around 1190. The only surviving manuscript is Icelandic from the first half of the 13th century. The preserved parchment
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
book consists of four quires, a fifth quire has been lost. The first leaf is also missing, therefore the original title of the book, if it had any, is unknown. The name Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum ("A Synopsis of the Sagas of the Kings of Norway") was first used in an edition in 1835.
Ágrip is often compared with the two other Norwegian synoptic histories from the same period, Historia Norvegiae and the work of Theodoricus monachus. It broke ground by being the first one written in the vernacular. Ágrip is also the first of the kings' sagas to quote skaldic poetry in the text. The narrative is brief, and much less detailed than the narratives of the later kings' sagas, such as Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed by fire, but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved...
and 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...
. The story is noticeably more detailed in descriptions of events and locations in the Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
region and the city of Nidaros
Nidaros
Nidaros or Niðarós was during the Middle Ages, the old name of Trondheim, Norway . Until the Reformation, Nidaros remained the centre of the spiritual life of the country...
. Together with linguistic factors, this has been seen as an indication that the work was composed in Nidaros.
Ágrip has been translated to Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
(1834), Latin (1835), German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(1929), Norwegian (nynorsk)
Nynorsk
Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...
(1936) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
(1995).
External links
- Stutt ágrip af Noregs konúnga sögum Old Norse text
- Stutt ágrip af Noregs konúnga sögum Same text on a different website
- AM 325 II 4to Information on the manuscript