Description
Written in the thirteenth century, the Icelandic prose sagas, chronicling the lives of kings and commoners, give a dramatic account of the first century after the settlement of Iceland--the period from about 930 to 1050. To some extent these elaborate tales are written versions of traditional sagas passed down by word of mouth. How did they become the long and polished literary works that are still read today?
The evolution of the written sagas is commonly regarded as an anomalous phenomenon, distinct from contemporary developments in European literature. In this groundbreaking study, Carol J. Clover challenges this view and relates the rise of imaginative prose in Iceland directly to the rise of imaginative prose on the Continent. Analyzing the narrative structure and composition of the sagas and comparing them with other medieval works, Clover shows that the Icelandic authors, using Continental models, owe the prose form of their writings, as well as some basic narrative strategies, to Latin historiography and to French romance.
Author: Carol J. Clover
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 08/15/2019
Pages: 222
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.51d
ISBN13: 9781501740503
ISBN10: 1501740504
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | European | German
- Literary Criticism | Medieval
- Literary Criticism | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
About the Author
Carol J. Clover is Professor Emerita of the Class of 1936 in the Departments of Scandinavian and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of The Medieval Saga and Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.