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University of Bonn specialist in Scandinavian Studies Valerie Broustin examined the Icelandic cycle of legendary sagas known as the Hrafnistumannasögur in a case study. Her findings could lead to a paradigm shift in researching this literary genre. The results have now been published in a book.
The Icelandic legendary sagas are lavish works of popular fiction from the late Middle Ages, which have now been shown by academics to be the inspiration for modern fantasy texts. The allure of these stories full of heroic Vikings, powerful sorcerers, mysterious dwarfs, and scary trolls among students and researchers of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Bonn continues unabated. The recent publication by Valerie Broustin, a research assistant in the Scandinavian Studies department, is a good example of this. Broustin has so far been involved in editing four volumes of “Sagas aus der Vorzeit” (legendary sagas), or “Märchensagas” (“fairytale” sagas). Her master’s thesis on another specific group of sagas has now been published as a book: “Vikings, Half-Trolls and Saga-Authors. The Norwegian Hrafnistumenn and their Icelandic Descendants.” The case study looks at four sagas that come together to form a collection known as the Hrafnistumannasögur.
Genealogies are a main area of research for Broustin. During the University of Bonn’s major translation project within Scandinavian Studies on the Icelandic legendary sagas, her main focus also lay on the often extensive family histories and family trees. It thus seemed natural for the Scandinavian Studies specialist to take a closer look at the Hrafnistumannasögur collection. “After all, this is a group of four texts focusing on a single family,” says Broustin. The story of this originally Norwegian family—the Hrafnistumenn come from the island of Hrafnista (present-day Ramsta in Norway)—and their Icelandic descendants is told over four generations.
So, it’s a kind of family history of the Nordic “Buddenbrooks” in the late Middle Ages? Not quite. The crucial difference is that these sagas are not about the decline of a family, but instead their rise from simple farmers to a powerful dynasty. “This is a first,” explains Broustin. Instead of divine and royal descendants, which is often the case in sagas, peasants become heroes here.
The ancestry of trolls is explicitly mentioned in the sagas by referring to the term “half-troll.” It is also noteworthy that, in three of the four stories, the protagonist is explicitly described as: “He was not a handsome man.” This is in complete contrast to the usual descriptions of saga heroes. As Broustin explains, the heroes of these sagas often have to first overcome personal character flaws. “At first, they are lazy and unmotivated and have to be told by their fathers that they’re good for nothing.” Only then do they undergo development and accept and fulfill their predetermined role. The classic hero’s journey takes its course here as an Icelandic legendary saga.
Map of literary activities in Iceland
To shed more light on the darkness surrounding the authorship of these texts, Broustin created a map of literary activities. The descendants of the protagonists can thus be linked to known families and places in Iceland. A second map illustrates the areas where there is evidence of activities by the North Icelandic Benedictine School, a fourteenth-century Icelandic literary movement. Geographical and chronological classifications of the sagas are just as important for providing clues to their possible authors as analyses of the history of the material and motifs and stylistic examinations. “You have to bring quite a number of puzzle pieces together to make an overall picture,” explains Broustin. Owing to their many thematic overlaps, it is difficult to clearly categorize the sagas, making this an ongoing topic in the department.
In her master’s thesis on the Hrafnistumannasögur, Broustin has taken fundamental questions as a guide: To which families did the authors belong? Were they members of an educated elite? Where did they live? With whom did they work? Where did they receive their education? Which texts might they have written themselves or commissioned? Given the abundance of information available, however, it is not—yet—possible to identify individual authors. Perhaps, then, the concept of authorship, as we know it from later periods of literary history, did not play such an important role in this literary genre. “The context in which the respective sagas exist may be much more interesting for research than the individual authors,” explains Broustin. The relationships that can already be found between the many collections of manuscripts based on knowledge available today could offer a great deal of material for further examinations.
“Student power” in the translation project
Broustin’s book is primarily aimed at the academic world, but should particularly offer important support and working materials for students of Scandinavian Studies in their first semesters. Broustin smiles as she describes their academic tenacity in translating the Icelandic sagas as ‘outstanding’: “The student power in creating the translations continues and supports the project.” The students from the Scandinavian Studies department plan to present their translation work to the public at the upcoming Dies Academicus on Wednesday, December 4, from 12:15 p.m. in the Festsaal.
Valerie Broustin
University of Bonn
Institute of German Language and Literature, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature
Tel. +49 (0)228 /7382063
E-mail: broustin@uni-bonn.de
Publication: Valerie Broustin: Vikings, Half-Trolls and Saga-Autors - The Norwegian Hrafnistumenn and their Icelandic Descendants, volume 30 from the series “Studia Medievalia Septentrionalia” edited by Rudolf Simek, Verlag Fassbaender Vienna, 132 pages, 24 euros
Valerie Broustin from the Department of Scandinavian Language and Literature at the University of Bo ...
Photo: Bernadett Yehdou/Uni Bonn
Valerie Broustin from the Department of Scandinavian Language and Literature at the University of Bo ...
Photo: Bernadett Yehdou/Uni Bonn
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