The Arthur of the North: The Arthurian Legend in the Norse and Rus' Realms (University of Wales Press - Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages)

The Arthur legends and literature are generally associated with England and France, where they grew up and reached their full flowering. But as early as the thirteenth century, they had also reached Scandinavia and begun influencing poetry and ballads there. The Arthur of the North explores the circumstances of the transmission of Arthurian literature to the Nordic region, with a particular focus on Belarus. The Arthur Of The North Is The First Book-length Study Of The Arthurian Literature That Was Translated From French And Latin Into Old Norse-icelandic In The Thirteenth Century, Which Has Been Preserved Mostly In Icelandic Manuscripts, And Which In Early Modern Times Inspired The Composition Of Narrative Poems And Chapbooks In Denmark, Iceland, And Norway, Chiefly Of The Tristan Legend. The Importation Of Arthurian Literature In The North, Primarily French Romances And Lais, Is Indebted Largely To The Efforts Of King Hákon Hákonarson (r. 1217–63) Of Norway, Who Commissioned The Translation Of Thomas De Bretagne’s Tristan In 1226 And Subsequently Several Arthurian Romances By Chrétien De Troyes And A Number Of Breton Lais. The Translations Are Unique In That The French Metrical Narratives Were Rendered In Prose, The Traditional Form Of Narrative In The North. Only One Work Was Translated Into Verse In Norway, Namely Chrétien De Troyes’s Yvain, Which Was Commissioned By Queen Eufemia (d. 1312), The German Wife Of The Norwegian King Hákon Magnússon (r. 1299–1319), And Which Is The Only Arthurian Romance In Old Swedish. The Earliest Arthurian Texts To Have Been Translated Antedate King Hákon’s Program Of Translation, However. The Prophetiae Merlini In Geoffrey Of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae Were Rendered By The Icelandic Monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson In Merlínússpá, Around The Year 1200. Presumably At The Same Time, Or A Little Later, Geoffrey’s Historia Was Also Translated In Iceland And Entitled Breta Sögur. The Book Concludes With A Chapter On Arthurian Literature In The Rus’ Area, Precisely East Slavic, With A Focus On The Belarusian Trysčan. In The Arthur of the North , Marianne E. Kalinke offers the first book-length study of the Arthurian literature translated from French and Latin into Old Norse-Icelandic in the thirteenth century. Preserved mostly in Icelandic manuscripts, in early modern times these Scandinavian Arthurian legends inspired the composition of narrative poems and chapbooks in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, chiefly of the Tristan legend. The importation of Arthurian literature in the North, primarily French romances and lais, is indebted largely to the efforts of King Hkon Hkonarson (r. 121763) of Norway, who commissioned the translation of Thomas de Bretagnes Tristan in 1226, and subsequently several Arthurian romances by Chrtien de Troyes and a number of Breton lais. Kalinke shows the transmission of foreign courtly literature in the non-courtly culture of Iceland, and the changes taken on in narrative and style as the tales made their way north. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 The Introduction of the Arthurian Legend in Scandinavia......Page 16 Sources, Translations, Redactions, Manuscript Transmission......Page 33 Breta sögur and Merlínússpá......Page 59 The Tristan Legend......Page 72 The Translated Lais......Page 88 The Old Norse-Icelandic Transmission of Chrétien de Troyes’s Romances:Ívens saga, Erex saga, Parcevals saga with Valvens þáttr......Page 109 The Old Swedish Hærra Ivan Leons riddare......Page 134 Arthurian Echoes in Indigenous Icelandic Sagas......Page 156 Arthurian Ballads, rímur, Chapbooks and Folktales......Page 179 Arthurian Literature in East Slavic......Page 207 General Bibliography......Page 220 Index of Manuscripts......Page 224 General Index......Page 226 The book introduces the reader to the stories about King Arthur and his knights and the lovers Tristan and Isolt that flourished in the Scandinavian countries-in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden-in the Middle Ages and in early modern times. The versions of the Arthurian legend that were popular in the North were translations of mostly French literature. Although they were similar to their sources in many respects, the stories nonetheless underwent change in order to appeal to a culturally quite different audience in the North. This book deals with the introduction of romance to Scandinavia in the thirteenth century and the cultural and literary context of the translations of Latin and French Arthurian literature, including the Tristan legend (with a chapter on the Byelorussian Tristan).