Fornalder (times past), painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo

A Legendary saga or Fornaldarsaga (literally, a tale of times past) is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the colonization of Iceland.^[1] There are some exceptions, such as Yngvars saga víðförla, which takes place in the 11th century. The sagas were probably all written in Iceland, from about the middle of the 13th century to about 1400, although it is possible that some may be of a later date,^[2] such as Hrólfs saga kraka.^[3]

Description of the sagas[link]

The setting is primarily Scandinavia, but occasionally it moves temporarily to more distant and exotic locations. There are also very often mythological elements, such as dwarves, elves, giants and magic. In centuries past, they were considered to be reliable historic sources by Scandinavian scholars,^[1] but since the 19th century, they have been considered to contain very little historic material.^{[4] [5]} The present consensus is that, although some of the sagas contain a small core which is not fiction, or are based on historical characters, the primary function of the legendary sagas was entertainment, and the aim of the sagas has not been to present a historically accurate tale.^[4] Recently, however, it has been emphasized that the sagas are useful sources for the culture of 13th and 14th century Iceland, "in terms of the light that they can shed on the culture in which they were composed"^[5] i.e. Iceland in the later Middle Ages.^[4]

Some of the sagas are based on distant historic characters, and this is evident in cases where there are corroborating sources, such as Ragnars saga loðbrókar, Yngvars saga víðförla and Völsunga saga. In the case of Hervarar saga, it conveys names of historical places in Ukraine during the period c. 150-450,^[6] and the last part of the saga is used as a historic source for Swedish history.^[7]

They often contain very old Germanic matter, such as the Hervarar saga and the Völsunga saga which contains poetry about Sigurd that did not find its way into the Poetic Edda and which would otherwise have been lost (see the Great Lacuna). Other sagas deal with heroes such as Ragnar Lodbrok, Hrólf Kraki and Orvar-Odd.^[1]

Hjorvard and Hjalmar propose to Ingeborg

The Fornaldarsagas have great value for legend research, since they contain motifs and complexes of motifs from many types of legend of which there is otherwise no documentation in Scandinavia prior to the mid-19th century. They are also of great value for scholars studying medieval Scandinavian ballads which are often based on the same matters. Moreover, they are also very important for the study of Scandinavian and Germanic heroic legends together with Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum which was based on the same heroic poetry and traditions.^[1]

Philologists have generally held the legendary sagas in less esteem, in terms of their literary value, than the Icelanders' sagas. The content is often less realistic, the characters more two-dimensional, and the sagas often borrow themes from each other, and from folk tales.^[2][4]

The legendary sagas have influenced later writers, for instance the Swede Esaias Tegnér, who wrote Frithiof's saga, based on the Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna.

List of the sagas[link]

• Áns saga bogsveigis
• Ásmundar saga kappabana - A saga based on the German Lay of Hildebrand.
• Bósa saga ok Herrauðs - like Beowulf it has Geatish heroes.
• Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana
• Eireks saga víðförla
• Frá Fornjóti ok hans ættmönnum
• Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna
• Gautreks saga
• Gríms saga loðinkinna
• Göngu-Hrólfs saga
• Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra
• Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar
• Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka - A Norwegian legend, the hero of which is compared to Hrólf Kraki.
• Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks - a saga which may be of Swedish origin containing Swedish, Geatish and Gothic heroes. This saga still serves as a source for Swedish historians.
• Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis
• Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar - A saga about a Swedish warrior princess who is won by a Geatish prince.
• Hrólfs saga kraka; A saga which is related to the Old English poem Beowulf.
• Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
• Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra A saga of the more traditional fairy tale kind, where a young man delivers a troll woman and her beautiful daughter from a curse.
• Ketils saga hœngs
• Orvar-Odd's saga (two versions)
• Ragnars saga loðbrókar (two versions) - We know that the hero of this legend has existed in real life and he conquered Paris and may be the most famous of the Vikings.
• Sturlaugs saga starfsama - A prequel to Göngu-Hrólfs Saga.
• Sögubrot af fornkonungum - A remnant of a larger work dealing with the Swedish and Danish kings of old.
• Sörla saga sterka
• Völsunga saga - The Scandinavian version of Nibelungenlied.
• Yngvars saga víðförla - A late saga of Swedish origin, which takes place in the 11th century and the historic basis of which is indisputable thanks to the fact that there are corroborating historic sources.
• Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar

Þættir (short stories)[link]

• Helga þáttr Þórissonar
• Norna-Gests þáttr
• Ragnarssona þáttr
• Sörla þáttr
• Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
• Völsa þáttr
• Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Fornaldarsögur norðurlanda: A bibliography of manuscripts, editions, translations and secondary literature compiled by M. J. Driscoll & Silvia Hufnagel, Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen
• Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda in Old Norse and modern Norwegian from heimskringla.no
• Online publication of the legendary sagas in the original language
• A presentation of the Fornaldarsögur in Old Norse with all available English translations online.