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Merlínússpá
''Merlínússpá'' (Prophecy of Merlin) is an Old Norse-Icelandic verse translation of '' Prophetiae Merlini'' in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia regum Britanniae''. It is notable for being the only translation of a foreign prose text into poetry in Old Norse-Icelandic literature and for being the earliest Arthurian text to have been translated in medieval Scandinavia. ''Merlínússpá'' is preserved in two consecutive parts preserved in the ''Hauksbók'' (AM 544 4to) version of '' Breta sögur''. In both ''Hauksbók'' and the version of ''Breta sögur'' preserved in the manuscript AM 573 4to, the poems are attributed to Gunnlaugr Leifsson. The poem is omitted in AM 573 4to, with the scribe noting that "many people know that poem". Gunnlaugr Leifsson wrote ''Merlínússpá'' around 1200. It is a close translation of the ''Prophetiae Merlini'' but also includes material from the ''Historia regum Britanniae.'' ''Merlínússpá'' is written in ''fornyrðislag'' verse form, which is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breta Sögur
''Breta sögur'' (Sagas of the Britons) is an Old Norse-Icelandic rendering of Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia regum Britanniae'' with some additional material from other sources. ''Breta sögur'' begins with a summary of the story of Aeneas and Turnus, derived from the Aeneid. Along with ''Rómverja saga'', ''Veraldar saga'' and ''Trójumanna saga'', it represents the earliest phase of translation of secular works into Old Norse-Icelandic. Versions and manuscripts ''Breta sögur'' survives in two recensions: a longer but poorly preserved version in AM 573 4to and a shorter, abridged version in ''Hauksbók'' (AM 544 4to). Both recensions of ''Breta sögur'' are based on an earlier translation. Because of the poor preservation of these texts and the absence of the original Latin exemplar, it is hard to trace the development of the ''Breta sögur'' from Latin to Old Norse-Icelandic. Because the author of ''Skjöldunga saga'' was familiar with the ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prophetiae Merlini
The ''Prophetiæ Merlini'' is a Latin work of Geoffrey of Monmouth circulated, perhaps as a ''libellus'' or short work, from about 1130, and by 1135. Another name is ''Libellus Merlini''. The work contains a number of prophecies attributed to Merlin, the wizard of legend, whose mythical life is often regarded as created by Geoffrey himself, although Geoffrey claims to have based the figure on older Brittonic traditions, some of which may have been oral but now are lost. The ''Prophetiae'' preceded Geoffrey's larger '' Historia Regum Britanniæ'' of c. 1136, and was mostly incorporated in it, in Book VII; the prophecies, however, were influential and widely circulated in their own right. According to Geoffrey, he was prompted by Alexander of Lincoln to produce this section of his larger work separately. Background The ''Prophetiæ'' is in some ways dependent on the '' De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniæ'' of Gildas. From Gildas and Nennius Geoffrey took the figure of Ambrosius ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hauksbók
Hauksbók (; 'Book of Haukr'), Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar AM 371 4to, AM 544 4to and AM 675 4to, is an Icelandic manuscript, now in three parts but originally one, dating from the 14th century. It was created by the Icelander Haukr Erlendsson. It is now fragmentary, with significant portions being lost, but is the first surviving witness to many of the texts it contains (although in most cases Haukr is known to have been copying from earlier, lost manuscripts). Among these are the section on mathematics called '' Algorismus'' and the text of '' Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks''. Composition Hauksbók is associated with an Icelandic lawspeaker named Haukr Erlendsson: although the work of several scribes, the vast majority is in Haukr's hand. Palaeographical evidence allowed Professor Stefán Karlsson, director of the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, to date the manuscript to between 1302 and 1310. As long back as it is possible to trace the manuscript it h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunnlaugr Leifsson
Gunnlaugr Leifsson (died 1218 or 1219) was an Icelandic scholar, author and poet. He was a Benedictine monk at the Þingeyraklaustur monastery (Icelandic ''Þingeyrarklaustur'') in the north of Iceland. Many sources (including ''Þorvalds þáttur víðförla'') refer to him simply as ''Gunnlaugr munkr'' or Gunnlaugr the Monk. Biography Little is known about Gunnlaugr's family or life, but a miracle in ''Jóns saga helga hin elsta'' describes how Gunnlaugr the Monk's "disciple and relative" Leifr recovers from a dangerous illness after drinking holy water touched by the relics of Bishop Jón Ögmundarson of Hólar. The miracle is dated to the episcopy of Guðmundur Arason of Hólar (between 1203 and 1237). Gunnlaugr composed a Latin biography of King Óláfr Tryggvason (see '' Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar''). This work is now lost but it is believed to have been an expansion of the Latin '' Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' written by his monastic brother, Oddr Snorrason. Snorri Stur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their Viking expansion, overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 7th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid-to-late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse, ''Old West Norse'' or ''Old West Nordic'' (often referred to as ''Old Norse''), Old East Norse, ''Old East Norse'' or ''Old East Nordic'', and ''Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle ''The History of the Kings of Britain'' ( la, De gestis Britonum or ') which was widely popular in its day, being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It was given historical credence well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Biography Geoffrey was born between about 1090 and 1100, in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He had reached the age of majority by 1129 when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. Geoffrey refers to himself in his ''Historia'' as ''Galfridus Monemutensis'' (Geoffrey of Monmouth), which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, and may refer to his birthplace. His works atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons over the course of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain. Although taken as historical well into the 16th century, it is now considered to have no value as history. When events described, such as Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's account can be seen to be wildly inaccurate. It remains, however, a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story of King Lear and his three daughters, and helped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matter Of Britain
The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Western Literary cycle, story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France, which concerned the legends of Charlemagne, and the Matter of Rome, which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology. History The three "Matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel, whose epic ' ("Song of the Saxons") contains the line: The name distinguishes and relates the Matter of Britain from the mythological themes taken from classical antiquity, the "Matter of Rome", and the tales of the Paladins of Charlemagne and their wars with the Moors and Saracens, which constituted the "Matter of France". King Arthur is the chief subject of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alliterative Verse
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of the Germanic languages, where scholars use the term 'alliterative poetry' rather broadly to indicate a tradition which not only shares alliteration as its primary ornament but also certain metrical characteristics. The Old English epic ''Beowulf'', as well as most other Old English poetry, the Old High German ''Muspilli'', the Old Saxon ''Heliand'', the Old Norse ''Poetic Edda'', and many Middle English poems such as ''Piers Plowman'', ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', and the '' Alliterative Morte Arthur'' all use alliterative verse. While alliteration can be found in many poetic traditions, it is 'relatively infrequent' as a structured characteristic of poetic form.Frog, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end and subsequent rebirth, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the ''Prose Edda''. Preservation ''Völuspá'' is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript (ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's ''Hauksbók'' Codex (ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in the Prose Edda (composed ca. 1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1300). The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The Codex Regius version is usually tak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völuspá Hin Skamma
''Völuspá hin skamma'' (Old Norse: 'The Short Völuspá) is an Old Norse poem which survives as a handful of stanzas in ''Hyndluljóð'', in the ''Poetic Edda'', and as one stanza in the ''Gylfaginning'' section of Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda''. The name of the poem is only known due to Snorri's citation of it in ''Gylfaginning'' (chapter 5): The additional stanzas that remain appear in ''Hyndluljóð''. In his translation of ''Hyndluljóð'', Henry Adams Bellows comments that the preserved fragment of ''Völuspá hin skamma'' shows that it was a "late and very inferior imitation of the great Voluspo", and he dates it to the twelfth century. He further suggests that its appearance in ''Hyndluljóð'' is due to the blunder of a copyist who confused the two poems, and he does not consider them to be of any great value either as poetry or as mythology. References Bibliography * Further reading Hyndluljoth Translation and commentary by Henry Adams BellowsVöluspá in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthurian Literature In Old Norse
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a leader of the post-Roman Britons in battles against Saxon invaders of Britain in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He appears in two early medieval historical sources, the ''Annales Cambriae'' and the ''Historia Brittonum'', but these date to 300 years after he is supposed to have lived, and most historians who study the period do not consider him a historical figure.Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", ''review'' of , ''London Review of Books'', 40:24:23 (20 December 2018) His name also occurs in early Welsh poetic sources such as ''Y Gododdin''. The character developed through Welsh mythology, appearing either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
