''Fagrskinna'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th to 12th centuries, as well as skaldic verse.

Description

''Fagrskinna'' is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, ''Fagrskinna'' meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. ''Fagrskinna'' proper was destroyed by fire, but copies of it and another

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

have been preserved. An immediate source for the ''

'' of Snorri Sturluson, ''Fagrskinna'' is a central text in the genre of kings' sagas. It contains a vernacular history of Norway from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, from the career of

Halfdan the Black Halfdan the Black (Old Norse: ''Halfdanr Svarti''; fl. c. 9th century) was a king of Vestfold. He belonged to the House of Yngling and was the father of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a unified Norway. In sagas According to ''Heimskringla'' ...

to the Battle of Re in 1177, and includes extensive citation of skaldic verses, some of them preserved nowhere else. It has a heavy emphasis on battles, such as the

Battle of Hjörungavágr The Battle of Hjörungavágr (Norwegian: ''Slaget ved Hjørungavåg'') is a semi-legendary naval battle that took place in the late 10th century between the Jarls of Lade and a Danish invasion fleet led by the fabled Jomsvikings. This battle playe ...

and the

Battle of Svolder The Battle of Svolder (''Svold'' or ''Swold'') was a large naval battle during the Viking age, fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between Olaf Tryggvason, King Olaf of Norway and an alliance of the Kings of Denmark and Swe ...

. The book is often thought to have been written in Norway, either by an Icelander or a Norwegian. Apart from making use of skaldic poetry and oral tradition, the author drew extensively on written texts of the kings' sagas. The following sources have been proposed as having been the most decisive: # a lost work by the Icelandic priest Sæmundr fróði Sigfússon (1056-1133) # a lost version of ''Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum'' (''c''. 1190) # a lost synoptic work about the earliest Norwegian kings (''c''. 1200–1220) # a lost version of the ''

Jómsvíkinga saga The ''Jómsvíkinga saga'' ("''Saga of the Jomsvikings''") is a medieval Icelandic saga composed by an anonymous author. The saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other. There ...

'' (''c''. 1200) # ''Hlaðajarla saga'' (''c''. 1200) # '' Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' from a version by Oddr Snorrason (''c''. 1190) # a lost version of ''

Óláfs saga helga ''Óláfs saga helga'' or the ''Saga of St. Olaf'', written in several versions, is one of kings' sagas (''konunga sǫgur'') on the subject of King Olaf Haraldsson the Saint. List of saga versions *''Oldest Saga of St. Olaf'', ca. 1190, mostly ...

'' # ''Knúts saga ríka'' (after 1200) # ''

Morkinskinna ''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275. The name ''Morkinskinn ...

'' (''c''. 1220) # the lost ''

Hryggjarstykki ''Hryggjarstykki'' ( ; ) is a lost kings' saga written in Old Norse in the mid-twelfth century and dealing with near-contemporary events. The author was Eiríkr Oddsson, an Icelander about whom little is known. The work is cited by Snorri Sturluson ...

'' (''c''. 1150)

Editions and translations

* * * * , based primarily on Einarsson's 1984 edition

References

Sources

* * * * * *{{citation, author-link = Carl L. Thunberg, last = Thunberg , first = Carl L. , title=Särkland och dess källmaterial , publisher=Göteborgs universitet CLTS , year=2011 , isbn=978-91-981859-3-5 , pages=59–67 1220s books Icelandic manuscripts Kings' sagas