''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'' is one of the

kings' sagas Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were compo ...

. Written after 1280 it relates the history of the

Norwegian kings The list of Norwegian monarchs ( no, kongerekken or ''kongerekka'') begins in 872: the traditional dating of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, after which victorious King Harald Fairhair merged several petty kingdoms into that of his father. Named after ...

from Magnús góði, who acceded to the throne in 1035, to Magnús Erlingsson, who died in 1177. The saga is based on

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

's ''

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, derived ...

'' but supplemented by prose and poetry from a version of ''

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 ''Morkinskinna' ...

'' which is no longer extant. Thunberg, Carl L. (2011). ''Särkland och dess källmaterial''. Göteborgs universitet. CLTS. pp. 59-67. . ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'' is especially valuable in places where the preserved ''Morkinskinna'' manuscript is defective. It preserves eight verses of

skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

found nowhere else by the poets Arnórr Þórðarson,

Þjóðólfr Arnórsson Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; Modern Norwegian: ) was an 11th-century Icelandic people, Icelandic skáld, who spent his career as a court poet to the Monarchy of Norway, Norwegian kings Magnus the Good and Harald Hardr ...

, Bölverkr Arnórsson and Þórarinn stuttfeldr. The saga is preserved in two manuscripts. ''Hulda'' ("the hidden manuscript") or ''AM 66 fol.'' is an Icelandic manuscript from the last part of the 14th century. It consists of 142 leaves while the first six (the first quire) are lost. ''Hrokkinskinna'' ("wrinkled parchment") or ''GKS 1010 fol.'' is an Icelandic manuscript from the beginning of the fifteenth century. Its first 91 leaves contain the text of ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'' while its last four leaves, added in the 16th century, contain an incomplete version of '' Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar''. The text of ''Hulda'' is better than that of ''Hrokkinskinna''. ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'' contains a number of '' þættir''. *'' Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar'' *'' Hrafns þáttr Guðrúnarsonar'' *''

Hreiðars þáttr ''Hreiðars þáttr heimska'' or the ''Tale of Hreiðarr the Stupid'' is one of the short tales of Icelanders. It tells of Hreiðarr, an apparently mentally disabled Icelandic man who travels to Norway in the time of the joint rule of the kings Mag ...

'' *'' Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar'' *'' Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka'' *''

Brands þáttr örva ''Brands þáttr örva'' (''The Tale of Brand the Generous'') is a very short ''þáttr'' which tells how king Haraldr Sigurðarson put Brandr Vermundarson's generosity to the test. It may have been written at the end of the 13th century. Brandr, ...

'' *'' Þorsteins þáttr sögufróða'' *'' Þorvarðar þáttr krákunefs'' *'' Sneglu-Halla þáttr'' *'' Odds þáttr Ófeigssonar'' *'' Stúfs þáttr'' *'' Gísls þáttr Illugasonar'' *''

Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar ''Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar'' (''The Tale of Ívarr Son of Ingimundr'') is a short ''þáttr'' which emphasizes king Eysteinn Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. Th ...

'' *'' Gull-Ásu-Þórðar þáttr'' *'' Þinga þáttr'' The text of ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'' was printed in the sixth and seventh volumes of ''Fornmanna sögur'' in 1831 and 1832. As of 2006 the saga has not been published again. The Danish scholar Jonna Louis-Jensen has done extensive work on ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna''. In 1968 she published a facsimile edition of ''Hulda'' and in 1977 a critical analysis of the saga. She has almost completed a new critical edition of the saga.

References

* Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade (editors and translators) (2000).
Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157)
'.

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...

. * Berger, Alan J. (2002). "''Heimskringla'' is an abbreviation of ''Hulda-Hrokkinskinna''" in ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi'' 2001:65-9. ISSN 0066-7668 * Thunberg, Carl L. (2011). ''Särkland och dess källmaterial'' 'Serkland and its Source Material'' Göteborgs universitet. CLTS. .
Fornmanna sögur VI

Fornmanna sögur VII

Hulda-Hrokkinskinna

Hulda

Hrokkinskinna

Jonna Louis-Jensen

References

References

Further reading