Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/65

Rh The production of sagas thus extends through two centuries, and it hardly needs to be stated that with the progress of time there took place corresponding changes in the style of the saga and in the manner of utilizing the materials. For no matter how deeply the verbal tradition might have impressed itself on the popular memory, the written form could not help gradually improving with the growing experience and continued practice in writing. And so we find when we compare one of the oldest documents with a saga from the golden period of Icelandic literature, that there has been great progress made in the use of the language and in the grouping and arrangement of the materials. The literature begins with annals or chronicles similar to the contemporary historical records of other countries, but it does not take long before it has developed sufficient skill to produce genuine works of art. Certain peculiarities were, however, preserved through all the periods of the development of the saga, excepting, of course, the mythic-heroic stories and the mediæval romances, where the saga spirit is almost wholly wanting. Among these peculiarities are the following: a vividness and directness in the telling although the events described generally belong to a distant past; a perfectly objective and unimpassioned manner, leaving the author, who as a rule is not even mentioned, wholly in the background, and letting the events speak for themselves; a minute presentation of chronological and genealogical data, a matter of great moment to the Icelanders, who were well informed in regard to the blood ties existing between the various families; and finally a frequent quotation of authorities and of all other evidences that might tend to strengthen the trustworthiness of the narrative.

We just mentioned the father of Icelandic history, Are Thorgilsson, like Sæmund surnamed froði, on account of his great learning. The Younger Edda indicates him as the person, who with Thorodd Runemaster, adapted the Roman (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet to the wants and comprehension of