Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/496

ICELANDIC LITERATURE It is characterized by a vivid slyle. and so strongly does it appeal to the Itt-lundir eonsfiuiisncss that it is still the most [Kipular liiMik after the Hible in Iceland. A new translation into UanoNor- wefrinn has iM-en made (llHIOl by lished with a subvention by the Norwefrian Parliament. The best edition in the orifrinal is that edited by K. J.'msson ( 18!i:il!l01 ). A con- tinuation of ' the llriiiiskriiiiila was composed by several authors. It has twice been translat- ed into Kn^'lish. by David I.ainK (London, 1844 and 188!l). and by W. Morris and K. Mag- nrtsson (London, IS!l.')). Other histories belong- ing to a later period are h'liiteyarbdk, contain- ing a rather confused selection of sagas, the Fwrcijinga/iafia, which tells of the introduction of Christianity into the Faroe Islands (translat- ed by K. York I'owell, 18!)G), and the Orhncy- ingasiiga. relating the history of the earls of the Orkneys. The parts of the Flalci/arMh relating to the' discovcn* of .merica have been edited by A. Jl. Reeves in The Finding of M'ineland the Hood (London, 181I0). The compilation of the laws of the island attracted the attention of the Icelanders at an early period, and in 1118 a complete code, known as the (IrAgus (gray goose), which had been derived from the ancient Norse law. was submitted to the Althing, or papular assembly, and in 1 123 the canons of the Church, or the krislinrcltr. were settled and reduced to writing. -V collection of these enactments in the ancient and sul.scqucnt codes has been made by Stepliensen and Sigurdsson (Copenhagen, I8,i:M, under the title of Lagasafn handa Is- landice.

Of hardly inferior interest to the Edda and the Heimskringla are the sapis (q.v.). This term in its broadest sense includes all Icelandic prose works of a narrative character. Thus, strictly speaking. Ari's works cited above are .aagas.as is also the Heimnkringla. But as gen- erally used the term saga is applied to shorter narratives, the interest of which centres in one person. The scene of the saga may be laid either wholly or in part in Iceland, or occasionally al- together outside of Iceland. .Sagas are divided into several classes, the first of which is the mythic-heroic. The representatives of this class often give a later version of some well-knowTi storj' which appears in other literatures. This is liotalily tlie case with the most interesting representative, the ViilKiinga Kagn. earlier traces of which ap|M'ar in the Kddas, and a later version in the Xihrlnniiinlicd (q.v.). It has been trans- lated by V. Morris and E. Magndsson (London. 1870). " The Vilkina Snga. treating of Dietrich of Bern, is later, and shows German influence. The Fridthinfs Sagn is of special interest as being the earliest version of the story made famous by the Swedish poet Tegni'r (q.v.). A number of legendary stories were translated into Icelandic prose, the most important of which is the Saga nf Hiirlrtiim and Jnniijthnt (q.v.). The second .and most characteristic class of sagas are the family sagas, accounts of inilividual men and their families. These biographies, as they would now be called, deal with the earliest settlers of the island, and extend to about lO.lO. They are marked by great simplicity of style, with frequent highlv dramatic passages, extreme detail, espe- ciallv in connection with genealogies and chro- nologies, and keen characterization. .A striking feature of all the sagas is the introduction of verses supposed to be the work of the characters. This is particularly noticeable in the hurniaks Hugo, which contains an average of over one ]>oem to each page. The family sagas are subdivided into two classes, the larger sagas and the smaller sagas. To the first belong the Xjah, the Fgils, the Laxdirla, and the Ktjrhyggja. Of these, the first has been admirably translated by G. Webbe Dasent (2 vols., Ediiiburgh. 18CI (", and the last was translated in a oundcnsed form by Sir Walter .Scott. The F.gils Saga has been edited with a German introduction and notes by I'innur ■Tonsson (Halle, 18!)4), and in the same scries the Laxdirla Saga has api)eared. edited by Kr. Kaalund (1896). Among the smaller sagas, the most interesting are the Kurniaka Saga and the Saga of Oiinnlaug 8eri>cnt Tongue, both of which are love tales. Apart from their litcrarj- quali- ties, the Icelandic sagas arc of great value in throwing light upon many Old Norse customs — religious, legal, and social — that would other- wise be entirely unknown. This is especially true of the Fgrbyggja. For the English reader, the introduction to Dascnt's translation of the Kgils Saga is of interest in connection with the general subject of sagas.

Modern Icelandic literature begins with the introduction of printing ( l.^.'JO) by the last Ro- man Catholic Bishop of Iceland. The first Ice- landic translation of the New Testjimcnt was made in 1540. During the seventeenth century many learned works were written, the leader in this movement being Amgrim Jonsson (1508- 1648). JIany manuscripts were collected and copied, and communication between Icelandic and Danish and Swedish scholars was close. Grammars and dictionaries were compiled, and many antiquarian works were published. Among the principal scholars of this period were Thor- mod Torfa>us (1636-1710) and .mi Magnfisson (q.v.). During this same period, and without intcrniplion down to the present day. Iceland has produced a surprisingly large nnmlx-r of poets — the largest number, indeed, in proportion to the population, of any country in Europe.. Among these poets may be mentioned llallgrimur Pje- tursson (1614-74). the leading Icelandic psalm- writer: Stefan Olafsson (1620-88) ; Eggert Olafs- son (1726-67 I : and .Jon Thnrlaksson (17441810). The latter made an excellent translati.in of Para- dise Lost and Klopstock's .Utssias. Among nine- tecnth-centurv poets may be noted Bjiirna Thora- rcnson (1786-1841), who is probably the most popular recent Icelandic poet ; J6nas Ilallgrims- son (1807-45), who introduced several foreign verse forms, notably the hexameter. Of the younger poets we may mention Ge.stur Pfilsson '(18.52-91); Slatthias Jochumsson ( IS.IS — ). one of the most productive Icelandic poets and au- thor of one of the few successful dramas; Tlior- steinn Eriingsson (1858 — ): and llanncs Ilaf- .steinn (1861 — ). The principal Icelandic novels are .T6n Thordarson's Pi/(ur ok Stulka (The Bov and the Girl) and ilathur ok Kona (Man and Wife).

Bibliography. The standard history of Old Norse literature is Finnur Jflnsson's Den Old- nnrske og Oldislanske I.itteraturs Historic (3 vols., Co^nhaeen, 1803-1000). The only treat- ment of the whole subject in English is Winkel Horn. History of the Literature of the (feandi- naiian Xorth. translated by Anderson (Chicago, 1884). This contains a useful bibliography. The 