The quests in the Fornaldarsqgur Nqrdurlanda: a study of their themes, composition and development with reference to their sources and analogues and their influence on later works

Abstract

This dissertation examines the Quest theme in the Fornaldarsbgur Nordurlanda, with the intention of determining the diverse origins of the subject-matter, the manner of its combination and development, the influence on it of foreign literature and the methods of literary composition employed by the authors. The genre is first defined in the light of its contents, and with reference to its place in Icelandic literature. The quests, which fall into five distinctive major groups, are then discussed with their analogues in order to distinguish the different strands of which each type is composed, and, where possible, between Nordic mythological and heroic tales; Celtic tales; and folktales; and to determine how each type of quest has developed. Quests for wives appear to be derived mainly from foreign Romance, except for two that contain a theme of enchantment and have their closest analogues in Celtic tales. Quests which involve the obtaining of an object connected with a temple, and quests to the Otherworld are the most complex types, and are derived from more than one source that can be traced in mythology, historical fact, older traditions preserved in the literature and in individual French Romances. Quests to Grave-Mounds are the simplest quests and are derived from the most purely traditional material. In each case the individual quests are also taken separately in order to isolate any particular influences on them. Finally, the structurally most complex quest sagas are examined individually as literary works. The Fornaldarsbgur emerge as distinctively Icelandic works, that were based on highly developed oral tales probably composed of single episodes. They were composed primarily to entertain, but a few are also didactic. They were much influenced by Romance adventure-tale, but not by Romance ideas. They were rarely emulated later, but never lost their popularity.

Date of Award	Jan 1982
Original language	English
Supervisor	Philip Tilling (Supervisor)