- Gunnlaugs saga
"Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu" or the "Saga of Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue" ["Gunnlaugr" is sometimes Anglicized as "Gunnlaug". The cognomen can also be translated as "Worm-Tongue" or "Snake-Tongue".] is one of the
Icelanders' sagas . Composed at the end of the 13th century it is preserved complete in a slightly younger manuscript. It contains 25 verses ofskaldic poetry attributed to the main characters. It is an important work in both Norwegian and Icelandic literary history.The saga relates the story of two Icelandic poets
Gunnlaugr ormstunga andHrafn Önundarson , and their competition for the love of Helga the Fair, granddaughter ofEgill Skallagrímsson . The story opens with a prophetic dream of two eaglesfighting over a swan, prefiguring thelove triangle in the story. The narrative then follows Gunnlaugr and is sympathetic towards him as it describes his ambitious career as a court poet across Scandinavia and the British Isles. He first competes with Hrafn in verse and later in battle.The saga has similarities to earlier sagas of poets, such as "
Kormáks saga " and "Bjarnar saga ", but it is more refined and elegant with strong characterization and emotional impact. Long considered a masterpiece, the saga is often read by beginning students of Old Norse literature. [Poole 2001:2.] Printed with a Latin translation and commentary already in 1775, it was the first of the Icelanders' sagas to be published in a scholarly edition. [Hansen 2005:62.]Notes
References
* Hansen, Anne Mette et al. (2005). "The Book As Artefact : Text And Border". Rodopi. ISBN 90-420-1888-7
* Poole, Russell (2001). "Skaldsagas: Text, Vocation, and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets". Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016970-3
* "The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue" translated by Katrina C. Attwood in "The Sagas of Icelanders" edited by Örnólfur Thorsson (2001), pp. 558-94. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-100003-1External links
* [http://www.sagadb.org/gunnlaugs_saga_ormstungu Full text and translations into many languages at the Icelandic Saga Database]
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/love/00101.php The Story of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald] Translated byEiríkr Magnússon andWilliam Morris
* [http://www.snerpa.is/net/isl/gunnl.htm Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu] Text with modern Icelandic spelling
* [http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/gunnl.html Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu] Index of poetry from the saga
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100015&Page=29&language=english Gunnlaugssaga] An Old Norse edition
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100013&Page=11&language=english La Saga de Gunnlaug Langue de Serpent] A French translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=101002&Page=8&language=english Sagan om Gunnlög Ormtunga och Skald-Ram] A Swedish translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100261&Page=13&language=english Die Saga von Gunnlaug Schlangenzunge] A German translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100260&Page=27&language=english Die Geschichte von Gunnlaug Schlangenzunge] Another German translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100253&Page=49&language=english Sagan af Gunnlaugi Ormstungu ok Skalld-Rafni] The 1775 Latin translation with parallel Old Norse text
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100012&Page=10&language=english Søgan um Gunnleyg Ormstungu] A Faroese translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100017&Page=9&language=english Sagaen om Gunnlaug Ormstunge og Skalde-Ravn] A Norwegian translation
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100323&Page=10&language=english Sagaen om Gunløg Ormstunge og Helga den Fagre] An illustrated Danish retelling
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