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{{short description|Genre of Norse saga}}
[[File:Fornalder, peter nicolai arbo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|'''''Fornalder''''' ("times past"); painting by [[Peter Nicolai Arbo]]]]
A '''legendary saga''' or '''''fornaldarsaga''''' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a [[Norse saga]] that, unlike the [[Icelanders' sagas]], takes place before the colonization[[settlement of [[Iceland]].<ref name="national">The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]'' (1991)</ref> There are some exceptions, such as ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'', which takes place in the 11th century. The sagas were probably all written in Iceland, from about the middle of the 13th century to about 1400, although it is possible that some may be of a later date,<ref name="kulturhistorisk">[[Einar Ól. Sveinsson]], "Fornaldarsögur", in ''Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingtid til reformasjonstid, bd. 4'' (Copenhagen, 1959)</ref> such as ''[[Hrólfs saga kraka]]''.<ref>[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13133 The Literary Encyclopedia]</ref>
 
==Description of the sagas==
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:The themes, characters and the whole world of the ''fornaldarsaga'' lend themselves to interpretation, not as realistic narratives, but rather as subjects dealing with deep and disturbing issues that cannot be approached from the perspective of the mundane world but must rather be enacted in a literary world in which often taboo subjects can be raised and aired, though not necessarily resolved. They may also be treated in a comic or parodic vein.<ref>Margaret Clunies Ross, ''The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic Saga'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 80.</ref>
 
Some of the sagas are based on distant historic characters, and this is evident in cases where there are corroborating sources, such as ''[[Ragnar Lodbrok|Ragnars saga loðbrókar]]'', ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'' and ''[[Volsunga saga|Völsunga saga]]''. In the case of ''[[Hervarar saga]]'', it conveys names of historical places in present [[Ukraine]] during the period c. 150-450,<ref>[[Omeljan Pritsak|Pritsak, Omeljan]]. (1981). ''The origin of Rus<nowiki>'</nowiki>''. Cambridge, Mass.Massachusetts: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. {{ISBN|0-674-64465-4}} p. 214</ref> and the last part of the saga is used as a historic source for Swedish history.<ref>e.g. in the article ''Blot-Sven'' in ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]'' (1990), Larsson, Mats G (2002). ''Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande''. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB {{ISBN|978-91-7486-641-4}} pp. 154, 158, 160 and Lagerquist, Lars O. (1997). ''Sveriges Regenter, från forntid till nutid''. Norstedts, Stockholm. {{ISBN|91-1-963882-5}} pp. 26, 42, 44, 45</ref> Indeed, they often contain very old Germanic matter, such as the ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' and the ''[[Völsunga saga]]'' which contains poetry about [[Sigurd]] that did not find its way into the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' and which would otherwise have been lost (see the [[Great Lacuna]]). Other sagas deal with heroes such as [[Ragnar Lodbrok]], [[Hrólf Kraki]] and [[Orvar-Odd]].<ref name="national"/> In these respects, then, the ''fornaldarsögur'' overlap in genre and occasionally content with the [[Kings' sagas]].
[[File:Hjalmar friar till Ingeborg by Hugo Hamilton.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Hjorvard and Hjalmar propose to Ingeborg]]
The Fornaldarsagas have great value for legend research, since they contain [[motif (literature)|motifs]] and complexes of motifs from many types of legend of which there is otherwise no documentation in Scandinavia prior to the mid-19th century. They are also of great value for scholars studying medieval Scandinavian ballads, particularly the Faroese [[kvæði]], which are often based on the same matters. Moreover, they are also very important for the study of Scandinavian and Germanic heroic legends together with [[Saxo Grammaticus]]' ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' which was based on the same heroic poetry and traditions.<ref name="national"/>
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[[Philology|Philologists]] have generally held the legendary sagas in less esteem, in terms of their literary value, than the Icelanders' sagas. The content is often less realistic, the characters more two-dimensional, and the sagas often borrow themes from each other, and from folk tales.<ref name="kulturhistorisk"/><ref name="handbok"/> In these aspects of style and reception, the ''fornaldarsögur'' tend to overlap with the [[Chivalric sagas]], particularly those composed in medieval Iceland.
 
The legendary sagas have influenced later writers, for instance the Swede [[Esaias Tegnér]], who wrote ''Frithiof's saga'', based on the ''[[Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna]]''. One such saga was even forged in the early modern period: ''[[Hjalmars och Hramers saga]]''.<ref>Gödel, Vilhelm, “Hjalmars och Hramers saga. Ett literärt falsarium från 1690”, Svenska fornminnesföreningens tidskrift 9(2) (1896): 137–54.</ref>
 
==List of the sagas==
For a comprehensive list of the medieval ''fornaldarsögur'', with information about manuscripts, bibliography, etc., see ''[http://fasnl.net/ Stories for all time: The Icelandic fornaldarsögur]''.
 
*''[[Áns saga bogsveigis]]''
*''[[Ásmundar saga kappabana]]'' - A saga based on the [[German language|German]] ''[[Lay of Hildebrand]]''.
*''[[Bósa saga ok Herrauðs]]'' - like ''[[Beowulf]]'' it has [[Geatish]] heroes.
*''{{Lang|is|[[Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana]]''}}
*''[[Eireks saga víðförla]]''
*''[[Frá Fornjóti ok hans ættmönnum]]''
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*''[[Hrólfs saga kraka]]''; A saga which is related to the Old English poem Beowulf.
*''[[Hrómundar saga Gripssonar]]''
*''*[[Huldar saga]]'', a lost saga, and also one of the names of a post-medieval ''fornaldarsaga''.
*''[[Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra]]'' A saga of the more traditional [[fairy tale]] kind, where a young man delivers a troll woman and her beautiful daughter from a curse.
*''[[Ketils saga hœngs]]''
* *''Ormars saga Fraðmarssonar'', thought to have existed as the source of ''[[Ormars rímur]]''.
*''[[OrvarÖrvar-OddOddr|Örvar-Odds]]'s saga'' (two versions)
*''[[Ragnar Lodbrok|Ragnars saga loðbrókar]]'' (two versions) - Sagas of [[Ragnar Lodbrok]] a legendary Viking warrior and his sons.
*''[[Sturlaugs saga starfsama]]'' - A prequel to Göngu-Hrólfs Saga.
*''[[Sögubrot|Sögubrot af fornkonungum]]'' - A remnant of a larger work dealing with the Swedish and Danish kings of old.
*''[[Sörla saga sterka]]''
*''[[Völsunga saga]]'' - The Scandinavian version of ''{{Lang|de|[[Nibelungenlied]]''}}.
*''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'' - A late saga of Swedish origin, which takes place in the 11th century and the historic basis of which is indisputable thanks to the fact that there are corroborating historic sources.
*''[[Þjalar-Jóns saga]]''
*''[[Ynglinga saga]]'' - A saga that deals with the founding of the Yngling dynasty by Freyr and its story.
*''[[Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar]]''
 
==Þættir (short stories)==
*''[[Helga þáttr Þórissonar]]''
*''[[Norna-GestsJökuls þáttr Búasonar]]''
*'{{Lang|is|[[Norna-Gests þáttr]]}}
*''[[Ragnarssona þáttr]]''
*''[[Sörla þáttr]]''
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==Notes==
{{reflist}}
 
==Translations==
*{{cite book|last=Waggoner|first=Ben|title=Sagas of Giants and Heroes|year=2010|publisher=Troth Publications|location=New Haven, CT|isbn=978-0578059334}} (Tale of Jokul Buason, pp. 53-64)
 
==External links==
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[[Category:Legendary sagas| ]]
[[Category:ScandinavianHistory historyof Scandinavia]]
 
{{Legendary sagas}}
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