Morkinskinna

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1025- c.1157

Places

Norway (Location; Involved)

Genres and Modes

Prose Fiction Narrative

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Morkinskinna

is one of the largest Icelandic king’s sagas, narrating the history of Norway from c. 1035 to c. 1157. It is the oldest of three large kings’ sagas composed in the 1220s that combine biographies of several kings, a large number of skaldic verse and an intricate structure with a large cast of characters. Uniquely among the three,

Morkinskinna

focuses on particular on Icelanders as the subjects of the kings of Norway, with several short anecdotes (often called

þættir

) that illustrate the pitfalls and advantages of the relations between kings and their subjects.

Morkinskinna was long among the most underestimated of kings’ sagas, regarded as a mere repository of older and more significant texts. The name derives from its oldest manuscript (from c. 1280) which in the 17th

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

906 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Morkinskinna". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 September 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19643, accessed 24 April 2024.]

Save this article