Anonymous, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka

Þórdís Edda Jóhannesdóttir (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

First circulation or publication c. 1500

Places

Iceland (Primary Activity)

Genres and Modes

Prose Fiction Narrative

Resources

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Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka

is one of the Icelandic legendary sagas [

fornaldarsögur

]. It is somewhat disjointed in structure and composition, containing short episodes mainly joined together by genealogy. Furthermore, it contains over seventy stanzas dispersed throughout the saga, including three lengthy poems. The saga is preserved in circa forty manuscripts but only one is medieval, GKS 2845 4to from the fifteenth century. All other manuscripts are younger paper manuscripts that can be traced back to GKS 2845 4to (Seelow, 1981). Despite the young age of the manuscript, the saga’s origins are undoubtedly much older. The eponymous hero, King Hálfr, is mentioned in various sources outside the saga, even though he is nowhere introduced or discussed thoroughly (Mitchell, 2012). The…

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1406 words

Citation: Jóhannesdóttir, Þórdís Edda. "Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40732, accessed 27 July 2024.]

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