Anonymous, Ívens saga [Saga of Iven]

Sif Ríkharðsdóttir (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. 1350

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Prose Fiction Narrative

Resources

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Ívens saga

, also sometimes spelled

Ívents saga

, is an Old Norse translation of Chrétien de Troyes’

Yvain ou le Chevalier au lion

[Yvain, the Knight of the Lion]. It is generally assumed that the Old French romance was translated into Old Norse in the mid-thirteenth century at the court of King Hákon Hákonarson, who reigned in Norway from 1217 to 1263. The Old French source text is believed to have been composed in the late twelfth century and is considered to exemplify the epitome of the French courtly literary production. It draws on Celtic narrative materials for its content and was tremendously popular in the Middle Ages, with translations appearing in multiple European vernaculars from roughly 1200 onward and into the subsequent centuries. The Old Norse text belongs to what…

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1654 words

Citation: Ríkharðsdóttir, Sif. "Ívens saga". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 January 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40934, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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