Anonymous, Möttuls saga [The saga of the cloak]

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

First circulation or publication c. 1200 - c. 1300

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Prose Fiction Narrative

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Möttuls saga is a Norse version of the French comedy

Le Mantel mautaillié

, likely composed just before the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth. It is a type of chastity trial story. The Norse version of the cloak saga (named Mǫttuls saga or Mǫttuls þáttr in manuscripts) can be traced back to the thirteenth century. The foreword of the Norse composition appears to be the work of a translator. After King Arthur has been described at length, it is related how King Hákon Hákonarson commissioned the translation. In spite of the literary topos in this text, there is no reason to doubt the request of the king. This is the basis for the dating of the translation to the early thirteenth century. Hákon Hákonarson ruled in Norway from 1217 until 1263 and it is…

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.

1349 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Möttuls saga". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 March 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41001, accessed 04 May 2024.]

Save this article