,,Ei skal haltr ganga"

Um Gunnlaugs sögu ormstungu

Abstract

This article begins by discussing the general problem of the generic classification of Islendingasögur and other medieval literature. The work of H. R. JauB is examined briefly and, within an Icelandic context, reference is made to Björn M. Ólsen's view that Gunnlaugs saga should be regarded as an Icelandic lai in saga style („íslenskur strengleikur í sögustíl"). Gunnlaugs saga survives in two medieval versions in the manuscripts Sth perg 18 4to and AM 557 4to and they were probably originally written for Borgarfjörður audiences. In seeking to identify the overall meaning of the saga the article examines four of its episodes which can help us to understand the work better. The influence of chivalric sagas on character description and the presentation of the hólmgöngur is discussed. In particular, the article suggests that chivalric morality (curilitas, urbanitas) fínds expression in thirteenth-century Islendingasögur and that as a protagonist Gunnlaugr Wormtongue breaks all the normal rules of thirteenth- and fourteenthcentury Icelandic pseudo-chivalric society. The article's conclusion is that from the outset Gunnlaugs saga was thought of as a cautionary tale for chieftains' sons, and that we may regard the saga as the first Icelandic children's book, written long before such works began to appear in European literature.