About the project
The translations of French romances into Norse narratives was studied from the point of view of Translation Studies, but also in relation to the transformation of indigenous genres supposedly from an oral tradition into literate genres.
The processes involved was studied from two perspectives:
- A philological perspective where the translated and indigenous genres are studied from the mentioned theoretical viewpoints.
- A historical perspective where the transformation of genres at the crossroad of orality and literacy is placed in a social and political context.
The synthesis build on three genre studies:
- The introduction of European culture in the form of translations of French romances
- The meeting of European elite culture and an oral popular culture in the fornaldarsögur norðrlanda
- The Europeanisation of Old Norse culture in the form of fornsögur suðrlanda
Complete project description (10 pages - PDF)
Sub-Projects
- Riddarasögur as patterns for European culture in the 13th century.
- Fornaldarsögur norðrlanda and the Verschriftlichung of oral culture in the late 13th and 14th centuries.
- Fornsögur suðrlanda – mirrors of European culture in the 15th century?
Financing
The Research Council of Norway
Duration
2007-2010.
Cooperation
Project partners and contacts
- Senior lecturer Ingvil Brügger Budal, University of Bergen
- PhD Peter Damian Grint, Oxford
- Professor Jürg Glauser, Zürich and Basel. Guest in Oslo in October 2008
- Professor Stefanie Gropper, Tübingen. Guest in Oslo in February and March 2009
- PhD Annette Lassen, Copenhagen . Guest in Oslo in August 2010
- Research Fellow Emily Lethbridge, Cambridge University. Guest in Oslo 12.–16. October 2009
- Professor Torfi Tulinius, Reykjavík . Guest in Oslo in May and June 2010
- PhD Hélène Tetrel, Brest
- Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS), Bergen
- The project "Medieval States of Welfare: Mental Wellbeing in European Culture, c. 1100-1450" at the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Tampere, Finland.
Publications
2012
Karl G. Johansson & Rune Flaten (eds.), Francia et Germania. Studies in Strengleikar and Þiðreks saga af Berns.
Stefka Georgieva Eriksen. Prose Rhythm and Rhetorics in Strengleikar – A Case Study of the Prologue and the Lai of Laustic. In: Karl G. Johansson & Rune Flaten (eds.), Francia et Germania. Studies in Strengleikar and Þiðreks saga af Berns.
Karoline Kjesrud. Volsunger i skrift og bilder. Eksempel fra Þiðreks saga. In: Karl G. Johansson & Rune Flaten (eds.), Francia et Germania. Studies in Strengleikar and Þiðreks saga af Berns. Pp. 00–00.
2010
Karl G. Johansson. Snorri, Saxo och medeltidens berättelser om kungarnas historia. In: Jon Gunnar Jørgensen et al. (eds.) Saxo og Snorre. København 2010. Pp. 131–166.
Hans Jacob Orning.The Magical Reality of the Late Middle Ages: Exploring the world of the fornaldarsögur. Scandinavian Journal of History 2010. Pp. 1–18.
2009
Bjørn Bandlien. Muslims in Karlamagnúss saga and Elíss saga ok Rósamundu. In: Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 85–91.
Stefka Georgieva Eriksen. The materiality of Medieval Texts – A comparison between Elie de Saint-Gille and two versions of Elís saga. Arkiv för nordisk filologi 124 (2009). Pp. 69–87.
Stefka Georgieva Eriksen. Reception and function of stories about the East. In: Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 242–249.
Odd Einar Haugen & Karl G. Johansson. De nordiske versjonene av Barlaam-legenden. In: Karl G. Johansson & Maria Arvidsson (eds.). Barlaam i nord. Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen. (Bibliotheca nordica, vol. 1) Oslo 2009. Pp. 11–29.
Karl G. Johansson. Den höviske Bósi. Herrauðs ok Bósa saga i genrernas gränsland. In: Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 460–468.
Karl G. Johansson & Maria Arvidsson (eds.). Barlaam i nord. Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen. (Bibliotheca nordica, vol. 1) Oslo 2009.
Karoline Kjesrud. Eksotiske vesener i islands ridderlitteratur – fremstilling og funskjon. In: Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 506–512.
Elise Kleivane. When small words make a big difference. On adaption and transmission of texts in Late Medieval manuscripts. In. Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 513–520.
Suzanne Marti. Kenn mér réttan veg til þess kastala er Artús konungr sitr í: References to Kingship in the Old French Conte du Graal and its Old Norse and Middle English Adaptions. In. Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 659–666.
Hans Jacob Orning. Imagining the Kalmar Union. Nordic politics as viewed from a late 15th-century Icelandic manuscript. In.Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 729–737.
Terje Spurkland. Fornaldarsögur and the concept of literacy. In: Ney, Agneta, Williams, Henrik & Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik (eds.), á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August 2009. Gävle 2009. Pp. 884–890.
Maria Bratlie. Tekstuelle referanser i norrøn litteratur. Metode og referanseanalyse med utgangspunkt i Hauksbók. Unpubl. master thesis in Old Norse philology. Department for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo.
2008
Karl G. Johansson. Delen och helheten i medeltidens handskriftskultur – Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs och Hauksbók. In: Auður Magnúsdóttir et al. (eds.), "Vi ska alla vara välkomna!" Nordiska studier tillägnade Kristinn Jóhannesson. (Meijerbergs arkiv för svensk ordforskning 35) Göteborg 2008. Pp. 117–136.
2007
Stefka Georgieva Eriksen. Popular Culture and Royal Propaganda in Norway and Iceland in the 13th Century. Collegium Medievale, vol. 20. 2007. Pp. 99–135.
Karl G. Johansson. Review of: Daniel Sävborg. Sagan om kärleken. Erotik, känslor och berättarkonst i norrön litteratur 950–1350. Uppsala 2007. Samlaren 2008. Pp. 395–401.
Aleksandra Mazurek. Translation, Transmission and Transformation. Old Norse Romantic Fiction and Scandinavian Vernacular Literacy 1200–1500. A Bibliography. Department of Linguistic and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo 2007.
2006
Stefka Georgieva Eriksen. Marriage in the sagas of chivalry. In: Steinsland, Gro (ed.), Transformasjoner i vikingtid og norrøn middelalder. (Møteplass Middelalder – Medieval Crossroads 1) Oslo 2006. Pp. 219–238.