Description
Book SynopsisA late medieval Icelandic romance about the ‘maiden-king’ of France,
Nítída saga generated interest in its day and grew in popularity in post-Reformation Iceland, yet until now it has not received the comprehensive scholarly analysis that it much deserves. Analysing this saga from a variety of perspectives, this book sheds light on the manner in which
Nítída saga explores and negotiates the romance genre from an Icelandic perspective, showcasing this exciting saga’s strong female characters, worldviews, and long manuscript tradition. Beginning with
Nítída saga’s manuscript context, including its reception and transformation in early modern Iceland, this study also discusses how
Nítída saga was influenced by, and also later influenced, other Icelandic romances. Considering the text as literature, discussion of its unusual depiction of world geography, as well as the various characters and their relationships, provides insights into medieval Icelanders’ ideas about themselves and the world they lived in, including questions about Icelandic identity, gender, female solidarity, and the literary genre of romance itself. The book also includes a newly revised reading edition and translation of
Nítída saga.
Trade Review"Sheryl McDonald Werronen’s
Popular Romance in Iceland is the most detailed and thorough investigation of any Icelandic romance, and perhaps of any Icelandic saga, published to date. [...] Specialists in medieval Icelandic literature and culture will find it an extremely useful contribution to existing literature on these subjects. Hopefully, this study will inspire more scholarship about Icelandic romances, ballads (rímur), manuscripts, and literary culture; people working in these fields will have much to build on in this study." - Jóhanna Katrín Fri¿riksdóttir,
Scandinavian Studies, Volume 89, Number 3, Fall 2017
Table of ContentsIntroduction Romance Contexts Chap. 1: Manuscript Witnesses: Different Versions, Different Worldviews Chap. 2: Intertextuality: Communicating with Other Romances Chap. 3: Setting the Romance Scene: Geography and Space Romance Characters Chap. 4: The Hero's Rivals Chap. 5: Women Helping Women Chap. 6: Romance Through the Eyes of the Narrator Conclusions
