Fóstbrœðra saga
Encyclopedia
Fóstbrœðra saga or The Saga of the Sworn Brothers is one of the Icelanders' sagas
. It relates the deeds of the sworn brothers Þorgeirr and Þormóðr in early 11th century Iceland
and abroad.
Þorgeirr is a capable and insanely brave warrior. He kills people for trifles and for sport.
Þormóðr is a more complicated character; warrior, trouble-maker, womanizer and poet. The saga contains poetry attributed to him, including parts of a lay on his blood brother.
The saga is preserved in several different versions and a long-standing controversy centered on which manuscripts represented the most original version. In particular the debate focused on several unusual "clauses" in the saga which do not fit in with the conventional saga style.
The composition of Fóstbrœðra saga is probably to be dated to ca. 1200 (according to Sigurður Nordal in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxxii).
The skaldic stanzas attributed to Þormóðr kolbrúnarskáld Bersason appear genuine (according to Guðni Jónsson in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxi); he would have composed ca. 1010-1030 (according to Guðni Jónsson in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxix).
Icelanders' sagas
The Sagas of Icelanders —many of which are also known as family sagas—are prose histories mostly describing events that took place in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature.The Icelanders'...
. It relates the deeds of the sworn brothers Þorgeirr and Þormóðr in early 11th century Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and abroad.
Þorgeirr is a capable and insanely brave warrior. He kills people for trifles and for sport.
Þormóðr is a more complicated character; warrior, trouble-maker, womanizer and poet. The saga contains poetry attributed to him, including parts of a lay on his blood brother.
The saga is preserved in several different versions and a long-standing controversy centered on which manuscripts represented the most original version. In particular the debate focused on several unusual "clauses" in the saga which do not fit in with the conventional saga style.
The composition of Fóstbrœðra saga is probably to be dated to ca. 1200 (according to Sigurður Nordal in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxxii).
The skaldic stanzas attributed to Þormóðr kolbrúnarskáld Bersason appear genuine (according to Guðni Jónsson in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxi); he would have composed ca. 1010-1030 (according to Guðni Jónsson in Björn K. Þorólfsson and Guðni Jónsson 1943: lxix).