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Glossary made by Peter Foote. Introduction and Notes englished by Peter Foote and Sue Margeson.
"Bandamanna saga" (hereafter B) belongs to the type of sagas known as Sagas of Icelanders (or Family Sagas). The main characters in these sagas are mostly Icelanders and the events they describe are mostly set in Iceland during the period from the settlement (A.D. 870-930) to the early eleventh century {c. 1030) when the Viking Age had ended and Christianity was firmly established in both Norway and Iceland. But B is distinctive among Sagas of Icelanders in that almost all its action belongs to a time subsequent to this period. From what is otherwise known about some of the people involved in the story we must imagine that the chief events take place in the 1050s. And while the action in Sagas of Icelanders normally covers a relatively long period, often several generations or at least the life-span of one main character, the central action in B (disregarding Oddr Ofeigsson's youth) takes only a little over four years...
The aim of the present edition is to introduce "Bandamanna saga" to students in a text as close as possible to what the author wrote... The text has generally been normalised in accordance with the practice of the editors of "Islenzk fornrit". This normalisation reflects the state of the Icelandic language in the first half of the thirteenth century.
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VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH AND DREYERS FORLAG OSLO NORDISK FILOLOGI
B A N D A M A N N A SAGA edited by Hallvard Mager0y
B A N D A M A N N A SAGA edited by
HALLVARD MAGER0Y
Glossary made by Peter Foote Introduction and Notes englished by Peter Foote and Sue Margeson
VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
LONDON
DREYERS FORLAG OSLO
©
Copyright 1981 VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
RESEARCH
DREYERS FORLAG I/S U N D E R V I S N I N G S L I T T E R A T U R Arbiensgt. 7, Oslo 2
Typeset in Malta by Interprint Litnited ISBN 0-903521-15-6 ISBN 82-09-031341
(English Language market) (Scandinavian market)
Printed and bound in Malta 1981 by Interprint Limited on H a m a n g slightly yellowish 120 g/m^ offset paper
PREFACE
It is a pleasure to me to express my gratitude to the people who have helped towards the publication of this edition. Professor Peter Foote and Dr Sue Margeson translated and undertook some abridgement of my introduction and notes. Professor Foote also made several helpful suggestions about interpretation and composed the glossary, incorporating in it many of the linguistic comments originally included in my general notes. Professor Jonas Kristjansson, Director of Stofnun Arna Magnussonar a Islandi, read the Norwegian text and made valuable comments on a number of points. Miss Maureen Thomas read a draft of the glossary and Mr Anthony Faulkes improved the presentation in various ways. The edition could not have been undertaken without financial support from the University of Oslo, whose research fund has met the expenses of translation, thanks not least to the good offices of my colleague. Professor Eyvind Fjeld Halvorsen. Finally, I acknowledge my obligation to the Council of the Viking Society for Northern Research, London, and the Directors of Dreyers Forlag, Oslo, under whose joint imprint the book is now published. HALLVARD MAGER0Y
CONTENTS Abbreviations
x
Introduction
xv
Bandamanna saga
i
General notes
37
Glossary
68
Index of names in the saga text Maps (A. Iceland; B. The land round Hunafloi and HunaIJ9rSr; C. E>ingv9llr)
104 at end
ABBREVIATIONS
AJVF B B 1976
Baetke i960
Blondal de Vries
F