‘Bookprose theory’. According to the first theory, the sagas were essentially oral texts
transmitted from generation to generation before they were finally recorded in writing.
According to the second theory, the saga texts were essentially created by writers in the
Middle Ages, although partly on the basis of oral sources. Today most scholars agree that
neither the first nor the second theory is completely valid, because the relationship
between oral tradition and literary authorship varies considerably, not only between
different saga genres but also between individual sagas or even chapters within the same
saga text.
In the case of fornaldarsögur, the main source of the earliest written texts obviously
consists of very ancient poetry in Eddic metre, often about famous Germanic heroes
from the migration period such as Sigurd the Volsung, Attila the Hun or Theoderic
the Great. Some of the oldest poems of the Edda, transmitted in oral tradition since
the early Viking Age, are in fact extensively quoted and often provide the core of the
narrative in such fornaldarsögur as Völsunga saga, Hervarar saga and Hrólfs saga kraka.
The prose of these sagas, however, especially in the later texts, is often influenced
by written prose literature, especially courtly romances translated from French into
Old Norse.
Konungasögur, on the other hand, are partly based on skaldic poetry composed in
honour of the king about whom the saga is told. These poems, which have also in some
cases been preserved in the oral tradition since the Viking Age, are often quoted in the
text. In addition to skaldic poetry, the writers of konungasögur must have had access to
numerous anecdotes and prose tales circulating within the court or hirð about the king’s
battles, his relationship to various famous people in his environment. Finally, the com-
position and style of some sagas of kings – for example Ólafs saga helga and Sverris saga –
are to some extent based on foreign (primarily Latin) literary models such as saints’ lives
or secular biographies of princes.
Íslendingasögur, finally, are sometimes also based on skaldic poetry, especially sagas
about the lives of prominent viking skalds such as Egill Skallagrímsson or Hallfreðr
Vandræðaskáld. In addition, they often seem to be based on genealogical lore about the
early settlers of Iceland plus oral traditions about famous legal cases involving feuds
between local chieftains or other prominent members of the community. Some of these
sagas give the impression of being very faithful to the oral traditions of a particular
region or family, while others, such as Njáls saga, are highly literary compositions by
sophisticated authors who are at least partly influenced by the style, narrative technique
and vocabulary of foreign literature.
A few Icelandic texts contain information about sagnaskemtan, ‘saga entertainment’,
where sagas were told and later read aloud, for example at feasts or public meetings.
From these sources we may possibly draw some conclusions about the oral performance
of sagas before they were committed to vellum or parchment by literate authors in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. One of the most interesting accounts, included in an
early collection of kings’ sagas (Morkinskinna), concerns a young Icelander who is said to
have visited the court of King Harald Harðráði in Norway around 1050. The king asks
him if he has some kind of learning or talent, and he answers that he knows sagas. He is
then asked to entertain the court with these sagas, and he does so regularly for some time
during the winter months. When Christmas comes around, the Icelander has only one
saga left but that is the one he does not dare to tell, since it describes King Harald’s
youthful adventures as a Varangian guard in Constantinople. Encouraged by the king,
–– Lars Lönnroth––