What do they talk about “in fair words” in Old Norse-Icelandic literature?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2024-10-2-234-255Keywords:
paroemia, formula, eloquence, Old Norse-Icelandic sagas, Hávamál, Bjarnar saga hítdælakappaAbstract
The paper analyses the use of the paroemia at mæla fagrt ok hyggja flátt (to speak fairly and to think falsely) in the Old Norse-Icelandic literary corpus, focusing both on the paroemia and its derivative — the representation of the characters’ eloquence by the formula that they are speaking in “fair words” (mæla með fögrum orðum). At the heart of the research lies the obscure use of the paroemia in one of the sagas of Icelanders, Bjarnar saga hítdælakappa, where the paroemia’s function is difficult to interpret if it is read only against the general context of the saga. While often in the Old Norse-Icelandic corpus the paroemia is followed by deceit and the immediate death of the character who has been spoken to fairly, in Bjarnar saga the paroemia leads only to an unsuccessfull winter stay at the main antagonist’s farmhouse. Our commentary to this part draws upon the analysis of the use of the paroemia and its variants in the wider corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic texts. This approach allows one not only to look at the case of non-standard paroemical usage in sagas and discover several narrative strategies connected to this particular paroemia in the Old Norse-Icelandic literature but also to start a discussion about the attitude towards eloquence in Medieval Iceland.Downloads
References
Глебова 2024 — Глебова Д. С. «At mæla fagrt ok hyggja flátt»: к рецепции эддической образности в сагах об исландцах (случай Bjarnar saga hítdælakappa) // Индоевропейское языкознание и классическая филология. 2024. № 4. (В печати).
Гуревич 1978 — Гуревич Е. А. Структура и функции описания внешности героев исландских саг // Вестник Московского университета. Сер. 9: Филология. 1978. № 6. С. 57–63.
Гуревич 2018 — Гуревич Е. А. «Нож и ремень»: об одном неисследованном общем месте в древнеисландской прозе // Древнейшие государства Восточной Европы. 2016 год: Памяти Галины Васильевны Глазыриной / Отв. ред. тома Т. В. Гимон и др. М.: Ун-т Дмитрия Пожарского, 2018. С. 82–96.
Литвина, Успенский 2018 — Литвина А. Ф., Успенский Ф. Б. Похвала щедрости, чаша из черепа, золотая луда... Контуры русско-варяжского культурного взаимодействия. М.: Изд. дом Высш. шк. экономики, 2018.
Пермяков 1988 — Пермяков Г. Л. Основы структурной паремиологии. М.: Наука; Гл. ред. вост. лит., 1988.
Allen 1971 — Allen R. F. Fire and iron: Critical approaches to Njáls saga. Pittsburgh: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1971.
Andersson 1967 — Andersson T. M. The Icelandic family saga: An analytic reading. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1967.
de Looze 1986 — de Looze L. Poet, poem, and poetic process in “Bjarnarsaga Hítdœlakappa and Gunnlaugssaga Ormstungu” // The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. Vol. 85. No. 4. 1986. P. 479–493.
Finlay 1990–1993 — Finlay A. Nið, adultry and feud in Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa // Saga-Book. No. 23. 1990–1993. P. 158–178.
Foley 1991 — Foley J. M. Immanent art: From structure to meaning in traditional oral epic. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1991.
Harris 2022 — Harris R. Wisdom of the North: Proverbial allusion and patterning in the Icelandic saga. New York: Cornell Univ. Library, 2022. (Islandica; 64).
Heinemann 1990–1993 — Heinemann F. Intertextuality in Bjarnar saga hítdælakappa // Saga-Book. No. 23. 1990–1993. P. 419–432.
Knirk 1981 — Knirk J. E. Oratory in the Kings’ sagas. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1981.
Lie 1937 — Lie H. Studier i Heimskringlas stil: dialogene og talene. Oslo: Jacob Dybwad, 1937.
Lönnroth 1970 — Rhetorical persuasion in the sagas // Scandinavian Studies. Vol. 42. No. 2. 1970. P. 157–189.
Lönnroth 1976 — Lönnroth L. Njáls saga: A critical introduction. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1976.
McDougall 1983 — McDougall D. Studies in the prose style of the Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian homily books: PhD diss. / Univ. College London. London, 1983.
McKinnell 2007 — McKinnell J. The making of “Hávamál” // Viking and Medieval Scandinavia. No. 3. 2007. P. 75–115. doi: 10.1484/J.VMS.2.302720.
Miller 1990 — Miller W. I. Bloodtaking and peacemaking: Feud, law and society in Saga Iceland. Chicago; London: The Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990.
Norrick 2015 — Norrick N. Subject area, terminology, proverb definitions, proverb features // Introduction to paremiology: A comprehensive guide to proverb studies / Ed. by H. Hrisztova-Gotthardt, M. Aleksa Varga. Warsaw: De Gruyter Open, 2015. P. 7–27.
Sävborg 2007 — Sävborg D. Sagan om kärleken: Erotik, känslor och berättarkonst i norrön litteratur, 950–1350. Uppsala: Uppsala Univ., 2007.
Sävborg 2018 — Sävborg D. The formula in Icelandic saga prose // Saga-Book. No. 42. 2018. P. 51–86.
Sävborg, Thorvaldsen 2023 — Sävborg D., Thorvaldsen B. Ø. Formulas in oral poetry and prose: An introduction // New light on formulas in oral poetry and prose / Ed. by D. Sävborg, B. Ø. Thorvaldsen. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023. P. 1–16. (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy; Vol. 57).
Turco 2016 — Turco J. Nets and snares: The Loki of Snorri’s Edda and the Christian tradition // History of Religions. Vol. 56. No. 2. 2016. P. 198–231. doi: 10.1086/688214.
