Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns (also known as Hermanns saga ok Jarlmanns) is a medieval Icelandic romance saga. The saga contains the first written evidence for the Icelandic circle dance form known as hringbrot,[1] which is also the first Icelandic attestation of elves dancing.[2]

Synopsis

Kalinke and Mitchell summarise the saga thus:

The foster-brothers Hermann (son of the king of Frakkland) and Jarlmann (son of an earl) are of an age and have been educated together. Hermann sends Jarlmann to Miklagarðr to sue for the hand of Ríkilát. She has previously rejected many suitors, but Jarlmann wins her for Hermann by means of a magic ring. She cannot return with Jarlmann, however, until the armed forces of another suitor have been repelled. When the wedding finally takes place, Ríkilát is mysteriously abducted and imprisoned by the old king Rudent of Serkland who plans to marry her. Jarlmann feigns love for Þorbjörg, a giantess who guards Ríkilát, and a double wedding ceremony (Rudent-Ríkilát, Jarlmann-Þorbjörg) ensues. Hermann kills the old king and regains his abducted bride, while Jarlmann kills the giantess in the bridal bed. The foster-brothers and Ríkilát return to Frakkland for a second double wedding ceremony. Jarlmann marries the king's sister Herborg and receives half of the kingdom.[3]

The saga survives in two main versions from the Middle Ages, one more learned in tone (traditionally referred to as the older version) and one more orientated to telling a lively narrative (traditionally referred to as the younger version). Recent scholarship, however, reads the two versions as both deriving from and making changes to an earlier original version.[4]:19–22

Influences

Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns is viewed as a specific and intentional response to Konráðs saga, to which its shorter version contains an explicit reference: it deals, of course, with the hero's relationship with a faithful, though unjustly suspected, companion'.[5][4]:18 'The author of Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns was acquainted not only with indigenous Icelandic romances, such as Konráðs saga, but also with the Old Norse translation Tristrams saga ok Isondar, from which the proxy wooing, the bride as leech, and the problem of the proxy wooer as lover presumably derive. The hall-of-statues episode in Tristrams saga seems to have been the inspiration for the scene in which Jarlmann draws a picture of Hermann for Ríkilát to obtain her consent to the marriage'.[6]

Manuscripts

The saga is attested in more manuscripts than almost any other Icelandic saga, around 70;[7] the only competitor is Mágus saga jarls.[8] There are two main early versions: a generally longer, more highbrow and probably earlier version, first attested in Eggertsbók (AM 556a-b 4to, from the later fifteenth century), and a generally shorter, more dynamic, probably younger version.[9] Recent research suggests, however, that these two versions are probably independent adaptations of a lost common original, rather than the shorter version being adapted from the longer.[10] Most manuscripts are held in Iceland and elsewhere in Europe, though a few, such as Fiske Icelandic Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York: Ic F75 A125, 8° are in North America.

The following list of manuscripts is based on the survey by Kalinke and Mitchell,[3] on Handrit.is, and on the Stories for All Time survey of fornaldarsaga manuscripts. Links to online catalogue entries are provided where available.

Location Classmark Date Catalogue Entry URL Notes
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute AM 167, fol. ca. 1660 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM02-0167
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute AM 510, 4to late 15th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0510
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute AM 529, 4to 16th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0529 defective
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute AM 556b, 4to 15th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0556b
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute AM 576b, 4to ca. 1700 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0576b résumé
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute Rask 35 18th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/Rask035
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute Rask 77 18th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/Rask077
Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute Rask 95 early 19th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/Rask095
Copenhagen, Royal Library NKS 1144, fol. 18th century résumé
Copenhagen, Royal Library NKS 1156, fol late 18th century
Copenhagen, Royal Library NKS 1685b, I, 4to 19th century résumé
Copenhagen, Royal Library NKS 3051, 4to ca. 1800
Copenhagen, Royal Library NKS 445, 8vo 1869
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 325, fol. ca. 1660-80 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs02-0325
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 151, 4to ca. 1780 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0151
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 354, 4to 18th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0354
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 360, 4to 18th-19th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0360
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 840, 4to 1737 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0840
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 988, 4to 1851-75
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1341, 4to ca. 1820
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1509, 4to 1880-1905 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-1509
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1629, 4to 18th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-1629
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1635, 4to ca. 1860 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-1635
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1637, 4to ca. 1780
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1785, 4to 1833
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1942, 4to 1872
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 2114, 4to 18th-19th century
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 2115, 4to 18th-19th century
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 3022, 4to 1876-77
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 3122, 4to 19th century
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 3128, 4to 1885 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-3128
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4484, 4to
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4492, 4to 1892
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4493, 4to 1902-3 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-4493
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1446, 8vo 1864-71 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-1446
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1687, 8vo ca. 1850 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-1687
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 1993, 8vo ca. 1826-35 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-1993
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 2233, 8vo 18th-19th century defective
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 2497, 8vo ca. 1902
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 2975, 8vo 19th century
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 3933, 8vo 1851
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 3940, 8vo 1887
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4009, 8vo 1896
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4069, 8vo 1879
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 4729 8vo 1903 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-4729
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 5175 4to 1899-1903 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-5175
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland Lbs 5186 4to 1899-1903 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-5186
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland JS 623, 4to 17th-19th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/JS04-0623
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland JS 634, 4to 17th-19th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/JS04-0634
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland JS 635, 4to 17th-19th century https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/JS04-0635
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 151, 4to
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 206, 4to ca. 1830 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0206
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 271, 4to ca. 1800 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0271
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 423, 4to ca. 1750 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0423
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 426, 4to 1877 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0426
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 185, 8vo ca. 1770
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 224, 8vo ca. 1750 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB08-0224
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍB 260, 8vo ca. 1824-27 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB08-0260
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍBR 59, 4to 1798
Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland ÍBR 43, 8to 1851
Reykjavík, National Museum of Iceland Ásbúðarsafn: "Fornar riddera og æfintýra sögur skrifaðar af Þorsteini M. Jónssyni" 1902
Jón Ófeigsson, Hafarnes, Hornafjörður MS II 1901
Böðvar Kvaran, Tjaldanes MS III 4.b 1912
Bragi Húnfjörður, Stykkishólmur MS 1, 8vo
Bergen, University of Bergen UBB MS. 1491 ca. 1700
Oslo, University of Oslo Library UB 1158, 8vo late 19th - early 20th century
Lund, University Library LUB 14, 4to mid-18th century
Stockholm, National Archives I Papp. 11 18th century
Stockholm, Royal Library Papp. fol nr 56 ca. 1685
Stockholm, Royal Library Papp. 8vo nr 4 1668
Stockholm, Royal Library Engeström B: III. 1, 21 ca. 1820
Ithaca, New York, Cornell University,

Fiske Icelandic Collection

Ic F75 A125, 8vo 18th century https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3039305
Baltimore, Md, Johns Hopkins University,

Nikulas Ottenson Collection

MS. Nr. 9 1847-48
Winnipeg, Elizabeth Dafoe Library ISDA JB6 1 1825-1851 FASNL
Reykjavík, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies SÁM 15 1825 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/SAM-0015
Reykjavík, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies SÁM 6 1800-1900 https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/SAM-0006
Reykjavík, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies AM 591 e 4to 1675-1700 FASNL defective
Reykjavík, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies HÍ 15 1825

Editions and translations

  • Agnete Loth (ed.), Late Medieval Icelandic Romances, Editiones Arnamagæanae, series B, 20–24, 5 vols Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1962–65, III 1-66. (The earlier version, with an English paraphrase.)
  • Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns i yngre handskrifters redaktion, ed. by Hugo Rydberg (Copenhagen: Møller, 1917). (The younger version.)
  • Riddarasögur, ed. by Bjarni Vilhjálmsson, 6 vols (Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1949-1951), VI 171-235. (Normalised version of Rydberg's text.)
  • Jarlmanns och Hermanns Saga; efter Islandska Handskrifter utgifven med upplysande Anmarkningar, ed. by Joh. G. Liljegren (Stockholm: Zacharias Haeggström, 1819) (Swedish translation)
  • Philip Lavender and others, 'Jarlmanns saga og Hermanns: A Translation', Scandinavian-Canadian Studies/Études Scandinaves au Canada, 27 (2020), 50-104, doi:10.29173/scancan178. (Normalises and translates Rydberg's edition of the younger version.)

References

  1. Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir, 'Om hringbrot og våbendanse i islandsk tradition', Kulturstudier, 1 (2010), 132–53.
  2. Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir, 'How Icelandic Legends Reflect the Prohibition on Dancing', ARV, 61 (2006), 25–52.
  3. 1 2 Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell, Bibliography of Old Norse–Icelandic Romances, Islandica, 44 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985), pp. 52-53.
  4. 1 2 Philip Lavender, 'Jarlmanns saga og Hermanns: An Introduction', Scandinavian-Canadian Studies/Études Scandinaves au Canada, 27 (2020), 16-49.
  5. Bibire, Paul, 'From Riddarasaga to Lygisaga: The Norse Response to Romance', in Les Sagas de Chevaliers (Riddarasögur): Actes de la Ve Conférence Internationale sur les Sagas Présentés par Régis Boyer (Toulon. Juillet 1982), ed. by Régis Boyer, Serie Civilisations, 10 (Toulon: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 1985), pp. 55-74 (p. 68).
  6. Marianne E. Kalinke, 'Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns', in Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Phillip Pulsiano (New York: Garland, 1993), p. 339.
  7. Marianne E. Kalinke, 'Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns', in Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Phillip Pulsiano (New York: Garland, 1993), p. 339.
  8. Matthew Driscoll, `Late Prose Fiction (Lygisögur)', in A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, ed. by Rory McTurk (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), pp. 190--204 (p. 194).
  9. Cf. Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell, Bibliography of Old Norse–Icelandic Romances, Islandica, 44 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985), p. 53.
  10. Marianne E. Kalinke, 2017: Stories Set Forth with Fair Words: The Evolution of Medieval Romance in Iceland. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 120-21,
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