Oldest Saga of St. Olaf

The Oldest Saga of St. Olaf or the First Saga of St. Olaf is one of the kings' sagas. It is the earliest Norse biography of King Óláfr Haraldsson. Early scholars judged it to be among the first sagas written, perhaps around 1160, but later scholarship has moved the date up to the end of the 12th century. One fragment with a hagiographic flavour was once thought to belong to the saga but more recent research indicates that it is from another text. Like other kings' sagas the Oldest Saga cites old skaldic poetry to decorate and verify the narrative.

Only six or seven short fragments are preserved of the work but the Legendary Saga of St. Olaf is clearly heavily based on it and often used to make assumptions about its scope. Snorri Sturluson used the Oldest Saga or some work derived from it when he composed his Separate Saga of St. Olaf and the Heimskringla. Styrmir Kárason is also thought to have used the Oldest Saga in the composition of his Óláfs saga.

See also

• The Saint Olav Drama

References

• Andersson, Theodore Murdock (2006). The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas, 1180-1280. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4408-X
• Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (editor) (1941). Íslenzk fornrit XXVI : Heimskringla I. Hið íslenzka fornritafélag.
• Chase, Martin (2005). Einarr Skúlason's Geisli : A Critical Edition. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3822-0
• Finlay, Alison (editor and translator) (2004). Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-13172-8
• Hoops, Johannes (1999). Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde: Band 14. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-017351-4

External links

• Text of the fragments
• Brot úr Elztu sögu Index of poetry in the saga