Strengleikar

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Strengleikar (English: Stringed Instruments) is a collection of twenty-one Old Norse prose tales based on the Old French Lais of Marie de France. It is one of the literary works commissioned by King Haakon IV of Norway (r. 1217-1263) for the Norwegian court. The collection is anonymous. It has been attributed to Brother Robert, a cleric who adapted several French works into Norse under Haakon, the best known of which is Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar (a Norse version of the Tristan and Iseult legend),[1] but there is also reason to think that the collection may be a gathering of the work of several different translators.[2] Unlike many medieval translations, the Strengleikar are generally extremely close in sense to the Old French originals; the text which differs most is Milun, which is abridged to half its original length.

Manuscripts

  • De la Gardie, 4-7, f. 17va-43vb (Carolinabiblioteket, Uppsala). The principal manuscript in which the collection has been preserved, dating from 1250 x 1270.
  • AM 666 b 4o, ff. 1r-4v (Den Arnamagnæanske samling, Kongelige biblioteket, Copenhagen). Date: 1270.
  • Lbs 840 4o, f. 292r-299v (Landsbókasafn Íslands, Reykjavik). Date: 1737.

Editions and translations

  • Diplomatic transcription of De la Gardie available at the Medieval Nordic Text Archive.
  • Cook, Robert and Mattias Tveitane (eds. & trs.). Strengleikar. An Old Norse translation of twenty-one Old French lais.. Norsk Historisk Kjeldeskrift-Institutt, Norrøne tekster 3. Oslo: Grieg, 1979. ISBN 82-7061-273-1. Edition and English translation.
  • Keyser, R. and C.R. Unger (eds.). Strengleikar, eða Lioðabók. En Samling af romantiske Fortællinger efter bretoniske Folkesange (Lais), oversat fra fransk paa norsk ved Midten af trettende Aarhundrede efter Foranstaltning af Kong Haakon Haakonssön. Christiania: Feilberg og Landmark, 1850.
  • Tveitane, Mattias (ed.). Elis saga, Strengleikar and other Texts. Selskapet til utgivelse av gamle norske håndskrifter (Corpus codicum Norvegicorum medii aevi), Quatro serie 4. Oslo, 1972. Facsimile edition of MSS De la Gardie and AM 666.
  • Rytter, Henrik (tr.). Strengleikar eller songbok. Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1962. Norwegian translation.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rivera, Isidro J. (1991), "Brother Robert", in Lacy, Norris J., The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, p. 56 
  2. ↑ Sanders, Christopher (1993), "Strengleikar", in Pulsiano, Philip, Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, p. 612 

References

  • Foulet, Lucien. "Les Strengleikar et le Lai du lecheor." Revue des langues romanes 51 (1908): 97-110. Available from Gallica
  • Lacy, Norris J. (ed.). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 1991. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
  • Meissner, Rudolf. Die Strengleikar. Halle: Niemeyer, 1902.

External links

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