Narrative in the Icelandic Family Saga

This important new study explores the often-ignored reality that Iceland‘s family sagas focus squarely on human society. Instead of pursuing the usual literary questions of invention or fantasy, Prof. O’Donohuge delves deeply into the “real-feeling” world of deceptively familiar human characters in everyday, though dramatic circumstances as she focuses on the remarkably consistent portrait of early medieval Icelandic society. Saga authors were, O’Donohuge states, “working with an authentic and detailed picture of their ancestral society accurately transmitted via oral tradition.“ Here is a work that has much to teach us and contributes significantly to the field. * Jesse Byock, Professor of Old Norse and Viking Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA *
No reader of this book will emerge unconvinced of the artistry of the saga authors, or of the current author’s position as one of the foremost saga scholars of our generation. The lucidity and ease with which O’Donoghue approaches the central subject of time in saga narrative ensure that this book will become essential reading both for established scholars and for anyone looking to learn more about the sagas. * Tom Birkett, Lecturer in Medieval Literature, University College Cork, Ireland *
A wonderfully eye-opening exploration of not only the Sagas of Icelanders as a genre, but also broader ideas about how narrative can act as a connecting bridge between history and fiction. By turns philosophical and theoretical, O’Donoghue paints a vivid picture of the saga world and the passage, perception, and representation of time: the rhythms of the seasons, the cultural events marking the social calendar, the deeper historical time spanning the generations. A skillful analysis that reveals the considerable narratological talents of the Icelandic saga authors and the richness of the stories themselves. * Eleanor Barraclough, Associate Professor of Medieval History and Literature, Durham University, UK *
Heather O’Donoghue studies narrative time, specifically the representation and production of time in six sagas of the Icelanders, arguing that the saga narrators withheld some details yet revealed others, shaping the representation of narrative time and their readers’ experience of order, silence, and duration. Her groundbreaking work on narratorial time management will ensure that readers discern the nuances of the self-effacing narrators more and in ways that scholars have never before appreciated. This new look at an old subject is approachable, informative, and well worth reading. * Jana K. Schulman, Director of the Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, USA *