tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post8843970982231108821..comments2023-11-29T07:39:34.401+00:00Comments on Carla Nayland Historical Fiction: The White Raven, by Robert Low. Book review.Carlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-60094463000011032582012-04-11T19:13:53.319+01:002012-04-11T19:13:53.319+01:00Gabriele - Ah, yes, thank you - I should have work...Gabriele - Ah, yes, thank you - I should have worked that out :-)Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-44151009080409384862012-04-11T17:18:33.939+01:002012-04-11T17:18:33.939+01:00Vergilius is Vergil, of course. Some of those Icel...Vergilius is Vergil, of course. Some of those Icelanders - and members of the court of the King of Norway - were learned men who had studied in Paris, Germany or Italy and who knew their Latin. And something by a dead Latin author carved on stone beats ancient books, I betz *grin*Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-27822831472224158382012-04-11T14:50:55.964+01:002012-04-11T14:50:55.964+01:00Rick - Well, many things aren't mutually exclu...Rick - Well, many things aren't mutually exclusive, so a bit of both is not unlikely, as well as the safe guess :-) My feeling is that sagas would lose nothing in the telling (!), as a successful saga composer and performer would have an eye for the dramatic and would select, arrange and emphasise the material accordingly, maybe filling in with pithy aphorisms of what the king/hero/villain <i>ought</i> to have said at key moments. Sometimes players and events can be traced elsewhere so there's an element of independent verification of the outline, whether it's a named Viking leader turning up in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or archaeology turning up at L'Anse aux Meadowes to indicate that someone using Norse material culture was there at about the time that the Vinland saga says they were.<br /><br />Gabriele - yes, I would agree about a mix of both. Even drawing the distinction may be a modern way of thinking. Who was Vergilius supposed to be? - is that a little like Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'very ancient book'?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-34880038749062712572012-04-09T13:23:34.084+01:002012-04-09T13:23:34.084+01:00A mix of both, is my guess. Some elements of the f...A mix of both, is my guess. Some elements of the <i>fornaldursögur</i>, the Fantasy of the Vikings, may have crept into the king biographies and to some extent even into the family sagas (the <i>Njals saga</i> is the major suspect). On the flip side, some of the fornaldursögur claim authenticity by pretending to have been written by some guy named Vergilius - on stone, to boot. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-26600321335961335372012-04-08T16:58:04.858+01:002012-04-08T16:58:04.858+01:00Probably both. (Always the safe guess!)
But it oc...Probably both. (Always the safe guess!)<br /><br />But it occurs to me that I know nada about Viking historiography. Apart from (hostile!) press notices in Western and Byzantine sources, the saga tradition must account for most of what we (think we) know about them. <br /><br />In the one case of 'Murrican-specific interest this pans out pretty well: L'Anse au Meadow shows that the Leif Ericson story is valid at least in general outline.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-62113078184107680692012-04-04T11:06:08.528+01:002012-04-04T11:06:08.528+01:00Indeed. A tribute to the saga-makers' vivid i...Indeed. A tribute to the saga-makers' vivid imaginations, or a case of truth being stranger than fiction, or a mix of both?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-44810168758741262092012-04-02T04:02:35.250+01:002012-04-02T04:02:35.250+01:00I suppose the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason at least cou...I suppose the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason at least counts as historical tradition!<br /><br />For that matter, a good many historical Vikings' lives, as given in standard accounts, would strain credibility as fiction.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.com