From Troy to Iceland: Representation of the Past in Pseudohistorical Sagas
Inna G. Matyushina
The present article analyses the means of preserving past in Icelandic pseudohistorical sagas, which include Trójumanna saga, Alexanders Gyðinga Rómverja Breta sögur and Veraldar saga. Ways representing are determined by semantic, compositional structural innovations creators sagas in-troduce under influence Scandinavian saga tradition. narrative pseudohis-torical is dominated not characters but rather events: descriptions inter-nal world individuals superseded narration their actions; introspective monologues disappear; authored digressions omitted, leads to a de-tachment characteristic native Icelanders. Direct speech reduced brief aphoristic statements, whereas periphrastic constructions rhetorical formulas omitted order clarify structure sagas. convey through sequences historical events (or supposedly histori-cal events) using forms tense or Praesens Historicum, helps them visu-alise events, as happening before eyes narrator at-tract attention audience significance. In func-tion attributed speeches (as sa-ga), were endowed with different function (of characterising heroes) Latin originals, well dreams supernatural beings saga) had pro-phetic functions texts. History genealogised: genealogy used way depicting toponymy en-dowed chronological function. creator employs mytho-logical names history: mythical correlated Biblical Ancient history. sequence presentating mythological makes it possible regard jointly forming unified history, bringing together past. Veral-dar only composes whole history world, starting from day Creation, also includes into his lawspeaker Gizur Hallsson alongside Greeks, Trojans, Romans, Carolingian emperors Hohenstau-fen. multiplicity sources can be ac-counted for desire fill gaps build chronologically se-quential account significant British To this end, traceable back Dares Hauksbók supplemented fragments Virgil Ovid, Geoffrey Monmouth’s adaptation augmented catalogue Wessex kings Cadwall Æthelstan Merlin’s Prophecy, Gunnlaug Leifsson. most semantically important interpolation about king Æthelstan, who fostered Hakon (the future Norway Good), son Har-ald Fair-Haired. consisted uniting his-tory Britain, dynasty rulers Anglo-Saxon kings, and, consequently, legitimising power former Scandinavia Isles. compilers seek establish cultural connection between European peoples, consider themselves descendants Iceland. By adapting works represented historical, contributed reception heritage its notion foreign (Trojan) descent creation new
GRAPHOSPHAERA Writing and Written Practices