On the use of the historical present tense (praesens historicum) in the Icelandic sagas
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-1-52-65
Abstract
The article examines the phenomenon of alternation of tenses in the Icelandic sagas, or more precisely, the inclusion into a narrative of past events, as the sagas are, along with the normal forms of the past tense, forms of the so-called “present historical”. This practice is not an exclusive feature of the Old Icelandic language but is found in Indo-European languages of different historical eras and geographical locations. Saga scholars, whose works are discussed here, have paid much attention to this phenomenon and put forward numerous interpretations of this narrative mode, both grammatical and stylistic. The author of the article adheres to the view that the alternation of tenses was so extensively used by the saga authors because it enabled them, within the framework of the stylistic objectivity inherent in the saga genre, to make the narrative more lively and emotional, as if the events described were happening before the eyes of their listeners/readers.
About the Author
T. N. Jackson
Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tatjana N. Jackson, Dr. of Sci. (History), Institute of World History
32a, Leninskii Av., Moscow, 119334
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Review
For citations:
Jackson T.N. On the use of the historical present tense (praesens historicum) in the Icelandic sagas. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2024;(1):52-65. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-1-52-65
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