The verbs heita and vera as chronomarkers in Old Icelandic genealogical lists

Abstract

The Icelandic genealogies which have come down to us through medieval narrative sources, primarily in family sagas and Landnámabók, possess a formalised structure. In the texts, they are presented in the form of ahnentafel. There are very few single-line genealogical lists (only ascending or descending) in the sources; in most instances, they consider relatives from both the male and female lines. The order of transition from one genealogical line to another in generational lists was strictly regulated; various verbs were employed to describe the change in the count of kinship (heita, vera, and eiga in the preterite). The analysis conducted in the article revealed that the verb heita was used to refer to individuals who, as a general rule, lived during the time of the saga’s action (or – in the case of Landnámabók – the island’s settlement) as they participated in the development of its plot; conversely, those who lived prior to the saga’s events were designated by the verb vera. Consequently, these two verbs can serve as additional chronomarkers to illuminate both the time of recording of the ahnentafel and the time of action in the sagas.