To copy or to tell? On retelling and variation in the manuscript tradition of Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-4-28-44
Abstract
This article explores the variation in the manuscript tradition of one of the Old Icelandic family sagas – “The Saga of Björn, a hero from the HeathValley” Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa. Usually, the two main versions of the saga are seen as a summary and a longer version. However, their comparison shows that, while there is a huge amount of the identical text, most of the discrepancies are equal variations, and there is no tendency to narrow one of the versions. Those features allow suggesting that the versions relate to each other as two equal retellings (paraphrases) of the text predecessor. That perspective makes it possible not only to revise the existing assessment of one of the versions as an abridgment, but also to see behind those retellings the living tradition of Old Icelandic storytellers who entered the new written culture. As a part of the research into the mechanics of such retelling the paper offers the overview analysis of the variation discrepancies and the method of their counting and classification.
Keywords
variation,
Sagas of Icelanders,
retelling,
paraphrasis,
medieval manuscript tradition,
medieval text transmission
Supporting agencies: The article is a part of the research that was supported by the Modern Natural Science Fund within the competition Young Scholars in the Humanities (March 2018 – August 2018, September 2018 – February 2019).
About the Author
D. S. Glebova
Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Daria S. Glebova, postgraduate student
bld. 32A, Leninskii Av., Moscow, Russia, 119991
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Review
For citations:
Glebova D.S. To copy or to tell? On retelling and variation in the manuscript tradition of Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2020;(4):28-44. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-4-28-44
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