Rómverja saga

Rómverja saga (The Saga of the Romans) in an Old Norse-Icelandic translation of three Latin historical texts: Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum and Coniuratio Catilinae and Lucan's Pharsalia.[1] It gives an account of Roman history from the Jugurthine War (112 BCE) to the death of Augustus (14 CE).[2] This combination of sources is unique in medieval literature.[1] Along with Breta sögur, Veraldar saga and Trójumanna saga, it represent the earliest phase of translation of secular works into Old Norse-Icelandic.[3]

Rómverja saga exists in two versions: an older and longer, but poorly preserved version in AM 595a-b 4to; and a younger, abridged version in AM 226 fol, copied in AM 225 fol.[4]

There are close parallels between sections of Veraldar saga and Rómverja saga. Hofmann proposed that Veraldar saga takes its Roman history from Rómverja saga.[5] Þorbjörg Helgadóttir instead considers that the two sagas both used the same Latin sources: Sallust and Lucan.[6]

Further reading

  • Helgadóttir, Þorbjörg (2010). Rómverja saga. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum.

References

  1. ^ a b Würth, Stefanie (2005). "Historiography and Pseudo-History". In McTurk, Rory (ed.). A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture. Malden, Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 164. ISBN 9780631235026.
  2. ^ Birnudóttir, Svala Lind (2017). Rómverja saga: an introduction and translation (Thesis). University of British Columbia (unpublished MA thesis). pp. 1–2. doi:10.14288/1.0355267.
  3. ^ Gropper, Stefanie (2011). "Breta Sögur and Merlínússpá". In Kalinke, Marianne E. (ed.). The Arthur of the North: The Arthurian Legend in the Norse and Rus' Realms. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 48-60. ISBN 9781783167876.
  4. ^ Benediktsson, Jakob (1993). "Rómverja saga". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. pp. 537–538. ISBN 0824047877.
  5. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich. (1986) "Accessus ad Lucanum. Zur Neubestimmung des Verhältnisses zwischen Rómverja saga und Veraldar saga." In Sagnaskemmtun: Studies in Honor of Hermann Pálsson on his 65th birthday, 26th May 1986, edited by Rudolf Simek, Jónas Kristjánsson, and Hans Bekker-Nielsen, Vienna: Hermann Böhlaus, pp. 121-151.
  6. ^ Helgadóttir, Þorbjörg (1994–1997). "On the Sources and Composition of Rómverja saga" (PDF). Saga-Book. 24: 203–220.


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