Hreiðars þáttr

Hreiðars þáttr heimska or the Tale of Hreiðarr the Fool is one of the short tales of Icelanders. It tells of Hreiðarr, an apparently mentally disabled Icelandic man who travels to Norway in the time of the joint rule of the kings Magnús góði and Haraldr harðráði. Hreiðarr befriends Magnús with his eccentric behaviour but incurs the wrath of Haraldr when he kills one of his courtiers.

The story is preserved as a part of Morkinskinna and its derivative, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna, but it may originally have existed as a separate written work. It is believed to be among the oldest stories of its kind, perhaps originally composed around 1200 and no later than the mid-13th century. Interestingly, the language archaisms are a feature that characterises Hreiðarr's speech particularly, implying an intentional attempt on the side of the author to giving Hreiðarr a 'rustic' feel.^[1] Although the story is realistic and plausible, it is believed to be fictitious.

Hreiðarr's character is portrayed as a strong-minded Icelander who refuses to entirely conform to the social conventions of the Norwegian court.^[2] In this, his personal story could be seen as reflecting the collective experience of Icelanders abroad.^[3] While Hreiðarr has been discussed in the context of intellectual disability,^[4] it is also a likely interpretation that his actions reflect that of a prototype for court jester, or trickster. ^[5]

References

^ Faulkes, Anthony (editor) (2011²). Two Icelandic Stories : Hreiðars þáttr : Orms þáttr. New edition with corrections and further additions. London: Viking Society for Northern Research & University College London. ISBN 978-0-903521-73-4. Open access edition.
^ Tirosh, Yoav (2018), "Icelanders Abroad." In Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann, and Stephen A. Mitchell (Eds.), Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 502–507). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. See also Gilbert, Anthony J. 1991. “The Icelanders Abroad: The Concept of Social and National Identity in Some Icelandic Þættir.” Neophilologus 75: 408–424.
^ Ármann Jakobsson, A Sense of Belonging: “Morkinskinna” and Icelandic Identity, c. 1220, trans. Fredrik Heinemann. (The Viking Collection: Studies in Northern Civilization 22.) Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2014.
^ Higman, Judith (2021-03-12). "Nobody's fífl: Representations of intellectual disability in Old Norse-Icelandic literature". Mirator. 20 (2): 73–90. ISSN 1457-2362.
^ Sauckel, Anita (2016) "Von unberechenbarem Wesen"? Der literarische Trickster in den Isländersagas," NORDEUROPAforum - Zeitschrift für Kulturstudien, pp. 56–73. See also Tirosh, Yoav (2018), "Icelanders Abroad." In Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann, and Stephen A. Mitchell (Eds.), Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 502–507). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

Ármann Jakobsson (2014) A Sense of Belonging: “Morkinskinna” and Icelandic Identity, c. 1220, trans. Fredrik Heinemann. (The Viking Collection: Studies in Northern Civilization 22.) Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark.
Faulkes, Anthony (editor) (1978). Two Icelandic Stories : Hreiðars þáttr : Orms þáttr. Viking Society for Northern Research. ISBN 0-903521-00-8
Faulkes, Anthony (editor) (2011²). Two Icelandic Stories : Hreiðars þáttr : Orms þáttr. New edition with corrections and further additions. London: Viking Society for Northern Research & University College London. ISBN 978-0-903521-73-4. Open access edition.
Gilbert, Anthony J. (1991). “The Icelanders Abroad: The Concept of Social and National Identity in Some Icelandic Þættir.” Neophilologus 75: 408–424.
Higman, Judith (2021-03-12). "Nobody's fífl: Representations of intellectual disability in Old Norse-Icelandic literature". Mirator. 20 (2): 73–90. ISSN 1457-2362.
Hreidar's Tale. Translated by Robert Kellogg. En: Viðar Hreinsson (General Editor): The Complete Sagas of Icelanders including 49 Tales. Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997. Volume I, pp. 375–384. ISBN 9979-9293-1-6.
Sauckel, Anita (2016) "Von unberechenbarem Wesen"? Der literarische Trickster in den Isländersagas," NORDEUROPAforum - Zeitschrift für Kulturstudien, pp. 56–73.
Tirosh, Yoav (2018), "Icelanders Abroad." In Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann, and Stephen A. Mitchell (Eds.), Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 502–507). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

External links

Hreiðars þáttr Old Norse text at heimskringla.no
Hreiðars þáttur An edition of the story in modern Icelandic spelling

[1] Faulkes, Anthony (editor) (2011²). Two Icelandic Stories : Hreiðars þáttr : Orms þáttr. New edition with corrections and further additions. London: Viking Society for Northern Research & University College London. ISBN 978-0-903521-73-4. Open access edition.

[2] Tirosh, Yoav (2018), "Icelanders Abroad." In Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann, and Stephen A. Mitchell (Eds.), Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 502–507). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. See also Gilbert, Anthony J. 1991. “The Icelanders Abroad: The Concept of Social and National Identity in Some Icelandic Þættir.” Neophilologus 75: 408–424.

[3] Ármann Jakobsson, A Sense of Belonging: “Morkinskinna” and Icelandic Identity, c. 1220, trans. Fredrik Heinemann. (The Viking Collection: Studies in Northern Civilization 22.) Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2014.

[4] Higman, Judith (2021-03-12). "Nobody's fífl: Representations of intellectual disability in Old Norse-Icelandic literature". Mirator. 20 (2): 73–90. ISSN 1457-2362.

[5] Sauckel, Anita (2016) "Von unberechenbarem Wesen"? Der literarische Trickster in den Isländersagas," NORDEUROPAforum - Zeitschrift für Kulturstudien, pp. 56–73. See also Tirosh, Yoav (2018), "Icelanders Abroad." In Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann, and Stephen A. Mitchell (Eds.), Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (pp. 502–507). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

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