Editing Heimskringla

{{short description|Old Norse kings' sagas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Italic title}}
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| footer = The single surviving page of the c. 1260 ''Kringla'' manuscript, known as ''the Kringla leaf'' (''Kringlublaðið'') is kept in the [[National and University Library of Iceland]] in [[Reykjavík]].
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'''{{Lang|is|Heimskringla}}''' ({{IPA|is|ˈheimsˌkʰriŋla}}) is the best known of the Old Norse [[kings' sagas]]. It was written in [[Old Norse]] in [[Iceland]]. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian [[Snorri Sturluson]] (1178/79–1241) {{circa}} 1230. The title {{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (''kringla heimsins'', "the circle of the world").

{{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} is a collection of [[saga]]s about [[List of legendary kings of Sweden|Swedish]] and Norwegian [[List of Norwegian monarchs|kings]], beginning with the saga of the legendary Swedish dynasty of the [[Yngling]]s, followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from [[Harald Fairhair]] of the 9th century up to the death of the pretender [[Eystein Meyla]] in 1177.

Some of the exact sources of ''Heimskringla'' are disputed, but they include earlier kings' sagas, such as [[Morkinskinna]], [[Fagrskinna]] and the 12th-century Norwegian synoptic histories and oral traditions, notably many [[skald]]ic poems. The author or authors explicitly name the now lost work ''[[Hryggjarstykki]]'' as their source for the events of the mid-12th century. 

==Authorship==
No known manuscript attributes authorship to ''Heimskringla''. The matter is summarized as follows by [[Anthony Faulkes]]:

:The authorship of Heimskringla is not referred to within the text or in any surviving manuscript—as is usually the case for a medieval work—and its attribution to Snorri has been questioned. The first surviving works in which he is credited as author are the sixteenth-century translations of ''Heimskringla'' into Danish by the Norwegians Peder Claussøn Friis and Laurents Hanssøn ... who are generally believed to have used at least one now lost manuscript of ''Heimskringla'' that gave authority for their naming of Snorri.<ref name="FAULKES-VII">Faulkes (2011: vii).</ref>

==Title==
The title {{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} comes from the first words of the first saga in the compilation (''[[Ynglinga saga]]''), ''Kringla heimsins'', "the orb of the Earth".<ref>[[Geir T. Zoëga]], ''A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic'' (Oxford: Clarendon, 1910), s.vv. ''[http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/h249.php kringla] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210907/http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/h249.php |date=30 September 2007 }}'', "disk, circle, orb" and ''heimr''.</ref>

==Manuscript history==
The earliest parchment copy of the work is ''Kringla'', now in the [[National and University Library of Iceland]], catalogued as Lbs fragm 82. It is a single vellum leaf from c. 1260, a part of the [[Saga of St. Olaf]]; the rest of the manuscript was lost to fire in 1728.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/LbsFragm-0082. |title=Manuscript Details: Ólafs saga helga — Heimskringla |website=handrit.is |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925220140/https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/LbsFragm-0082 |archive-date=25 September 2018}}</ref>

==Summary==
[[Image:Ynglingesaga 1 Gerhard Munthe.jpg|thumb|Gerhard Munthe, Kringla Heimsins, illustration for ''[[Ynglinga Saga]]'']]
{{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} consists of several sagas, often thought of as falling into three groups, giving the overall work the character of a [[triptych]].<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla'', trans. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 3 vols (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011–15) (second edition 2016–), [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607114723/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf |date=7 June 2019 }} (p. vii).</ref> The saga narrates the contests of the kings, the establishment of the kingdom of Norway, [[Norsemen|Norse]] expeditions to various European countries, ranging as far afield as [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in the saga of [[Sigurd the Crusader]], where the Norwegian fleet is attacked by Arab Muslim pirates, referred to as Vikings.<ref>[[:s:Heimskringla/Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf|Heimskringla/Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf]]</ref> The stories are told with energy, giving a picture of human life in all its dimensions. The saga is a prose epic, relevant to the history of not only Scandinavia but the regions included in the wider medieval [[Viking expansion|Scandinavian diaspora]]. The first part of the {{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} is rooted in [[Norse mythology]]; as the collection proceeds, fable and fact intermingle, but the accounts become increasingly historically reliable.

The first saga tells of the mythological prehistory of the Swedish and Norwegian royal dynasty, the [[Yngling]]s, tracing their lineage to [[Freyr]] (Yngve) of the [[Vanaheimr|Vanaland]] people, who arrived in Scandinavia with [[Odin]] from the legendary [[Asgard]]. The subsequent sagas are (with few exceptions) devoted to individual rulers, starting with [[Halfdan the Black]].

A version of ''[[Óláfs saga helga]]'', about the saint [[Olaf II of Norway]], is the main and central part of the collection: Olaf's 15-year-long reign takes up about one third of the entire work.

Thereafter, the saga of [[Harald Hardrada]] narrates Harald's expedition to the East, his brilliant exploits in [[Constantinople]], [[Syria]], and [[Sicily]], his skaldic accomplishments, and his battles in England against [[Harold Godwinson]], the son of [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], where he fell at the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]] in 1066, only a few days before Harold fell at the [[Battle of Hastings]]. After presenting a series of other kings, the saga ends with [[Magnus V of Norway]].

===Contents===<!-- This section is linked from [[History of Stockholm]] -->
{{Lang|is|Heimskringla}} contains the following sagas (see also [[List of Norwegian monarchs]]):
# ''[[Ynglinga saga]]''
# Saga of [[Halfdan the Black|Halfdanr svarti]] ("the Black")
# Saga of [[Harald I of Norway|Haraldr hárfagi]] ("Finehair") (died {{circa|931}})
# Saga of [[Haakon I of Norway|Hákon góði]] ("the Good") (died 961)
# Saga of King [[Harald II of Norway|Haraldr gráfeldr]] ("Greycloak") (died 969)
# [[Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar|''Saga of King Óláfr Tryggvason'']] (died 1000)
# [[Óláfs saga helga|''Saga of King Óláfr Haraldsson'']] (died 1030), excerpt from ''conversion of [[Dale-Gudbrand]]''
# Saga of [[Magnus the Good|Magnús góði]] ("the Good") (died 1047)
# Saga of [[Harald III of Norway|Haraldr harðráði]] ("Hardruler") (died 1066)
# Saga of [[Olaf III of Norway|Óláfr Haraldsson kyrri]] ("the Gentle") (died 1093)
# Saga of [[Magnus Barefoot|Magnús berfœttr]] ("Barefoot") (died 1103)
# Saga of [[Sigurd Jorsalfar|Sigurðr Jórsalafari]] ("Jerusalem-traveller") (died 1130) and his brothers
# Saga of [[Magnus IV of Norway|Magnús blindi]] ("the Blind") (dethroned 1135) and of [[Harald Gilli|Haraldr Gilli]] (died 1136)
# Saga of [[Sigurd Haraldson|Sigurðr]] (died 1155), [[Eystein Haraldson|Eysteinn]] (died 1157) and [[Inge Haraldson|Ingi]] (died 1161), the sons of Haraldr
# Saga of [[Hakon II of Norway|Hákon herðibreiðs]] ("the Broadshouldered") (died 1162)
# Saga of [[Magnus V of Norway|Magnús Erlingsson]] (died 1184)

==Sources==

''Heimskringla'' explicitly mentions a few prose sources, now mostly lost in then-contemporary forms: ''[[Hryggjarstykki]]'' ('spine pieces') by Eiríkr Oddsson (covering events 1130–61), ''[[Skjǫldunga saga]]'', an unidentified saga about Knútr inn gamli, and a text called ''Jarlasǫgurnar'' ('sagas of the jarls', which seems to correspond to the saga now known as ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]'').<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla'', trans. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 3 vols (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011–15) (second edition 2016–), [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607114723/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf |date=7 June 2019 }} (p. xi).</ref>

The author may have had access to a wide range of the early Scandinavian historical texts known today as the 'synoptic histories', but made most use of:<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla'', trans. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 3 vols (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011–15) (second edition 2016–), [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607114723/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf |date=7 June 2019 }} (pp. xii–xiii).</ref>
* ''[[Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sǫgum]]'' (copying its account of Harald Fairhair's wife [[Snæfríðr]] almost unchanged).
* ''[[Morkinskinna]]'' (the main source for the years 1030–1177, which he copied almost verbatim except for removing many of the anecdotal ''[[þættir]]'').
* Possibly ''[[Fagrskinna]]'', itself based on ''Morkinskinna'', but the much shorter.
* His own ''[[Separate saga of St Óláfr]]'', which he incorporated bodily into ''Heimskringla''. This text was apparently based primarily on a saga of Olaf from about 1220 by Styrmir Kárason, now mostly lost.
* [[Oddr Snorrason]]'s ''Life of Óláfr Tryggvason'', and possibly a Latin life of the same figure by [[Gunnlaugr Leifsson]].

The author also made extensive use of [[skaldic verse]] which he believed to have been composed at the time of the events portrayed and transmitted orally from that time onwards, and clearly made use of other oral accounts, though it is uncertain to what extent.<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla'', trans. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 3 vols (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011–15) (second edition 2016–), [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607114723/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf |date=7 June 2019 }} (pp. ix–xi).</ref><ref>[[Carl L. Thunberg|Thunberg, Carl L.]] ''Särkland och dess källmaterial'' [''Serkland and its Source Material'']. (Göteborgs universitet. CLTS, 2011). pp 67–68. {{ISBN|978-91-981859-3-5}}.</ref><ref>Thunberg, Carl L. ''Att tolka Svitjod'' [''To interpret Svitjod'']. (Göteborgs universitet. CLTS, 2012). pp 7–53. {{ISBN|978-91-981859-4-2}}.</ref>

==Historical reliability==

Up until the mid-19th century, historians put great trust in the factual truth of Snorri's narrative, as well as other old Norse sagas. In the early 20th century, this trust was largely abandoned with the advent of ''saga criticism'', pioneered by the Swedish historians [[Lauritz Weibull|Lauritz]] and [[Curt Weibull]]. These historians pointed out that Snorri's work had been written several centuries after most of the events it describes. In Norway, the historian [[Edvard Bull, Sr.|Edvard Bull]] famously proclaimed that "we have to give up all illusions that Snorri's mighty epic bears any deeper resemblance to what actually happened" in the time it describes.<ref>Edvard Bull, ''Det norske folks liv og historie gjennom tidene bd. 2'' (Oslo, 1931)</ref> A school of historians has come to believe that the motives Snorri and the other saga writers give to their characters owe more to conditions in the 13th century than in earlier times.

''Heimskringla'' has, however, continued to be used as a historical source, though with more caution. It is not common to believe in the detailed accuracy of the historical narrative and historians tend to see little to no historical truth behind the first few sagas, however, they are still seen by many as a valuable source of knowledge about the society and politics of medieval Norway.<ref>e.g. Sverre Bagge, ''Society and Politics in Snorri Sturlusons Heimskringla'' (Berkeley, 1991).</ref> The factual content of the work tends to be deemed more credible where it discusses more recent times, as the distance in time between the events described and the composition of the saga was shorter, allowing traditions to be retained in a largely accurate form, and because in the twelfth century the first contemporary written sources begin to emerge in Norway.

==Influence==
Whereas prior to ''Heimskringla'' there seems to have been a diversity of efforts to write histories of kings, ''Heimskringla'' seems thereafter to have been the basis for Icelandic writing about Scandinavian kings, and was expanded by scribes rather than entirely revised. ''[[Flateyjarbók]]'', from the end of the fourteenth century, is the most extreme example of expansion, interweaving ''Heimskringla'' text with many ''þættir'' and other whole sagas, prominently ''Orkneyinga saga'', ''Færeyinga saga'', and ''Fóstbrœðra saga''.<ref>Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla'', trans. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 3 vols (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011–15) (second edition 2016–), [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607114723/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf |date=7 June 2019 }} (p. xiii).</ref>

The text is also referenced in ''[[Journey to the Center of the Earth]]'' by [[Jules Verne]]; the work is the one Professor Liedenbrock finds Arne Saknussem's note in.

==Editions and translations==
===History of translations===
By the mid-16th century, the Old Norse language was unintelligible to Norwegian, Swedish or Danish readers. At that time several translations of extracts were made in Norway into the Danish language, which was the literary language of Norway at the time.{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}} The first complete translation was made around 1600 by [[Peder Claussøn Friis]], and printed in 1633. This was based on a manuscript known as ''Jofraskinna''.{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}}

Subsequently, the Stockholm manuscript was translated into Swedish and Latin by [[Johan Peringskiöld]] (by order of [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]]) and published in 1697 at Stockholm under the title ''Heimskringla'', which is the first known use of the name. This edition also included the first printing of the text in Old Norse. A new Danish translation with the text in Old Norse and a Latin translation came out in 1777–83 (by order of [[Frederick VI of Denmark|Frederick VI]] as crown prince). An English translation by [[Samuel Laing (travel writer)|Samuel Laing]] was finally published in 1844, with a second edition in 1889. Starting in the 1960s English-language revisions of Laing appeared, as well as fresh English translations.<ref>Snorri Sturluson, trans. Samuel Laing, ed. Rasmus Björn Anderson, ''The Heimskringla: Or, The Sagas of the Norse Kings from the Icelandic of Snorre Sturlason'' (NY: Scribner & Wellford, 1889).
Snorri Sturluson, Peter Foote revised edition of Laing 1844, ''Heimskringla: Sagas of the Norse Kings'' (London: Dent, 1961).
Snorri Sturluson, Jacqueline Simpson revised edition of Laing 1844, ''Heimskringla: The Olaf Sagas'', 2 vols. (London: Dent, 1964).
Snorri Sturluson, trans. Lee Hollander, ''Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway'' (Austin TX: American-Scandinavian Foundation and University of TX Press, 1964). 
Snorri Sturluson, trans. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, ''King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway'' (NY: Penguin, 1966).</ref>

In the 19th century, as Norway was achieving independence after centuries of union with Denmark and Sweden, the stories of the independent Norwegian medieval kingdom won great popularity in Norway. ''Heimskringla'', although written by an Icelander, became an important national symbol for Norway during the period of [[romantic nationalism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Straubhaar |first=Sandra Ballif |author-link=Sandra Ballif Straubhaar |title=Gustav Storm's Heimskringla as a Norwegian Nationalist Genesis Narrative. |journal=Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek |date=1999 |volume=20 |issue=2 |page=115 |url=https://rjh.ub.rug.nl/tvs/article/view/10526/8104 |access-date=22 May 2019 |issn=1875-9505 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801085612/https://rjh.ub.rug.nl/tvs/article/view/10526/8104 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1900, the Norwegian parliament, the [[Stortinget|Storting]], subsidized the publication of new translations of ''Heimskringla'' into both Norwegian written forms, [[nynorsk|landsmål]] and [[bokmål|riksmål]], "in order that the work may achieve wide distribution at a low price".<ref>''"forat verket ved en lav pris kan faa almindelig udbredelse".'' Snorre Sturlason, ''Kongesagaer'' (Kristiania, 1900).</ref>

===Editions===
* {{cite book
|title= Heimskringla eða Sögur Noregs konunga
|author= Snorra Sturlusonar
|editor-last1= Linder |editor-first1= N.
|editor-last2= Haggson |editor-first2= H. A.
|year= 1869–1872
|publisher= W. Schultz
|location= Uppsala
|url= http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Heimskringla
}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=TmAIAAAAQAAJ Google Books vols 1–2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=XGAIAAAAQAAJ Google Books vol. 3]
* {{cite book
|title= Heimskringla
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|editor-first1= Bjarni |editor-last1= Aðalbjarnarson
|year= 1941–1951
|publisher= [[Íslenzk fornrit|Hið íslenzka fornritafélag]]
|location= Reykjavík
}}

===Translations===
The most recent English translation of ''Heimskringla'' is by [[Alison Finlay]] and [[Anthony Faulkes]] and is available [[open-access]].

* {{cite book
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|title= The Heimskringla: or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
|translator-first1= Samuel |translator-last1= Laing
|year= 1844
|publisher= Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
|location= London
|url= http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/index.htm
}} [http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/ HTML] (repr. Everyman's Library, 717, 722, 847).
* {{cite book
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|title= The Saga Library: Done into English out of the Icelandic
|translator-first1= William |translator-last1= Morris
|translator-first2= Eiríkr |translator-last2= Magnússon
|volume= 3–6
|year= 1891–1905
|publisher= Quaritch
|location= London
}}
* {{cite book
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|title= Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
|translator-first1= Lee M. |translator-last1= Hollander
|year= 1964
|publisher= University of Texas Press
|location= Austin
}}
* {{cite book
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|title= Histoire des rois de Norvège, première partie: des origines mythiques de la dynastie à la bataille de Svold
|translator-first1= François-Xavier |translator-last1= Dillmann
|year= 2000
|publisher= Gallimard
|location= Paris
}}
* {{cite book
|author= Snorri Sturluson
|title= Heimskringla
|translator-first1= Alison |translator-last1= Finlay
|translator-first2= Anthony |translator-last2= Faulkes
|year= 2011–2016
|publisher= Viking Society for Northern Research
|location= London
}} [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I.pdf vol 1 (1st edn)]; [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I%20revised.pdf vol 1 (2nd edn)]; [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20II.pdf vol 2]; [http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20III.pdf vol. 3].

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |first=Erling |last=Monsen | contribution=Introduction to the Translation of Snorre's History of the Norse Kings |title=Heimskringla or the Lives of the Norse Kings: Edited with notes by Erling Monsen and translated into English with the assistance of A.H. Smith |year=1990 | place=Mineola, New York |publisher=Dover Publications, Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8hgblngVqAC&q=Heimskringla%3A%20History%20of%20the%20Kings%20of%20Norway |isbn=978-0-486-26366-3 }}. A reprint of the 1932 Cambridge edition by W. Heffer.
* {{cite book |first=Sverre |last=Bagge |author-link=Sverre Bagge |title=Society and Politics in Snorri Sturlusons Heimskringla |year=1991 | location=Berkeley, California |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-06887-4 }}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{wikisource-inline}}
* [http://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/LbsFragm-0082 Images of the Kringla Leaf on the manuscripts website of the National and University Library of Iceland]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080523161332/http://www.usask.ca/english/icelanders/ksheimskringla_contents.html Proverbs and proverbial materials in ''Heimskringla'' ''(Archived)'']
* {{librivox book | title=Heimskringla}}

{{Heimskringla}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1230s books]]
[[Category:Kings' sagas]]
[[Category:Works by Snorri Sturluson]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Harald Hardrada]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Harold Godwinson]]