1. Knýtlinga saga (Knýtl)

Stemma (adapted from ÍF 35, clxxxvi)

Manuscripts: A class

The A-class mss are more complete than those of the B class, which only begins at ch. 22 and appears to have a shortened version of the original text in some places. The A text was preserved in the lost Codex Academicus (*Cod. Ac., c. 1300).

18ˣ:      AM 18 folˣ. Copy of *Cod. Ac. (c. 1700; by Árni Magnússon). Chapters 3-82 are now missing, but the following copies were made when it was complete:

a) 20dˣ: AM 20 d folˣ (early C18th, partly by Árni Magnússon). Knýtl chs 1-27. Used in Skj A to supplement 18ˣ, but inferior to JÓ 1741 (below).

b) 873ˣ: NKS 873 4°ˣ (C18th; by Jón Vídalín).

c) JÓ: JÓ 1741. An edition based on 18ˣ which has been considered superior to the ms. transcripts of 18ˣ (ÍF 35, clxxxv).

20b I:   AM 20 b I fol (c. 1300). Nine leaves, in poor condition, from the same exemplar as that of *Cod. Ac.

Flat:      Flateyjarbók, GKS 1005 fol (Icelandic, mainly c. 1387-95). See separate entry.

Holm papp 41ˣ: Holm papp 41 4°ˣ (c. 1687). An A-class text for chs 1-21; thereafter a copy of the B-class ms. 1005ˣ and therefore without independent value.

Manuscripts: B class

The original vellum is lost.

180b:    AM 180b fol (c. 1400-1500). Chapters 22-88 (19v-34r). Copies of 180b:

a) 1005ˣ: AM 1005 4°ˣ (c. 1600-50).

b) 1006ˣ: GKS 1006 folˣ (c. 1600-1700). Copied in 19ˣ (AM 19 folˣ, c. 1600-1700).

20b II:  AM 20 b II fol (c. 1300-25). Three leaves.

A further ms., of uncertain class, is:

20i 23ˣ:  AM 20 i 23 folˣ (c. 1700-1800)

Editions: JÓ 1741, Knýtl 1919-25, ÍF 35.

The saga presents a synopsis of the lives of Danish kings from Haraldr blátǫnn Gormsson (d. 988) to part-way through the reign of Knútr Valdimarsson in 1187. It falls into three parts, with the life of Knútr Sveinsson (S. Knud, 1080-6) at its centre, and is widely seen as a Danish counterpart to Hkr. The saga’s abrupt start has led to the assumption that the beginning is lost, and the B recension is definitely incomplete, starting with Sveinn Úlfsson (Sven Estridsson, r. 1047-1074/6). The work depends on a range of earlier sources, Danish and Norwegian, most of which are now lost (at least in the versions used in Knýtl), and it is considered to belong to the mid or late thirteenth century. Óláfr Þórðarson hvítaskáld (d. 1259), nephew of Snorri Sturluson, is named as the source of much of the information in the saga, and has been seen as its author (see, e.g., ÍF 35, clxxix-clxxxiv).

Poetry

Knýtl contains some sixty stanzas, all or almost all composed by Icelanders, and most unique to this saga. Twenty-five are edited in this volume, including Ótt Knútdr 1-10, ÞKolb Eirdr 12-13, 15-16 and Þloft Tøgdr 7 which are preserved nowhere else. A further thirty-six stanzas cover events after 1035 and are edited in SkP II (see p. lxxv), while Hallv Knútdr 3^III is edited with the remainder of that poem in SkP III.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
4. JÓ 1741 = Jón Ólafsson, ed. 1741. Æfi dana-konunga eda Knytlinga saga: Historia Cnutidarum regum Daniæ. Copenhagen: [n. p.].
5. SkP III = Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Ed. Kari Ellen Gade in collaboration with Edith Marold. 2017.
6. Knýtl 1919-25 = Petersens, Carl af and Emil Olsen, eds. 1919-25. Sǫgur danakonunga. 1: Sǫgubrot af fornkonungum. 2: Knýtlinga saga. SUGNL 66. Copenhagen: SUGNL.
7. SkP II = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Ed. Kari Ellen Gade. 2009.
8. Internal references
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 20 April 2024)
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=19> (accessed 20 April 2024)
12. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 233.
13. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 769.
14. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Kolbeinsson, Eiríksdrápa 12’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 506.
15. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Tøgdrápa 7’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 861.