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The oldest surviving Icelandic literature is poetry, some of it almost certainly being composed before the settlement of Iceland, either in Scandinavia or Scandinavian settlements elsewhere. These poems, however, are preserved in Icelandic manuscripts, and nowhere else.
These poems can be divided into two categories, the Eddic and the Skaldic poems. The Eddic poems are composed in free variable metres. There are two distinct classes of Eddic poetry, the heroic lays and the mythological lays.
The heroic lays are based on legends, many of which derive from continental Germany, and even from the Goths of southeastern Europe. The mythological lays are about northern gods, and of wisdom attributed to them. Probably the most famous of the latter are the Völuspá (Sibyl's Propechy) and the Hávamál (Words of the High One). Völuspá is supposedly spoken spoken by a sibyl, who tells the history of the world, of gods, men and monsters, from the beginning until the Ragnarök, when the gods will fall, the sun become black, smoke and fire will gush forth and the earth sink in total darkness. The Hávamál is a didactic poem, in which the god (Óðinn) gives instructions about social conduct, relations between men and women, and speaks of runes and magical powers.
The Hávamál was almost certainly composed before the settlement of Iceland, and handed down orally until it was written in Iceland. The form of the Skaldic poetry is much stricter than that of the Eddic poetry. The syntax is very complex, and the skalds used highly specialized vocabulary. The greatest of all the skalds was Egill Skallagrímsson. One of his best known poems is Höfuðlausn (Head Ransom), composed in York in ca. 948. Egill was held captive by Erik Bloodaxe, then ruling York, and was to be executed. During the night before the intended execution he composed this poem in honour of his enemy, and was granted his own head as a reward.
During the 12th and the 13th centuries there were some great historians at work in Iceland, concentrating on Icelandic history and the histories of the kings of Norway. The most important work of this kind is probably the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), a detailed history of the settlement of Iceland, and Heimskringla (Orb of the World), a history of the kings of Norway up to 1184. The Heimskringla was written by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). Snorri also wrote the Prose Edda, a handbook of prosody and poetic diction. In it are many tales of pagan gods and heroes.
The Icelanders' Sagas (or Family Sagas), written in the 13th century, are the crown of Icelandic literature. Usually they are about heroes supposed to have lived in Iceland in the 10th and 11th centuries. The artistic values of the best of these are not disputed. Most of these sagas seem to lie somewhere between history and intentional fiction. Their characterization is vivid and they show deep sympathy and understanding of human tragedy. The style is plain and compact, with adjectives used sparingly, and with great emphasis on dialogue. The sagas are about love and hatred, family feuds and vengeance, loyalty and friendship, and tragic destiny. Some of the besk known sagas are Grettis saga, about the outlaw Grettir the Strong; Laxdæla saga, a delicately written tragedy, covering four or five generations, with women playing prominent roles; Egils Saga, about the ugly and truculent viking-poet Egill Skallagrímsson; and Njáls saga, generally considered the greatest of them all, about two heroes, Gunnar, a brave, guileless youth, and Njáll, a wise and prudent man with prophetic gifts, and their friendship and heroic deaths.
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