Jómsvíkinga saga

Storm in Hjørungavåg by Gerhard Munthe

The Jómsvíkinga saga (English: Saga of the Jomsvikings) is a medieval Icelandic saga. The Saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th Century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other.^{[1] [2]}

Jómsvíkinga saga portrays the founding of Jomsborg on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea by the legendary Danish chieftain Palnatoke. Palnatoki also founded the brotherhood of Jomsvikings. It describes the brotherhood and the laws of the Jomsvikings. It also relates their defeat during the semi-legendary naval Battle of Hjörungavágr in 986. This battle occurred between the Jarls of Lade and the Danish invasion fleet of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark. Jomsviking chieftain Sigvaldi Strut-Haraldsson led the Jomsvikings in an effort to depose Jarl Haakon Sigurdsson, vassal ruler of Norway.^[3]

Historians have found it difficult to classify the Jómsvíkinga saga among the Old Norse sagas. It is sometimes counted among the Kings' sagas based principally upon the association with Danish kings. ^{[4] [5]}

See also

• Jómsvíkingadrápa

References

1. Gabriel Turville-Petre, Sigurð Nordal (1962). "Jómsvíkinga Saga The Saga of the Jomsvikings" (PDF). Thomas Nelson and sons, Ltd. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
2. Słupecki, Leszek P. Facts and fancy in Jómsvíkinga saga in The Fantastic in Old Norse/Icelandic Literature: Preprint Papers of the 13th International Saga Conference (Durham: Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2006)
3. Sirpa Aalto. "Jómsvíkinga Saga as a Part of Old Norse Historiography" (PDF). University of Oulu. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
4. Finlay, Alison History and fantasy in Jómsvíkinga saga in The Fantastic in Old Norse/Icelandic Literature: Preprint Papers of the 13th International Saga Conference (Durham: Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2006)
5. Alison Finlay. "Jómsvíkinga Saga and Genre" (PDF). Birkbeck College. Retrieved October 23, 2015.

Other Sources

• Fløtre, Odd Karstein (2009) Jomsvikingslaget i oppklarende lys (Hatlehols AS) ISBN 978-82-92055-34-2
• Halldórsson, Ólafur (1993) Jómsvíkinga saga (Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Phillip Pulsiano et al., Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages; 343–44) ISBN 978-0824047870

Related Reading

• Hreinsson, Viðar (1997) The Complete Sagas of Icelanders (including 49 Stories) (Iceland: Leifur Eiriksson Publishing Ltd) ISBN 978-9979929307

External links

• Editions available from Old Norse Workfiles by Michael Irlenbusch-Reynard.
• Jómsvíkinga saga in modern Icelandic from heimskringla.no
• The Jómsvíkinga saga in modern Icelandic from snerpa.is (text identical to the above)