Feud in the Icelandic Saga

by Byock, Jesse L.

• ISBN13: 9780520082595
• ISBN10: 0520082591
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-02-01
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

Feud stands at the core of the Old Icelandic sagas. Jesse Byock shows how the dominant concern of medieval Icelandic society--the channeling of violence into accepted patterns of feud and the regulation of conflict--is reflected in the narrative of the family sagas and theSturlunga sagacompilation. This comprehensive study of narrative structure demonstrates that the sagas are complex expressions of medieval social thought.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	1	(23)
Feud in Saga Narrative: Its Roots in Icelandic Society	24	(23)
The Syntax of Narrative Elements	47	(16)
Units of Travel and Information and the Feudeme of Conflict	63	(11)
The Feudeme of Advocacy	74	(24)
The Feudeme of Resolution	98	(16)
Feud Clusters and Feud Chains	114	(29)
The Importance of Land in Saga Feud	143	(18)
Two Sets of Feud Chains in Njals saga	161	(30)
Saga Narrative with Low Cluster Density	191	(14)
Conclusion	205	(72)
Appendixes
A. A Brief Account of Legal and Social Terms	209	(13)
B. Examples of Conflict	222	(23)
Material Sources of Conflict	223	(11)
Nonmaterial Sources of Conflict	234	(11)
C. Examples of Advocacy	245	(14)
Brokerage	245	(9)
Self-Advocacy	254	(2)
Goading	256	(1)
Information Passing	257	(2)
D. Examples of Resolution	259	(18)
Arbitration	260	(5)
Direct Resolution	265	(7)
Rejected Resolution	272	(5)
Index	277