Fóstbrœðra saga or The Saga of the Sworn Brothers is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It relates the deeds of the sworn brothers Þorgeirr and Þormóðr in early 11th centuryIceland and abroad. Þorgeirr is a capable and insanely brave warrior. He kills people for trifles and for sport. Þormóðr is a more complicated character; warrior, trouble-maker, womanizer and poet. The saga contains poetry attributed to him, including parts of a lay on his blood brother.
Manuscripts and dating
The saga survives in three early manuscripts. Each has a rather different version of the text:
The date of composition of the lost written archetype of Fóstbrœðra saga has been the subject of considerable dispute. Sigurður Nordal argued for ca. 1200 whereas Jónas Kristjánsson argued for the end of the century. There is no clear consensus, though Andersson's 2013 analysis preferred an early dating of 'presumably not much later than 1200'. A long-standing controversy centers on which manuscripts represent the most original version. In particular, the debate has focused on several unusual "clauses" or asides in the saga which do not fit in with conventional saga style. These have been understood both as late interpolations and as signs of an early, developing saga style. The skaldic stanzas attributed to Þormóðr kolbrúnarskáld Bersason appear genuine ; he would have composed ca. 1010-1030.
The saga of the Sworn Brothers, Thorgeir and Thormod, occupies a position of secondary importance among the Old Icelandic family sagas—at least, it is not a favorite. There are good reasons for this: it does not have the scope and weight of such sagas as Njála, Eigla, Laxdæla, nor the depth and classic form of such as Hrafnkels saga, GÃsla saga, Thorsteins saga hvÃta; nor do students of Germanic antiquities value it because of any wealth of specific information on the history, religion, culture, laws of the Old North.
However, the saga has recently come to critical attention for the range and detail of its portrayals of women.
Influence
The saga is the basis for Halldór Laxness's novel Gerpla, and a key source for Dauðans óvissi tÃmi, a 2004 novel by Þráinn Bertelsson.
Editions
Björn K. Þórólfsson, Fóstbrœðra saga, Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 49
Translations
The Sagas of Kormák and the Sworn Brothers, trans. by Lee M. Hollander, pp. 83–176.
The Saga of the Sworn Brothers. Translated by Martin S. Regal. In: Viðar Hreinsson : The Complete Sagas of Icelanders including 49 Tales. ReykjavÃk: Leifur EirÃksson Publishing, 1997. Volume II, pp. 329–402..
The Saga of the Sworn Brothers. https://www.facebook.com/notes/norseviking-history/the-saga-of-the-sworn-brothers/1929359730645601/
Andersson, Theodore M., 'Redating Fóstbrœðra saga ', in Dating the Sagas: Reviews and Revisions, ed. by Else Mundal, pp. 55–76.
Harris, Richard L. "'Jafnan segir inn rÃkri ráð': Proverbial Allusion and the Implied Proverb in Fóstbrœðra saga." In , edited by Jeffrey Turco, 61-97. Islandica 58. Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2015. http://cip.cornell.edu/cul.isl/1458045711
Jónas Kristjánsson, Um fóstbræðrasögu, Rit, 1
Poole, Russell, Skaldsagas: Text, Vocation, and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets, Erganzungsbande Zum Reallexikon Der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 27
