The Eufemiavisorna are a group of three medieval romances translated into medieval Swedish : Herr Ivan lejonriddaren (1303), Hertig Fredrik av Normandie (1301 or 1308), and Flores och Blanzeflor (probably 1312). They are known in Swedish (and generally in English) as the Eufemiavisorna , 'the Euphemia poems' (or, without the definite article, the Eufemiavisor ) or, less commonly, Eufemiaromanerna , 'the Euphemia romances'; they are known in Norwegian ( bokmål ) as the Eufemiavisene and in Danish as Eufemiaviserne . The romances are an early example of the poetic form known as Knittelvers ; are the first known Scandinavian renderings of Continental European chivalric romance in verse; and are among the first major works of literature in Swedish.
28-558: Scandinavian translations of Continental European romance began with prose translations in the Norwegian court. The Eufemiavisorna represent a further stage of adaptation of Romance, using verse. They are named after Norway's Queen Euphemia of Rügen (1270–1312): in the fullest manuscript attestations, there is a colophon at the end of each romance indicating that she commissioned the translations. The translations are thought to represent Euphemia's effort to bring Continental courtly culture to
56-421: A further stage of adaptation of Romance, using verse. They are named after Norway's Queen Euphemia of Rügen (1270–1312): in the fullest manuscript attestations, there is a colophon at the end of each romance indicating that she commissioned the translations. The translations are thought to represent Euphemia's effort to bring Continental courtly culture to the royal court of Sweden. It is not known who translated
84-722: A group of three medieval romances translated into medieval Swedish : Herr Ivan lejonriddaren (1303), Hertig Fredrik av Normandie (1301 or 1308), and Flores och Blanzeflor (probably 1312). They are known in Swedish (and generally in English) as the Eufemiavisorna , 'the Euphemia poems' (or, without the definite article, the Eufemiavisor ) or, less commonly, Eufemiaromanerna , 'the Euphemia romances'; they are known in Norwegian ( bokmål ) as
112-514: Is Erik Julius Biörner's Nordiska kämpa dater of 1737. The most comprehensive guide to the manuscripts, editions, translations, and secondary literature of this body of sagas is Kalinke and Mitchell's 1985 Bibliography of Old Norse-Icelandic Romances . The genre received a fairly substantial survey in Margaret Schlauch's 1934 Romance in Iceland , since when the main monograph studies of
140-456: Is 6,645 lines and, in the assessment of Gösta Holm, The reason for the 3,310-line translation of Hertig Fredrik av Normandie (1308) is not known, and it may not originally have belonged to the Eufemiavisorna . 'On the whole, it is more artistic than its Swedish forerunner, Herr Ivan .' No direct source for this romance survives, but 'the end of the poem states that it was first translated aff walsko j tytzt mall ("from French into German"), at
168-456: Is 6,645 lines and, in the assessment of Gösta Holm, The reason for the 3,310-line translation of Hertig Fredrik av Normandie (1308) is not known, and it may not originally have belonged to the Eufemiavisorna . 'On the whole, it is more artistic than its Swedish forerunner, Herr Ivan .' No direct source for this romance survives, but 'the end of the poem states that it was first translated aff walsko j tytzt mall ("from French into German"), at
196-497: Is a probably complete list of original medieval Icelandic chivalric sagas. Romance sagas continued to be composed in Iceland after the Middle Ages in the tradition of the medieval texts; ten are believed to have been penned, for example, by the priest Jón Oddsson Hjaltalín (1749-1835). There are thought to be about 150 post-medieval examples. The following is an incomplete list: Eufemiavisorna The Eufemiavisorna are
224-408: Is a reference to "Frásagnir...svo sem...Þiðreks saga, Flóvenz saga eðr aðrar riddarasögur", "narratives such as the saga of Þiðrekr, the saga of Flóvent, or other knights' sagas". Another technical term sometimes encountered is lygisögur (singular lygisaga ), "lie sagas", applied to fictional chivalric and legendary sagas . The first known Old Norse translations of European romances occurred under
252-491: Is similarly attributed to an Abbot Robert, presumably the same man having been promoted within his order. King Hákon also commissioned Möttuls saga , an adaptation of Le mantel mautaillé , Ívens saga , a reworking of Chrétien de Troyes 's Yvain and Strengleikar , a collection of ballads principally by Marie de France . Works in similar style, which may also have been commissioned by King Hákon, are Parcevals saga , Valvens þáttr and Erex saga , all derived from
280-442: Is unusual in having been translated from German. These Old Norse translations have been characterised by Margaret Clunies Ross thus: Inspired by translated Continental romances, Icelanders began enthusiastically composing their own romance-sagas, apparently around the later thirteenth century, with the genre flourishing from the fourteenth century. The rise of the genre has been associated with Iceland coming under Norwegian rule in
308-543: The Eufemiavisene and in Danish as Eufemiaviserne . The romances are an early example of the poetic form known as Knittelvers ; are the first known Scandinavian renderings of Continental European chivalric romance in verse; and are among the first major works of literature in Swedish. Scandinavian translations of Continental European romance began with prose translations in the Norwegian court. The Eufemiavisorna represent
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#1732837076522336-506: The Svenska fornskriftsällskapet in 1844-53; a new critical edition of Flores and Blanzeflor was published in 1921; of Hertig Fredrik av Normandie in 1927; and Herr Ivan lejonriddaren in 1930: Chivalric sagas The riddarasögur (literally 'sagas of knights', also known in English as 'chivalric sagas', 'romance-sagas', 'knights' sagas', 'sagas of chivalry') are Norse prose sagas of
364-689: The romance genre . Starting in the thirteenth century with Norse translations of French chansons de geste and Latin romances and histories, the genre expanded in Iceland to indigenous creations in a similar style. While the riddarasögur were widely read in Iceland for many centuries they have traditionally been regarded as popular literature inferior in artistic quality to the Icelanders' sagas and other indigenous genres. Receiving little attention from scholars of Old Norse literature , many remain untranslated. The production of chivalric sagas in Scandinavia
392-446: The 1260s, and the consequent need for Icelandic ecclesiastical and secular elites to explore Icelanders' new identities as vassals to a king. These new political formations particularly affected the marriage market for elite Icelanders, making gender politics a central theme of many romances. One seminal composition, directly or indirectly influential on many subsequent sagas, seems to have been Klári saga , whose prologue states that it
420-479: The Norwegian translation of the French, Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr . The Eufemiavisorna were translated into Danish in the last quarter of the fifteenth century; there are two other independent Danish versions of Ywain . According to Gösta Holm, 'The style, rhyme technique, and vocabulary of the Eufemiavisorna are to a great extent influenced by German patterns; the translator(s) must have been acquainted with
448-427: The Norwegian translation of the French, Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr . The Eufemiavisorna were translated into Danish in the last quarter of the fifteenth century; there are two other independent Danish versions of Ywain . According to Gösta Holm, 'The style, rhyme technique, and vocabulary of the Eufemiavisorna are to a great extent influenced by German patterns; the translator(s) must have been acquainted with
476-587: The culture of the South. Thus, French originals have had a surprisingly insignificant influence on the form of the Eufemiavisorna .' The Danish translations of the Swedish Eufemiavisorna derive from lost manuscripts closer to the archetypes than our surviving Swedish ones, and therefore have an independent text-critical value for reconstructing the Swedish translations. Swedish versions: Danish versions: The Eufemiavisorna were first printed in Swedish by
504-473: The culture of the South. Thus, French originals have had a surprisingly insignificant influence on the form of the Eufemiavisorna .' The Danish translations of the Swedish Eufemiavisorna derive from lost manuscripts closer to the archetypes than our surviving Swedish ones, and therefore have an independent text-critical value for reconstructing the Swedish translations. Swedish versions: Danish versions: The Eufemiavisorna were first printed in Swedish by
532-459: The genre have been Astrid van Nahl's Originale Riddarasögur als Teil altnordischer Sagaliteratur , Jürg Glauser's Isländische Märchensagas , Marianne Kalinke's Bridal-Quest Romance in Medieval Iceland , and Geraldine Barnes's The Bookish Riddarasögur . Kalinke and Mitchell's Bibliography of Old Norse-Icelandic Romances lists the following translated riddarasögur : The following
560-458: The instance of Emperor Otto . This information is generally accepted by scholars, although no German text is known'. The translation of the anonymous Old French Floris and Blancheflour as the 2,192-line Flores och Blanzeflor seems to have been composed in 1312 and in Munch's theory may have marked Ingeborg's successful marriage in 1312 to Eric, Duke of Södermanland . The translation is based on
588-408: The instance of Emperor Otto . This information is generally accepted by scholars, although no German text is known'. The translation of the anonymous Old French Floris and Blancheflour as the 2,192-line Flores och Blanzeflor seems to have been composed in 1312 and in Munch's theory may have marked Ingeborg's successful marriage in 1312 to Eric, Duke of Södermanland . The translation is based on
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#1732837076522616-426: The patronage of king Hákon Hákonarson of Norway, and seem to have been part of a programme of Europeanisation. The earliest dated work is a 1226 translation by one Brother Robert of Tristan by Thomas of Britain . The Old Norse work, Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar , is especially valuable since the original Old French poem is only preserved in fragments. Elis saga ok Rósamundu , a translation of Elie de Saint Gille ,
644-410: The poems, but scholarly consensus supports the idea that there was one, clerical translator, intimately familiar with German Knittel forms. According to Peter Andreas Munch 's generally accepted theory, the translation of Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain as Herr Ivan lejonriddaren celebrated the betrothal of Euphemia's daughter Ingeborg 's abortive betrothal to Magnus Birgerson in 1302. Herr Ivan
672-469: The royal court of Sweden. It is not known who translated the poems, but scholarly consensus supports the idea that there was one, clerical translator, intimately familiar with German Knittel forms. According to Peter Andreas Munch 's generally accepted theory, the translation of Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain as Herr Ivan lejonriddaren celebrated the betrothal of Euphemia's daughter Ingeborg 's abortive betrothal to Magnus Birgerson in 1302. Herr Ivan
700-425: The twentieth century. They were often reworked as rímur , and new chivalric sagas in the same mould as medieval ones continued to be composed into the nineteenth century. Particularly during the eighteenth century, some chivalric sagas were taken to be useful historical sources for the history of Sweden and Denmark, underpinning their imperial aspirations, and were printed in these countries. One prominent example
728-732: The works of Chrétien de Troyes. Karlamagnús saga is a compilation of more disparate origin, dealing with Charlemagne and his twelve paladins and drawing on historiographical material as well as chansons de geste. Other works believed to derive from French originals are Bevers saga , Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr , Flóvents saga and Partalopa saga . Pseudo-historical works translated from Latin are Alexanders saga (a translation of Alexandreis ), Amícus saga ok Amilíus (based on Vincent of Beauvais 's Speculum historiale ), Breta sögur (a translation of Historia Regum Britanniae ), and Trójumanna saga (a translation of De excidio Troiae ). Also pseudo-historical, Þiðreks saga af Bern
756-472: Was focused on Norway in the thirteenth century and then Iceland in the fourteenth. Vernacular Danish and Swedish romances came to prominence rather later and were generally in verse; the most famous of these are the Eufemiavisorna , themselves predominantly translations of Norwegian translations of Continental European romances. The term riddarasögur (singular riddarasaga ) occurs in Mágus saga jarls where there
784-525: Was translated from a Latin metrical work which Jón Halldórsson Bishop of Skálholt found in France, but which is now thought to have been composed by Jón from scratch. Jón's work seems to have been one of the inspirations for the fourteenth-century North Icelandic Benedictine School which, while most clearly associated with religious writing, also seems to have involved romance-writing. Chivalric sagas remained in widespread manuscript circulation in Iceland into
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