Description: This illustrated title header is from Ynglingesoga, the first saga in Kongesagaer, in Gustav
Storm's Norwegian translation
of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The iconography involving beasts of
battle such as the raven and the wolves is evocative of Fimbulvetr, a period of war and chaos that precedes
Ragnarök in Norse mythology.
Source: Kongesagaer
Folio or Page: 5
Medium: pen and ink drawing printed by means of
zincography
Date: 1899
Dimensions (mm): 155 x 75
Provenance:
This copy of Kongesagaer contains the signature of
Halldor C.
Espe and the date 1900 on the second page along with the note
"Ac 134" in the upper left hand corner. This is not a deluxe
edition, it has a plain black cover with gilt lettering on the spine
and a red and black title page but does not have any decorative page
borders. Page #21 is misnumbered as #22. The pages of this copy
appear to be of a more durable quality paper than those of the copy
in the Urbana-Champaign Library (Q. 839.6 SN5HDAS1899) which are now
very fragile.
P.A. Baer purchased this copy of Kongesagaer in
Oslo in 2008.
Rights:
Illustrations from the 1899 edition of Kongesagaer are in the Public Domain.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Sturluson,
Snorri.
Kongesagaer.
Translated by
Gustav
Storm,
Kristiania: J. M.
Stenersen, 1899.
Secondary Sources
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Sturluson,
Snorri. The
Heimskringla: Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway.
Translated by
Samuel
Laing,
London: Longman, Brown, Green, and
Longmans, 1844.
―. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway.
Translated by
Lee M.
Hollander,
Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1964.
Jörmungandr (non.)
Jormungand (en.)
A monstrous serpent who is the progeny of Loki and the giantess
Angrboða. This serpent is also known as Miðgarðsormr and, in English,
the Midgard Serpent.
Miðgarðsormr (non.)
Midgard
Serpent (en.)
A monstrous serpent who is the progeny of Loki and the giantess
Angrboða. This serpent is also known as Jörmungandr and in English as
the Midgard Serpent.
Mythological Events
Fimbulvetr (non.)
The series of three unusually harsh winters, without intervening
seasons, that preceded Ragnarök.
Ragnarök (non.)
Ragnarok (en.)
The final great battle between the gods and the giants.
Heimskringla (is.)
History of the Kings of Norway (en.)
This account of the history of the kings of Norway and is generally
believed to have been written by Snorri Sturluson in Iceland in 1230. It
begins with the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings, who were the
subject matter of the skaldic poem Ynglingtal, and ends with the reign
of the Norwegian king, Magnus Erlingson (died 1184).
Kongesagaer (1899 ed.) (no.)
The first edition of Gustaf Storm's Norwegian translation of Heimskringla. Of the two hundred and
twenty illustrations for the 1899 edition Werenskiold drew fifty-seven,
Krohg forty- seven, Wetlesen forty-three, Egedius thirty-seven, Munthe
twenty-seven, and Peterssen eight.
Ynglinga saga (is.)
Ynglingesoga (no.)
Saga of the Ynglings (en.)
The first saga in Heimskringla.
It was based on the ninth-century skaldic poem Ynglingatal and concerns
the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings.
Source Persons
Munthe,
Gerhard (no.)
b. 1849
d. 1929
Nationality: Norwegian
Occupation: illustrator
Residence: Oslo
Munthe was one of the main illustrator's for Gustav Storm's editions
of Kongesagaer in 1899 and 1900.
Snorri
Sturluson (is.)
b. 1179
d. 1241
Nationality: Icelandic
Snorri was an Icelandic statesman, scholar, and author who is credited
with writing Heimskringla, The
Prose Edda, and possibly Egil's
Saga.
