Description: This rectangular vignette depicts the deaths of King
Álfr and his
brother King
Yngvi which
occurred in the presence of Queen
Bera, who was
the wife of King
Yngvi. This
episode takes place in Chapter 21 of Ynglingesoga, the first saga in Kongesagaer, in Gustav
Storm's Norwegian translation
of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla.
Source: Kongesagaer
Folio or Page: 20
Medium: pen and ink drawing printed by means of
zincography
Date: 1899
Dimensions (mm): 90 x 65
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.
Historical Persons, i.e. from Heimskringla, Saxo, sagas etc.
Bera (non.)
Aqueen in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in
Heimskringla, who caused her
husband and her brother-in-law to kill each other.
Yngvi (non.)
A king in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in
Heimskringla. He was in the
habit of drinking with Queen Bera, who was the wife of his brother, King
Álfr. Late one night, King Álfr attacked and mortally wounded King Yngvi
who managed to draw his sword and kill King Álfr. Snorri mentions Yngvi
as one of Oðinn's son in his introduction to the Prose Edda. According
to Snorri, Yngvi was a King of Sweden and the progenitor of the
legendary Yngling dynasty.
Álfr (non.)
Alf (en.)
A king in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in
Heimskringla. He was jealous
that his wife, Queen Bera, preferred to stay up drinking in the evenings
with his brother, King Yngvi rather than going to bed with her husband.
As he was dying, King Yngvi drew his sword and killed King Álfr.
Source Materials:
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.
