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The Death of Vísburr

The Death of Vísburr

  • Creator: Gerhard Munthe 1849-1929
  • Description: This vignette depicts The death of King Vísburr in Chapter 14 of Ynglingesoga, the first saga in Kongesagaer, in Gustav Storm 's Norwegian translation of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The illustration is based on Snorri's use of lines from the late 9th-century skaldic poem Ynglingatal, which Samuel Laing rendered in his 1844 English translation of Heimskringla as:
    • Have the fire-dogs' fierce tongues yelling
    • Lapt Visbur's blood on his own hearth?
    • Have the flames consumed the dwelling
    • Of the here's soul on earth?
    • Madly ye acted, who set free
    • The forest foe, red fire, night thief,
    • Fell brother of the raging sea,
    • Against your father and your chief
    (http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/ )
  • Source: Kongesagaer
  • Folio or Page: 15
  • Medium: pen and ink drawing printed by means of zincography
  • Date: 1899
  • Dimensions (mm): 40 x 45
  • 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:

    Editions

    • Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Lee M. Hollander, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Print.
    • ― The Heimskringla: Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Samuel Laing, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844. Print.
    • ― Kongesagaer. Translated by Gustav Storm, Kristiania: J. M. Stenersen, 1899. Print.

    Secondary Sources

    • Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957. Print.
  • Identity Number: SKng-1899-Oslo-015-02-vgNet
  • Download size: 184 KB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Snorri Sturluson   Laing, Samuel   Kongesagaer (1899 ed.)   Heimskringla, History of the Kings of Norway   Munthe, Gerhard   Ynglinga saga, Saga of the Ynglings   Ynglingatal   Vísburr, Visbur  

Editions

  • Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Lee M. Hollander, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Print.
  • ― The Heimskringla: Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Samuel Laing, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844. Print.
  • ― Kongesagaer. Translated by Gustav Storm, Kristiania: J. M. Stenersen, 1899. Print.

Secondary Sources

  • Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957. Print.
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.
Vísburr (non.)
Visbur (en.)
A king in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in Heimskringla, who was burned to death in his hall by his sons because he had rejected their mother and refused to return her dowery.
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.
Laing, Samuel (en.)
b. 1780
d. 1868
Occupation: writer and translator
Laing translated Heimskringla into English in 1844.
Kongesagaer (1899 ed.) The first edition of Gustaf Storm's Norwegian translation of Heimskringla.
Heimskringla History of the Kings of Norway 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).
Ynglingatal A skaldic poem that was composed in the ninth century by the
 Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr af Hvini and is best known from Snorri Sturluson's use of it in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in Heimskringla.
Ynglinga saga Ynglingesoga Saga of the Ynglings The first saga in Heimskringla, which is based the nineth-century skaldic poem, Ynglingatal, concerning the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings.