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Óðinn Riding Sleipnir

Óðinn Riding Sleipnir

  • Creator: Gerhard Munthe 1849-1929
  • Description: This vignette is a depiction of Óðinn riding Sleipnir in Chapter 12 of Harald Hårfagres Saga, the third saga in Kongesagaer, in Gustav Storm 's Norwegian translation of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The illustration accompanies a verse from the late 9th-century skaldic poem Ynglingatal, which Samuel Laing rendered in his 1844 English translation of Heimskringla as:
    • He who stood a rooted oak,
    • Unshaken by the swordsman's stroke,
    • Amidst the whiz of arrows slain,
    • Has fallen upon Fjalar's plain.
    • There, by the ocean's rocky shore,
    • The waves are stained with the red gore
    • Of stout Earl Hakon Grjotgard's son,
    • And of brave warriors many a one.
    (http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/ )
    The verse refers to Hákon Grjotgardsson, who was also known as Hákon jarl hinn riki, who died at the Battle of Fjalir.
  • Source: Kongesagaer
  • Folio or Page: 54
  • Medium: pen and ink drawing printed by means of zincography
  • Date: 1899
  • Dimensions (mm): 55 x 43
  • 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 . Lee M. Hollander . Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Print.
    • ―. Samuel Laing . The Heimskringla: Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844. Print.
    • ― Gustav Storm . Kongesagaer. 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-054-01-vgNet
  • Download size: 508 KB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Snorri Sturluson   Laing, Samuel   Kongesagaer (1899 ed.)   Heimskringla, History of the Kings of Norway   Haralds saga hins hárfagra, Saga of Harald the Fairhaired   Munthe, Gerhard   Ynglingatal   Óðinn, Odin   Sleipnir   Huginn   Muninn   Gungnir   hrafn, raven   hestr, horse   spjót, spear  

Editions

  • Sturluson, Snorri . Lee M. Hollander . Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Print.
  • ―. Samuel Laing . The Heimskringla: Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844. Print.
  • ― Gustav Storm . Kongesagaer. 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.
Óðinn (non.)
Odin (en.)
The chief god of the Æsir is The Prose Edda. However, in Heimskringla he is a mortal who tricks the King of Sweden into believing that he is a god.
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.
Haralds saga hins hárfagra Harald Hårfagres Saga Saga of Harald the Fairhaired This is the third saga in Heimskringla.
Sleipnir (non.)
Óðinn´s eight-legged horse which Loki bore after mating with the Giant Builder's stallion Svaðilfari.
Huginn (non.)
Huginn is one of Óðinn´s pair of ravens that he sends out in the morning to gather news and whisper it into his ears when they came back. Huginn's name means "thought."
Muninn (non.)
Muninn is one of Óðinn´s pair of ravens that he sends out in the morning to gather news and whisper it into his ears when they came back. Muninn's name means "memory."
Gungnir (non.)
Óðinn's spear whose name means "swaying one."
hrafn raven
hestr horse
spjót spear