Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu

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Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu, also known as Seljumanna þáttr,[1] is a short tale (þáttr) about the Irish princess Sunniva who, not wishing to marry a heathen king, flees to the Norwegian island of Selje with her brother Albanus and a number of followers. The residents of the island suspect Sunniva and her companions of killing their livestock and ask Jarl Hákon to kill these ‘bandits’. On seeing Jarl Hákon and his men approach, Sunniva and her companions retreat to their caves and pray that God will not allow them to be killed by the evil men. In answer to their prayers, the caves collapse on the group. Their bodies stay buried until discovered by Olaf Tryggvason, who has them exhumed and has a church built in dedication to them. Together with Sörla þáttr, Tóka þáttr Tókasonar, Norna-gests þáttr and Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, the tale is part of a subgenre of "pagan-contact þættir".[2]

The tale is recorded in

Acta sanctorum in Selio.[3]

Albanus was identified in Norwegian tradition with

monastery at Selje was dedicated.[4] However, the original dedication to Alban at Selje may not have been to the British saint, but a German saint of the same name.[4]

Bibliography

A full bibliography can be found in Wolf, Kirsten (2013). The legends of the saints in Old Norse-Icelandic prose. Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press. pp. 342–349.

.

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar

Manuscripts

  • AM 310 4to
  • Stock. Perg. 4to no. 18

Editions

Translation

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta

Manuscripts

Editions

  • Finnur Jónsson, ed. (1930). Flateyjarbók (Codex Flateyensis: MS No 1005 fol. in the Old Royal Collection in the Royal Library of Copenhagen. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard.
  • Lindblad, Gustaf, ed. (1963). Bergsbók: Perg. fol. nr. 1 in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Copenhagen: Rosenhilde and Bagger.
  • Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. (1958–61). Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ, Ser. A. Vol. 1–2. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. pp. 313–322.
  • Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. (1982). The great saga of Olaf Tryggvason and Olaf the Saint: AM 61 fol. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger.

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Rowe, Elizabeth Ashman (1998). "Cultural paternity in the Flateyjarbók Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar" (PDF). Alvíssmál. 8: 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-10. This subgenre (without the inclusion of Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts) was first identified in Harris, Joseph (1980). "Folktale and thattr: The case of Rognvald and Raud" (PDF). Folklore Forum. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-06.
  3. . Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  4. ^ a b Frankis, John (1998–2001). "From saint's life to saga: The fatal walk of Alfred Ætheling, Saint Amphibalus, and the Viking bróðir" (PDF). Saga-Book. XXV: 132–133. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-11.