Jesse L. Byock

Feud in the Icelandic Saga

$26.95, £15.95 paperback

978-0-520-08259-5

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300 pages,
January 1983, Available worldwide
Categories: Medieval Studies; Literary Studies; Medieval History; Folklore & Mythology

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"Byock has not only succeeded in grounding, in a convincing manner, the social roles of individuals in the sagas, but moreover, he has also laid bare the role of narrative in Old Icelandic society."—Vilhjálmur Arnason, Skírnir

"Byock's thorough inquiry into the Icelandic feud system and its impact on the saga literature is valuable and fruitful in itself. But his specific research work also results in important general conclusions concerning the Icelandic saga as a medieval genre."—Peter Hallberg, International Journal of Scandinavian Studies

"Byock's scholarly ambitions are boldly imaginative and on the cutting edge of the human sciences."—Journal of American Folklore

Feud stands at the core of the Old Icelandic sagas. Jesse Byock shows how the dominant concern of medieval Icelandic society—the channeling of violence into accepted patterns of feud and the regulation of conflict—is reflected in the narrative of the family sagas and the Sturlunga saga compilation. This comprehensive study of narrative structure demonstrates that the sagas are complex expressions of medieval social thought.

Jesse Byock is Professor of Old Norse and Scandinavian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of Medieval Iceland (California, 1988) and translator of The Saga of the Volsungs (California, 1990).

The Saga of the Volsungs, by Jesse L. Byock, translator & introduction by
Medieval Iceland, by Jesse L. Byock