Bergbúa þáttr
Bergbúa þáttr ('The Tale of the Mountain-Dweller') is a short medieval Icelandic tale (þáttr).[1] It tells of Þórðr and his companion who get lost on their way to church one winter and take refuge in a cave.[1] Once inside, after they have settled down for the evening, they hear noises from the back of the cave.[1] Later they see two huge eyes and hear a voice which recites a poem of twelve stanzas,[1] now known as Hallmundarkviða.[2] The speaker of these verses refers to himself as a giant, and repeats the poem three time across the course of the night.[1] The giant instructs the humans to remember the poem or suffer a forfeit.[1] Þórðr memorises the poem but his companion does not and subsequently dies the following year.[1]
Hallmundarkviða makes many references to volcanic activity,[3] and it has been suggested that it may refer to a specific Icelandic volcanic eruption. Determining which depends on the date of the poem. Bergbúa þáttr was probably written some time in the thirteenth century,[1] but Hallmundarkviða may be considerably older.[4] Guðmundur Finnbogason suggested that it may refer to the 1262 eruption at Sólheimajökull.[4] The name Hallmundarkviða is only attested from 1844[4] but it has been proposed that the poem refers to the tenth century eruption at Hallmundarhraun.[4][5]
The text survives in fragmentary form in AM 564a 4to[4][6] (Pseudo-Vatnshyrna) and in paper copies made by Árni Magnússon of the Vatnshyrna manuscript, which was destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728.[7] It is unusual amongst þættir for not being preserved as part of the kings' sagas manuscripts Flateyjarbók and Morkinskinna.[8] Kumlbúa þáttr, which is thematically similar to Bergbúa þáttr, was likewise recorded outside of the kings' sagas manuscripts in Vatnshyrna and Pseudo-Vatnshyrna.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lindow, John (2002) [2001]. Norse mythology: A guide to gods, heroes, rituals, and beliefs. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN 0195153820.
- ^ "skaldic project". abdn.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- ^ Nordvig, A. Mathias Valentin (2013). Of fire and water: The Old Norse mythical worldview in an eco-mythological perspective. Aarhus University (PhD dissertation). p. 123.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e Nordvig, A. Mathias Valentin (2013). Of fire and water: The Old Norse mythical worldview in an eco-mythological perspective. Aarhus University (PhD dissertation). p. 124.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Lindow, John (2014). Trolls: An unnatural history. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 31, 147–148. ISBN 9781780232898.
- Lindow refers to the work of Árni Hjartarson, now published as Árni Hjartarson (2014). "Hallmundarkviða, eldforn lýsing á eldgosi". Náttúrufræðingurinn. 84: 27–37.
- An association between the poem and the Hallmundarhraun eruption was made earlier, here: Pál Bergþórsson (2006-03-25). "Þýtr í þungu grjóti: þrír eskimars svíra". Lesbók Morgunblaðsins. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- ^ McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 690. ISBN 0824047877.
- ^ McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 689. ISBN 0824047877.
- ^ a b Ármann Jakobsson (2013). "The life and death of the medieval Icelandic short story". JEGP, Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 112: 279.
External links
- Guðni Jónsson's edition at heimskringla.no
- Edition with modern Icelandic spelling at snerpa.is
- v
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- Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu
- Arnórs þáttr jarlaskálds
- Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka
- Bergbúa þáttr
- Bolla þáttr Bollasonar
- Brandkrossa þáttr
- Brands þáttr örva
- Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar
- Egils þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar
- Einars þáttr Skúlasonar
- Eiríks þáttr rauða
- Geirmundar þáttr
- Gísls þáttr Illugasonar
- Grœnlendinga þáttr (I)
- Grœnlendinga þáttr (II)/Einars þáttr Sokkasonar
- Gull-Ásu-Þórðar þáttr
- Gunnars þáttr Þiðrandabana
- Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn fyrri
- Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn síðari
- Hallfreðar þáttr vandræðaskálds
- Hauks þáttr hábrókar
- Hrafns þáttr Guðrúnarsonar
- Hreiðars þáttr
- Hrómundar þáttr halta
- Íslendings þáttr sögufróða
- Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar
- Jökuls þáttr Búasonar
- Kjartans þáttr Ólafssonar
- Kristni þáttr
- Kumlbúa þáttr
- Mána þáttr skálds
- Odds þáttr Ófeigssonar
- Orms þáttr Stórólfssonar
- Óttars þáttr svarta
- Rauðs þáttr hins ramma
- Rauðúlfs þáttr
- Rögnvalds þáttr ok Rauðs
- Sneglu-Halla þáttr
- Steins þáttr Skaptasonar
- Stefnis þáttr Þorgilssonar
- Stjörnu-Odda draumr
- Stúfs þáttr inn meiri
- Stúfs þáttr inn skemmri
- Svaða þáttr ok Arnórs kerlingarnefs
- Sveins þáttr ok Finns
- Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls
- Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar
- Þorleifs þáttr jarlaskálds
- Þormóðar þáttr
- Þorsteins þáttr Austfirðings
- Þorsteins þáttr forvitna
- Þorsteins þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar
- Þorsteins þáttr skelks
- Þorsteins þáttr stangarhöggs
- Þorsteins þáttr sögufróða
- Þorsteins þáttr tjaldstœðings
- Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts
- Þorvalds þáttr tasalda
- Þorvalds þáttr víðförla
- Þorvarðar þáttr krákunefs
- Þórarins þáttr Nefjólfssonar
- Þórarins þáttr ofsa
- Þórarins þáttr stuttfeldar
- Þórhalls þáttr knapps
- Ævi Snorra goða
- Ögmundar þáttr dytts
- Ölkofra þáttr
- Ásbjarnar þáttr Selsbana
- Helga þáttr ok Úlfs
- Helga þáttr Þórissonar
- Norna-Gests þáttr
- Ragnarssona þáttr
- Sörla þáttr
- Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
- Völsa þáttr
- Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns
- Brenna Adams byskups
- Eindriða þáttr ok Erlings
- Eymundar þáttr hrings
- Eymundar þáttr af Skörum
- Hálfdanar þáttr svarta
- Haralds þáttr grenska
- Haralds þáttr hárfagra
- Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar
- Hróa þáttr heimska
- Ísleifs þáttr byskups
- Knúts þáttr hins ríka
- Orkneyinga þáttr
- Otto þáttr keisara
- Ólafs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs
- Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa