Alexanders saga
{{Short description|Old Norse translation of Walter of Châtillon's Alexandreis}}
{{Italic title}}
Alexanders saga is an Old Norse translation of Alexandreis, an epic Latin poem about the life of Alexander the Great written by Walter of Châtillon, which was itself based on Quintus Curtius Rufus's Historia Alexandri Magni.{{Cite book|title=Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia|last=Wolf|first=Kirsten|publisher=Garland|year=1993|isbn=0824047877|editor-last=Pulsiano|editor-first=Phillip|location=New York|pages=7–8|chapter=Alexanders saga|editor-last2=Wolf|editor-first2=Kirsten}} It is attributed in manuscripts of the saga to Brandr Jónsson, bishop of Skálholt who is also said to have been responsible for authoring Gyðinga saga.{{Cite journal|last=Wolf|first=Kirsten|date=1988|journal=Scandinavian Studies|volume=60|issue=3|pages=371–400|issn=0036-5637|jstor=40918962|title=Gydinga Saga, Alexanders Saga, and Bishop Brande Jónsson}} Kirsten Wolf has commented on the saga's literary qualities thus: "Alexanders saga [...] has stirred the admiration of scholars and writers for centuries because of its exceptionally imaginative use of the resources of language and its engaging narrative style."{{Cite journal|last=Wolf|first=Kirsten|date=2011|title=Review of Alexanders Saga: AM 519a 4o in the Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=110|issue=2|pages=276–278|doi=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.2.0276|issn=0363-6941|jstor=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.2.0276}}
Manuscripts
Alexanders saga is preserved in five medieval Icelandic manuscripts and a number of later manuscripts, of which only Stock. Papp. fol. no. 1 has independent textual value.{{Cite journal|last=Wolf|first=Kirsten|date=2011|title=Review of Alexanders Saga: AM 519a 4o in the Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=110|issue=2|pages=277|doi=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.2.0276|issn=0363-6941|jstor=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.2.0276}} The main manuscript source of the text is AM 519a 4to, dating from 1270-1290.{{Cite web|url=https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0519-a|title=Alexanders saga {{!}} Manuscript {{!}} Handrit.is|website=handrit.is|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027145243/https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0519-a|archive-date=27 October 2019|access-date=2019-10-27}} A fragment of the saga appears in AM 655 XXIX 4to which dates from the same period.{{Cite web|url=https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/AM04-0655-XXIX|title=Alexanders saga {{!}} Manuscript {{!}} Handrit.is|website=handrit.is|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027145428/https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/AM04-0655-XXIX|archive-date=27 October 2019|access-date=2019-10-27}} It is also found in AM 226 fol (and its copy AM 225 fol) which contains the Biblical compilation Stjórn. In these manuscripts Alexanders saga comes after Rómverja saga and before Gyðinga saga.{{Cite web|url=https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/AM02-226|title=Stjórn mm. {{!}} Manuscript {{!}} Handrit.is|website=handrit.is|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026115448/https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/AM02-226|archive-date=26 October 2019|access-date=2019-10-27}}{{Cite web|url=https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/AM02-225|title=Stjórn {{!}} Manuscript {{!}} Handrit.is|website=handrit.is|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026115508/https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/da/AM02-225|archive-date=26 October 2019|access-date=2019-10-27}} In AM 226 fol, AM 225 fol, and Stock. Perg. 4to no. 24 the text is shorter than AM 519a 4to and also contain a translation of Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem.
Kalinke and Mitchell identified the following manuscripts of the saga:Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell, Bibliography of Old Norse–Icelandic Romances, Islandica, 44 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985), p. 21.
Editions
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderssagan00jngoog|title=Alexanders saga: Norsk bearbeidelse fra trettende aarhundrede af Philip Gautiers latinske digt Alexandreis|publisher=Feilberg & Landmark|year=1848|editor-last=Unger|editor-first=C. R.|location=Christiania}}
- {{Cite book|title=Alexanders saga : Islandsk oversættelse ved Brandr Jónsson (biskop til Holar 1263-64)|year=1925|editor-last=Jónsson|editor-first=Finnur|location=Copenhagen}}
- {{Cite book|title=Alexanders saga: The Arna-Magnæan Manuscript 519a, 4to|editor-last=Helgason|editor-first=Jón|location=Copenhagen}}
- {{Cite book|title=Alexandreis: það er Alexanders saga mikla|publisher=Heimskringla|year=1945|editor-last=Laxness|editor-first=Halldór|location=Reykjavík|language=is}}
- {{Cite book|title=Alexandreis, það er, Alexanders saga á íslensku|publisher=Steinholt|year=2002|editor-last=Ingólfsson|editor-first=Gunnlaugur|location=Reykjavík|language=is}}
- {{Cite book|title=Alexanders Saga: AM 519A 4to in the Arnamagnaean Collection, Copenhagen|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|year=2009|editor-last=de Leeuw Weenen|editor-first=Andrea|location=Copenhagen}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book|title=The Ethics of Empire in the Saga of Alexander the Great: a study based on MS AM 519a 4to|last=Ashurst|first=David|publisher=Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands|year=2009|location=Reykjavik}}
- {{Cite journal|last=Ashurst|first=David|date=2000|title=Bleikir Akrar - Snares of the Devil? The Significance of the Pale Cornfields in Alexanders saga|url=http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Saga-Book%20XXV.pdf|journal=Saga-Book|volume=25|pages=272–291|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801054059/http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Saga-Book%20XXV.pdf|archive-date=1 August 2019}}
- {{Cite book|title=A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture|last=Würth|first=Stefanie|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2005|editor-last=McTurk|editor-first=Rory|editor-link=Rory McTurk|location=Malden, Oxford, Victoria|pages=155–172|chapter=Historiography and Pseudo-History}}