Morkinskinna is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275.
The name Morkinskinna means "mouldy parchment" and is originally the name of the manuscript book in which the saga has been preserved. The book itself, GKSDen gamle kongelige Samling. The Old Royal Collection. 1009 fol, is currently in the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen.Morkinskinna in the Royal Danish Library It was brought to Denmark from Iceland by Þormóður Torfason (Tormod Torfæus) in 1662.
The saga was published in English in 2000 in a translation by Theodore M. Andersson and Kari Ellen Gade.Andersson, Theodore Murdock and Kari Ellen Gade (trs.). Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings. 2000.
Contents
The saga starts in 1025 or 1026 and in its received form, ends suddenly in 1157, after the death of King Sigurðr II. Originally, the work may have been longer, possibly continuing until 1177, when the narratives of Fagrskinna and Heimskringla, which use Morkinskinna as one of their sources, end.Thunberg, Carl L. (2011). Särkland och dess källmaterial. Göteborgs universitet. CLTS. pp. 59-67. . Apart from giving the main saga, the text is lavishly interspersed with citations from skaldic verse (about 270 stanzas)For these texts, see Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages . and includes a number of short Icelandic tales known as þættir.On the nature and function of these þættir in Morkinskinna, see Ármann Jakobsson, "The Amplified Saga." The following is an overview of the chapters in Morkinskinna, chronologically subdivided by the reigns of the kings of Norway:The following chapter headings are based on Andersson's and Gade's translation of the text.
Magnús I (r. 1035-1047)
1. Here begins the saga of Magnús and Haraldr [his uncle] 2. Concerning Sveinn 3. Concerning King Magnús's feasts 4. Concerning King Magnús 5. Concerning the declaration of war against Magnús and concerning the Duke 6. King Magnús in Jutland 7. King Magnús's stay in Jutland 8. How King Haraldr set sail when he came to Skáney 9. Concerning Haraldr's travels 10. Concerning Norðbrikt [=Haraldr]'s travels 11. Concerning a declaration of war 12. Concerning the raids of Norðbrikt and jarl Gyrgir 13. Haraldr's journey to Jerusalem 14. Concerning King Magnús's meeting with Haraldr 15. The slandering of Þorkell 16. Concerning King Magnús 17. How King Magnús bestowed a jarldom on Ormr 18. On the dispute between the kings 19. Concerning the kings 20. Concerning Þorsteinn Hallsson 21. Concerning the kings 22. The good counsels of King Haraldr 23. Concerning King Magnús and Margrét 24. Hreiðars þáttr ["The tale of Hreiðarr"] 25. How the kings harried and how the king's mother granted a captive his life 26. King Magnús dies 27. Haraldr's thingmeeting 28. King Magnús's funeral voyage
Haraldr III (r. 1047-1066)
29. Haraldr's thingmeeting 30. Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar 31. [On King Haraldr's campaign in Denmark] 32. Concerning King Haraldr 33. Concerning the disagreement between the king and Einarr Þambarskelfir 34. Concerning an Icelander 35. Concerning King Haraldr's wise counsels 36. How Auðunn from the Westfjords brought King Sveinn a bear [Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka] 37. Concerning King Haraldr and the Upplanders 38. Concerning King Haraldr and Brandr örvi (the Open-Handed) 39. Concerning King Haraldr 40. Concerning the storytelling of an Icelander [Íslendings þáttr sögufróða] 41. Concerning Þorvarðr krákunel's gift of a sail to King Haraldr 42. Concerning King Haraldr and Hákon 43. Sneglu-Halla þáttr. 44. [The king encounters a man in a boat] 45. [Concerning King Haraldr and a dear friend of Tryggvi Óláfsson] 46. [Concerning Gizurr Ísleifsson] 47. Concerning Stúfr enn blindi 48. Concerning Oddr Ófeigsson 49. How it came about that King Haraldr journeyed to the West 50. The treachery against King Haraldr 51. Óláfr Haraldsson's return to Norway 52. The death of King Harold Godwinson
Óláfr III (r. 1067-1093) 53. The saga of King Óláfr kyrri "the Quiet" 54. Concerning King Óláfr and the Kráku-karl (Crow Man)
Magnús III (r. 1093-1103)
55. The Saga of King Magnús berfœttr 56. Concerning King Magnús and Sveinki Steinarsson 57. Concerning King Magnús's harrying 58. Concerning King Magnús 59. Concerning King Magnús's death
Sigurðr I, Óláfr and Eysteinn I (r. 1103-1130)
60. The beginning of the rule of King Magnús's sons 61. The story of King Sigurðr's adventures 62. Concerning the gifts of Emperor Kirjalax (Alexius I Komnenos) 63. Concerning King Sigurðr's feast 64. Concerning King Eysteinn 65. Concerning King Eysteinn and Ívarr 66. Concerning the king's genealogies 67. Concerning King Sigurðr's dream 68. The dealings of King Eysteinn and Ingimarr with Ásu-Þórðr 69. The death of King Óláfr Magnússon 70. An account of legal dealings between King Sigurðr and King Eysteinn (Þinga saga) 71. The contest of the kings 72. Concerning Þórarinn stuttfeldr 73. Concerning the death of King Eysteinn 74. Concerning King Sigurðr and Óttarr 75. Concerning King Sigurðr and Erlendr 76. Concerning Haraldr gilli 77. Concerning King Sigurðr and Áslák hani (Rooster) 78. Concerning King Sigurðr 79. Concerning the bet between Magnús and Haraldr 80. Concerning King Sigurðr and Bishop Magni 81. The Death of King Sigurðr
Haraldr IV (r. 1130-6) and Magnús IV (r. 1130-5, 1137-9)
82. Concerning Haraldr and Magnús 83. The gifts of King Haraldr to Bishop Magnús 84. The story of Sigurðr slembidjákn 85. Concerning Sigurðr slembir 86. The slaying of King Haraldr [by Sigurðr slembidjákn in 1136] 87. Concerning King Sigurðr slembir
Sigurðr II (1136-1155)
88. Concerning King Haraldr's sons 89. Concerning Sigurðr 90. Concerning King Sigurðr slembir 91. King Ingi's letter 92. Concerning Sigurðr slembir 93. Concerning King Sigurðr slembir 94. The slaying of Óttarr birtingr 95. [no title] 96. Concerning King Sigurðr 97. Concerning King Eysteinn 98. The slaying of Geirsteinn 99. [no title] 100. Concerning the death of King Sigurðr
Notes
Primary sources Finnur Jónsson (ed.). Morkinskinna. Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1932. Available online from Septentrionalia. Ármann Jakobsson and Þórður Ingi Guðjónsson (eds.). Morkinskinna I-II. Íslenzk fornrit 23–24. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 2011. Andersson, Theodore Murdock and Kari Ellen Gade (trs.). Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000. With introduction.
Further reading Ármann Jakobsson, "Den kluntede afskriver: Finnur Jónsson og Morkinskinna." Opuscula 11 (2003): 289–306. Ármann Jakobsson, Staður í nýjum heimi. Konungasagan Morkinskinna. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 2002. Ármann Jakobsson, "The Amplified Saga: Structural Disunity in Morkinskinna." Medium Ævum 70.1 (2001): 29-46. Ármann Jakobsson, "The Individual and the Ideal: The Representation of Royalty in Morkinskinna." Journal of English and Germanic Philology 99.1 (2000): 71-86. Ármann Jakobsson, "Rundt om kongen. En genvurdering af Morkinskinna." Maal og Minne 1 (1999): 71-90. Available online. Ármann Jakobsson, "King and Subject in Morkinskinna." Skandinavistik 28 (1998): 101-117. Ármann Jakobsson, A Sense of Belonging: Morkinskinna and the Icelandic Identity c. 1220. Transl. Fredrik J. Heineman. Odense 2014. (The Viking Collection 22). Indrebø, Gustav, "Harald haardraade in Morkinskinna." In Festskrift til Finnur Jónsson, ed. Johs. Brøndum-Nielsen et al. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 192. 173-80. Kalinke, Marianne, "Sigurðar saga jórsalafara: The Fictionalization of Fact in Morkinskinna." Scandinavian Studies 56.2 (1984): 152-67. Morcom, Thomas. "Inclusive Masculinity in Morkinskinna and the Defusal of Kingly Aggression". Masculinities in Old Norse Literature, edited by Gareth Lloyd Evans and Jessica Clare Hancock. Boydell and Brewer, 2020, pp. 127-146. Sandaaker, Odd, "Ágrip og Morkinskinna. Teksthistoriske randnotar." Maal og Minne (1996). 31-56. Thunberg, Carl L. Särkland och dess källmaterial [Serkland and its Source Material]. Göteborgs universitet. CLTS (2011): 59-67. Tirosh, Yoav. "Scolding the Skald: The Construction of Cultural Memory in Morkinskinna’s Sneglu-Halla þáttr." European Journal of Scandinavian Studies 47.1 (2017): 1-23 (DOI:10.1515/ejss-2017-0001).
External links Finnur Jónsson. (Ed.) (1932). Morkinskinna. Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur. Available in pdf format at septentrionalia.net. Comprehensive list of skaldic poetry cited in Morkinskinna, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages. Proverbs and proverbial materials in Morkinskinna