Society and Politics in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla

by Sverre Bagge

Heimskringla is the best known and most important book of Old Norse kings' sagas. A medieval masterpiece, the collection was written by Snorri Sturluson in the first half of the thirteenth century. The sagas have been studied primarily as literary sources and chronicles of specific historical events, but Sverre Bagge, a noted historian, finds in Heimskringla something a brimming guidebook to the culture and politics of Icelandic society.

What kind of observer was Snorri Sturluson, and how did he see the world he lived in? Bagge concentrates on Snorri the historian, viewing him in the context of European history in general and contemporary Icelandic and Norwegian society in particular. But it is Snorri's perception of events that matters, more than the "real" events or the society that produced them. With chapters on themes such as conflicts and the "game of politics" that pervades the sagas, Bagge's analysis of Heimskringla is a model for contemporary historians now probing the relationship between narrative and history.

Genres: History

434 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 1991

About the author

Sverre Håkon Bagge is a Norwegian historian.

He took his doctorate with the thesis 'Den politiske ideologi i Kongespeilet', published in 1979. From 1974 to 1991 he worked as an associate professor (førsteamanuensis) at the University of Bergen, and he became a professor there in 1991.
Since 2003 he is the leader of the Centre for Medieval Studies, Bergen.

He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed work on Snorri Sturluson and his monumental work Heimskringla. Particularly found the latter part of the book interesting, relating to his view and beliefs of the supernatural and how this translates into his work