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Crusading Gone Global? The Icelandic Magnussona Saga's Visions of the World and Home
Author(s) -
Norako Leila K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/lic3.12151
Subject(s) - icelandic , vision , narrative , representation (politics) , history , middle ages , old norse , literature , middle east , ancient history , art , sociology , archaeology , political science , anthropology , philosophy , law , linguistics , politics
Abstract Though the crusades have garnered significant critical interest of late, little attention has been paid to the effects of the crusades on the literature of medieval Scandinavia. This article seeks to shed light on this understudied area by exploring the representation of crusading in the Old Icelandic Magnussona Saga , a narrative that tells the story of Sigurðr I of Norway and his crusade to the Holy Land in the early 12th century. Exploring the saga's global vision – and how it differs from that seen in other European texts – allows for a fuller understanding of the representations of the crusades during the global Middle Ages, particularly in terms of how these campaigns affected European literatures, even those produced on the fringes of the known world.