Islandų sagos: istorijos šaltinis ar literatūrinė fikcija?
Icelandic Sagas: Historical Source or Literary Fiction?

Summary/Abstract: The academic research of Icelandic sagas began as far back as the 17th century. Until now most attention has been given to the studies of the Icelandic saga as a unique medieval cultural expression. Nevertheless, more arguments are presented by the scholars who believe that Icelandic sagas are an especially important historical source, allowing for a better understanding of all Europe and especially significant to the Viking age. In fact, the critics of the sagas present their own arguments, criticising them as a reliable historical source. Such a “reproach” can be divided into several groups: a) In the 12th–13th century written sagas the events of the 9th–11th centuries are “modernised” and chronologically incorrect; b) Authorship problem – usually the writers of the sagas are unknown; c) The style of the sagas is the closest to fiction; d) The sagas are full of dialogues, descriptions of heroic deeds, mythological miracles, many heroic idealizations and their identification with epic figures, folklore elements, narrative traditions, typical epic stylisation; e) The use of sagas for research of Scandinavian and Baltic relations is doubtful, because the writers of the sagas had no direct information about our countries. However, by taking a closer look at acknowledged historical sources, we can use the same reproaches as the above mentioned “failings” (the weaker side) of Icelandic sagas. The Viking-age Scandinavian and Baltic relations rarely appear in written sources. Thus, the information existing in several Icelandic sagas about these relationships becomes especially important and valuable. It should be noted that Icelandic sagas and the early chronicles of northern countries present the information correlating with one another, one supplementing the other and presenting greater possibilities for researchers of the Viking-age Baltic Sea region.

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