Travelling to Grikkland and Mikligarðr: The Byzantine Empire and the Byzantines in Two Scandinavian Sagas
Travelling to Grikkland and Mikligarðr: The Byzantine Empire and the Byzantines in Two Scandinavian Sagas
Author(s): Ivelin A. IvanovSubject(s): History, Language and Literature Studies, Comparative history, Ethnohistory, Oral history, Ancient World, Theory of Literature
Published by: Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий”
Keywords: Snorri Sturluson; Heimskringla; Byzantine Empire; imagology; quantitative analysis
Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on representations of the Byzantine Empire and the Greeks in two sagas from Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla: The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson (Hardruler) and The Saga of Sigurth the Crusader and His Brothers, which provide examples of contacts between the Scandinavian and Byzantine worlds in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The author employs a quantitative analysis, exploring names, such as Grikkland (Greece), Mikligarðr (Constantinople), Grikkjakonungr (Emperor), Grikk(j)ar (Greek), and Grikklandshaf (Greek archipelago, Greek sea). Separating objective from legendary information, he seeks to answer the question: to what extent are the representations of the Byzantine Empire, its Emperor, and its capital in the two sagas reliable from a historical point of view?
Journal: VTU Review: Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Issue Year: 4/2020
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 68-75
- Page Count: 8
- Language: English
