Learning by formula: saga introductions

Since most saga authors employed the same general style of narration, the language of saga narrative can be surprisingly uniform. This can be of considerable help in language learning, since analysing a number of analogous constructions will help you become acquainted with the syntactic characteristics of Old Icelandic prose narrative.

Surely the most formulaic portion of the family sagas (the Icelandic term is Íslendingasögur "sagas of Icelanders") is the initial introduction of characters. Parse the following introductory paragraphs to get a feel for the grammatical constructions involved. Before you start, review the r-stem declension and the paradigm for the u-stem sonr. After reading each extract, see whether you can complete the following tasks:

  1. Identify all instances of the genitive case.
  2. Draw a family tree for the characters here introduced.
  3. Try to deduce the nominative forms of all the personal names and nicknames.

Grettis saga

Ǫnundr hét maðr; hann var Ófeigs sonr burlufótar, Ívars sonar beytils. Ǫnundr var bróðir Guðbjargar, móður Guðbrands kúlu, fǫður Ástu, móður Óláfs konungs ins helga. Ǫnundr var upplenzkr at móðurætt, en fǫðurkyn hans var mest um Rogaland ok um Hǫrðaland. Ǫnundr var víkingr mikill ok herjaði vestr um haf.

Egils saga

Úlfr hét maðr, sonr Bjálfa ok Hallberu, dóttur Úlfs ins óarga; hon var systir Hallbjarnar hálftrǫlls í Hrafnistu, fǫður Ketils hœngs. Úlfr var maðr svá mikill ok sterkr at eigi váru hans jafningjar; en er hann var á unga aldri lá hann í víkingu ok herjaði.

Njáls saga

Mǫrðr hét maðr, er kallaðr var gígja. Hann var sonr Sighvats ins rauða; hann bjó á Velli á Rangárvǫllum. Hann var ríkr hǫfðingi ok málafylgjumaðr mikill ok svá mikill lǫgmaðr, at engir þóttu lǫgligir dómar dœmdir, nema hann væri við. Hann átti dóttur eina er Unnr hét. Hon var væn kona ok kurteis ok vel at sér ok þótti sá bestr kostr á Rangárvǫllum.

Eyrbyggja saga

Ketill flatnefr hét einn ágætr hersir í Nóregi; hann var sonr Bjarnar bunu, Gríms sonar hersis ór Sogni. Ketill var kvángaðr; hann átti Yngvildi, dóttur Ketils veðrs, hersis af Raumaríki. Bjǫrn ok Helgi hétu synir þeira; en dœtr þeira váru þær Auðr en djúpúðga, Þórunn hyrna ok Jórunn mannvitsbrekka.