View source for Frithiof's Saga

{{Short description|Icelandic legendary saga}}
{{for|the name|Fritiof (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Fritiofs saga (1876), titelillustration.png|thumb|300px|upright|Title page of ''Frithiofs Saga'' <br>a paraphrase by [[Esaias Tegnér]] (1876).]]
'''Frithiof's Saga''' ({{langx|is|Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna}}) is a [[legendary saga]] from [[Iceland]] which in its present form is from ca. 1300. It is a continuation from ''The Saga of Thorstein  Víkingsson'' (''[[Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar]]''). It takes place principally in [[Norway]] during the 8th century.<ref>[http://www.snl.no/Fridtjofs_saga ''Fridtjofs saga'' (Store norske leksikon)]</ref>
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Ingeborg, peter nicolai arbo.jpg|thumb|''Ingeborg'' <br> [[Peter Nicolai Arbo]]]]
King Beli of [[Sogn]] (a traditional district in Western Norway) had two sons and a daughter named Ingeborg. Helgi was his first son, and Halfdan his second. On the other side of the [[fjord]], lived the king's friend Thorstein ([[Þorsteinn Víkingsson]]) whose son Frithjof (''Friðþjófr'') was called the bold (''hinn frœkni'').  Frithiof was the tallest, strongest and he was the bravest among men.
When the king's children were but young their mother died. A goodman of Sogn named Hilding (''Hildingr''), prayed to have the king's daughter to foster.  Frithjof was the foster-brother to the king's daughter as he was also raised together with Ingeborg (''Ingibjörg'') by their foster-father Hilding.
Both Beli and Þorsteinn died in war whereupon Helgi and Halfdan took over the kingdom. The two kings were jealous of Frithjof's excellent qualities and so they denied him Ingeborg's hand. They took her to [[Baldr]]'s [[sacred enclosure]] ''Baldrshagi'' where no one dared hurt another and where no woman and man had intercourse. Still Frithjof visited Ingeborg and they continued to love each other. This caused Helgi and Halfdan to send Frithjof away to [[Orkney]] to take tribute and while he was away they burnt down his homestead and married Ingeborg to King Ring, the aged king of [[Ringerike (traditional district)|Ringerike]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sirvent |first1=J. |title=Fridtjof. El Vikingo del amor. Leyenda escandinava |date=1950 |publisher=Ediciones G.P. |location=Barcelona |pages=19, 22–23}}</ref>
When Frithjof returned with the tribute, he burnt down Baldr's temple in Baldrshagi and went away to live as a [[Viking]]. After three years, he came to King Ring and spent the winter with him. Just before the old king died, Frithjof's identity was apparent to everybody and so the dying king appointed Frithjof earl and made him the care-taker of Ring's and Ingeborg's child.
When Ring had died, Frithjof and Ingeborg married and he became the king of Ringerike. Then he declared war on Ingeborg's brothers, killed one of them and made the second one his vassal.
==Frithiof's Saga in translation==
''Frithiof's Saga'' had first been translated into [[Swedish language|Swedish]] in 1737. In 1820, Swedish writer [[Esaias Tegnér]] published a partial paraphrase in form of epic poetry in ''Iduna'', the journal of the [[Geatish Society]].  In 1822, he composed five more cantos. In 1825 he published the entire poem ''Frithiof's Saga''.  Even before it was completed, it was famous throughout [[Europe]]; the aged [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] took up his pen to commend to his countrymen this ''alte, kraftige, gigantischbarbarische Dichtart'' ("old, mighty, gigantic-barbaric style of verse"), and desired [[:de:Amalie von Imhoff|Amalie von Imhoff]]  to translate it into German. This [[romanticism|romantic]] paraphrase of an ancient saga was composed in twenty-four [[canto]]s, all using different [[poetic form]]s.
Norwegian Nobel Prize winner [[Jon Fosse]] has translated both ''Friðþjófs saga'' and its prequel, ''Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar'', to nynorsk.
==Statue of Fridtjof==
[[File:Statue av Fridtjov den frøkne oppført av Vilhelm II.jpg|thumb|upright|''Statue of Fridtjof'' <br>Max Unger (1913)]]
Kaiser [[Wilhelm II of Germany]] had a statue of Fridtjof  raised in the village of [[Vangsnes]] in [[Vik, Sogn|Vik]] in the county of [[Sogn og Fjordane]], [[Norway]].  The Statue of Fridtjof (''Fridtjof den frøkne'') is a landmark which towers 22.5 metres (74&nbsp;ft) over the hilltop. It stands in a park overlooking the [[Sognefjord]]. The statue was sculpted by the German sculptor and art professor [[Max Unger (sculptor)|Max Unger]] (1854–1918) and was erected in July 1913.<ref>[http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_sogn_og_fjordane/fylkesleksikon/2024731.html ''Fridtjofstatuen'' (NRK Sogn og Fjordane)]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fjords.com/fridtjof.htm |title=''Statuen Fridtjof den Frøkne på Vangsnes'' (fjords.com) |access-date=2010-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527093046/http://www.fjords.com/fridtjof.htm |archive-date=2009-05-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Wilhelm II also ordered in 1890 that a [[coastal defense ship]] be named {{SMS|Frithjof||2}} after the Norse hero.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gröner|first=Erich|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22101769|title=German warships, 1815-1945|date=1990|publisher=Naval Institute Press|others=Dieter Jung, Martin Maass|isbn=0-87021-790-9|location=Annapolis, Md.|pages=10|oclc=22101769}}</ref>
==Frithiof's Saga in music==
''Frithjof's Saga'' was used as an inspiration by several [[composer]]s. Examples include:
* [[Max Bruch]]'s [[cantata]] ''[[Choral works by Max Bruch#Frithjof |Frithjof]]'', opus 23, from 1864 – the first musical piece dedicated to the saga.
*  The [[symphonic poem]] ''Frithjof'' (cataloged as his WoO 7) by [[Felix Draeseke]]. Although begun in 1859 it was completed in 1865. It is his first major orchestral work and takes over 40 minutes to perform.
* The '' Frithjof Symphony'' in E-flat major, Op. 22 (1874), by the German composer [[Heinrich Hofmann (composer)|Heinrich Hofmann]] (not to be confused with the identically named and contemporaneous German [[Heinrich Hofmann (painter)|painter]]). Arguably the most famous use of the saga in music, this piece was one of the most-played pieces in European concert halls at the end of the 19th century.
* The symphonic poem ''Fritjof's Meeresfahrt'', opus 5 (1884), by the Dutch composer [[Johan Wagenaar]].
* The [[opera]] ''Frithiof'' from 1892 by [[Théodore Dubois]]. Its overture has been recorded.
* The opera ''Fritjof'' (1895) by the Dutch composer [[Cornelis Dopper]]. It was never performed.
* Swedish composer [[Elfrida Andrée]] wrote an opera to a libretto by [[Selma Lagerlöf]] based on the poem, also called ''Frithjof's Saga''; it was never performed publicly, but selections from the opera received a private hearing in 1898.  In the manuscript score of the work, two arias and a chorus are translated into German, suggesting that Andrée may have sought their performance for a German audience. Andrée reworked music from the opera into a five-movement suite, ''Fritiov-svit'' that has seen performance as recently as 1995 in Sweden and was recorded on CD.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122524/http://www.imir.k-k.pl/literatura/Frithiof_Story.pdf ''The Story of Frithiof the Bold''] ( translated by [[Eiríkr Magnússon]] and [[William Morris]]. Cambridge, Ontario: Old Norse Series. 2000)
* ''The Sagas of Fridthjof the Bold'' (Ben Waggoner, The Troth. 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-557-24020-3}}
* ''Viking Tales of the North: the Sagas of Thorstein, Viking's Son and Fridthjof the Bold''. Translated by Rasmus B. Anderson and Jón Bjarnason. Honolulu (Hawaii): University Press of the Pacific, 2002. ''The Saga of Fridthjof the Bold'': pp.&nbsp;75–111. {{ISBN|0-89875-954-4}}
==External links==
* Original version:
** [http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Friðþjófs_saga_ins_frækna Friðþjófs saga ins frækna in Old Norse from Heimskringla.no]
** [http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/fridpjof.htm Friðþjófs  Saga  Ins  Frækna in Old Norse]
* [[Esaias Tegnér]] version:
** {{Gutenberg|bullet=none|no=8518|name=Fritiofs Saga}} ([[Swedish language|Swedish]] with English introduction & notes by Andrew A. Stomberg)
** {{Gutenberg|bullet=none|no=3759|name=Fridthjof's Saga}} ([[English language|English]] translation by Thomas & Martha Holcomb)
* {{Gutenberg|bullet=none|no=24420|name=The Story of Frithiof the Bold}} translation by acclaimed fantasy writer [[William Morris]] and Cambridge scholar [[Eiríkur Magnússon]]
{{Legendary sagas}}
{{Norse mythology}}
[[Category:Fiction set in the 8th century]]
[[Category:Norway in fiction]]
[[Category:1300 works]]
[[Category:13th-century literature]]
[[Category:Legendary sagas]]
[[Category:Old Norse literature]]