Chronicle
Fagrskinna: A Catalogue of the Kings of Norway
Fagrskinna
Anonymous · 1220
Synopsis
A chronicle of the kings of Norway, from Halfdan the Black, in the ninth century, to the battle of Re, in 1177. Reign after reign, it dwells on the decisive events and above all on the battles, which it recounts with vividness, such as those of Hjörungavágr and Svolder, and it quotes many stanzas by skalds, some of which are known only through it. Its author also draws on oral tradition and on older royal sagas, such as the Ágrip, the saga of the Jómsvikings and that of Óláfr Tryggvason.
Context
The name “beautiful parchment” was given to one of the manuscripts by the antiquarian Þormóður Torfason, for its fine binding. The two medieval manuscripts, A and B, belonged to the library of the University of Copenhagen and were burnt in 1728; they are known from copies and from a leaf of B preserved in the National Archives of Norway. The chronicle was written in Norway, by an Icelander according to Finnur Jónsson, by an Icelander or a Norwegian according to others, perhaps for King Hákon Hákonarson, who is said to have had it read to him before his death. It served as a direct source for Snorri Sturluson.
Who it is for
A sober chronicle, reign by reign, without the developments of the great sagas; readable in English translation.
Prizes and reception
Edited since 1847 and translated into English in 2004; it preserves skaldic verses that are read nowhere else.