Kormáks saga (Old Norse pronunciation: [ˈkʰorˌmɒːks ˈsaɣa], Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkʰɔrˑmauks ˈsaːɣa]) is one of the Icelanders' sagas. The saga was probably written during the first part of the 13th century. [1]
Though the saga is believed to have been among the earliest sagas composed, it is well preserved. The unknown author clearly relies on oral tradition and seems unwilling to add much of his own or even to fully integrate the different accounts he knew of Kormákr. Often, he does little more than briefly set the scenes for Kormákr's stanzas, with the declarations of love often contrasting with the skald's antagonizing actions.[2] The only complete version of the saga is found in the Icelandic manuscript Möðruvallabók AM 132 fol.[3]
The saga tells of the tenth-century Icelandic poet Kormak Ogmundsson (Kormákr Ögmundarson) and of the love of his life, Steingerd Torkelsdottir (Steingerðr Þórkelsdóttir), to whom he is betrothed. Due to a curse, he arrives too late for his wedding with Steingerðr, who marries another. Kormak then follows King Harald GreycloaktoIreland. Later, in Scotland, he loses his life in a battle with a wizard. The saga preserves a significant number of poems attributed to Kormak, many of them dealing with his love for Steingerd.
The following stanzas, in which Kormak recalls the first time he met Steingerd, represent the style and content of his love poems.Read aloud.
| Brunnu beggja kinna | The bright lights of both | Brightly beamed the lights-of- |
| bjǫrt ljós á mik drósar, | her cheeks burned onto me | both-her-cheeks upon me— |
| oss hlœgir þat eigi, | from the fire-hall's felled wood; | e'er will I recall it— |
| eldhúss of við felldan; | no cause of mirth for me in that. | o'er the heaped-up wood-pile; |
| enn til ǫkkla svanna | By the threshold I gained a glance | and the instep saw I |
| ítrvaxins gatk líta, | at the ankles of this girl | of the shapely woman— |
| þrǫ́ muna oss of ævi | of glorious shape; yet while I live | no laughing matter, lo! my |
| eldask, hjá þreskeldi. | that longing will never leave me. | longing—by the threshold. |
| Brámáni skein brúna | The moon of her eyelash—that valkyrie | Brightly shone the beaming |
| brims und ljósum himni | adorned with linen, server of herb-surf— | brow-moons of the goodly |
| Hristar hǫrvi glæstrar | shone hawk-sharp upon me | lady linen-dight, how |
| haukfránn á mik lauka; | beneath her brows' bright sky; | like a hawk's, upon me; |
| en sá geisli sýslir | but that beam from the eyelid-moon | but that beam from forehead's- |
| síðan gullmens Fríðar | of the goddess of the golden torque | bright-hued-orbs, I fear me, |
| hvarmatungls ok hringa | will later bring trouble to me | of the Eir-of-gold doth |
| Hlínar óþurft mína. | and to the ring goddess herself. | ill spell for us later. |
| — Einar Ól. Sveinsson's edition | — Rory McTurk's translation | — Lee M. Hollander's adaptation |
