VII

Epic and History

Form of Saga used for contemporary history in the thirteenth century	246
The historians, Ari (1067-1148) and Snorri (1178-1241)	248
The Life of King Sverre, by Abbot Karl Jónsson	249
Sturla (c. 1214-1284), his history of Iceland in his own time (Islendinga or Sturlunga Saga)	249
The matter ready to his hand	250
Biographies incorporated in Sturlunga: Thorgils and Haflidi	252
Sturlu Saga	253
The midnight raid (a.d. 1171)	254
Lives of Bishop Gudmund, Hrafn, and Aron	256
Sturla's own work (Islendinga Saga)	257
The burning of Flugumyri	259
Traces of the heroic manner	264
The character of this history brought out by contrast with Sturla's other work, the Life of King Hacon of Norway	267
Norwegian and Icelandic politics in the thirteenth century	267
Norway more fortunate than Iceland—the history less interesting	267
Sturla and Joinville contemporaries	269
Their methods of narrative compared	270