Forrœða and Guiamars Ljóð: an introduction, normalisation, and English translation

Resumo

Image from the Translations section: Facsimile of a Norwegian manuscript from the 13th century, from the De la Garde collection in Uppsala. Published in Strengleikar, by C. R. Unger and R. Keyser, in 1850.

Abstract: Forrœða and Guiamars ljóð are the first two parts of Strengleikar, an Old Norse prose translation based primarily on the Anglo-Norman lais of Marie de France found within the thirteenth-century Norwegian manuscript De la Gardie 4-7 and which was commissioned by King Hákon Hákonarson (r. 1217-63). Forrœða (‘Prologue’) centres on the importance of these tales, not just as pieces of literature, but also as a way of demonstrating courtly behaviours deemed desirable. Guiamars ljóð (‘Lai of Guiamar’) focuses on Guiamar, the eponymous hero of this tale, and his lover, taking us through a number of events that befall them. The lai highlights, however, that despite all of Guiamar's knightly talents and his lover’s womanly virtues, they are both unable to love one another unless they fulfil the requirements they themselves set.