Monographs by D. M . White
The Old Icelandic text The Saga of Þórður kakali survives today as part of the fourteenth-century... more The Old Icelandic text The Saga of Þórður kakali survives today as part of the fourteenth-century compilation The Saga of the Sturlungar. In extant form, The Saga of Þórður kakali is a biography of Þórður kakali Sighvatsson (c.1210–56) – chieftain, royal retainer, and sheriff – and covers the periods 1242–50 and 1254–56, providing an interesting view of power politics and political culture from the periphery of medieval Europe, challenging dominant historiographical narratives derived from the sources produced at the center.
Hitherto, only one English translation of The Saga of the Sturlungar (and thus The Saga of Þórður kakali) has ever been produced. This translation was carried out by Julia McGrew and R. George Thomas (published in two volumes, 1970–74). Nevertheless, even with the invaluable assistance of the eminent Icelandic scholar Sigurður Nordal – who provided English translations of the trickier passages of text – McGrew and Thomas’s translation turned out to be “defective and unreliable” (in the words of Oren Falk).
Published translations are cultural levelers insofar as they open up texts to broader audiences – members of the interested wider public – who may not have the means or time to learn the original language merely to study a single primary source or read a lone literary classic. While McGrew and Thomas’s translation of The Saga of Þórður kakali is more or less serviceable if used with extreme caution (i.e., by native English speakers with fluency in Icelandic), the importance of competent translations should not be forgotten, especially for the reader without Icelandic language skills: poor translations can offend, confuse, and mislead users of the target language.
Journal Articles by D. M . White
Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2022
![Research paper thumbnail of Reading Þórðar saga kakala as Literature [pre-print]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/67294969/thumbnails/1.jpg)
BodoArXiv, 2021
Þórðar saga kakala is a thirteenth-century contemporary saga, extant today in the surviving manus... more Þórðar saga kakala is a thirteenth-century contemporary saga, extant today in the surviving manuscripts of the fourteenth-century compilation Sturlunga saga. The original version of the saga – *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla – was written during in Western Iceland during the 1270s, most probably by someone close to Hrafn Oddsson who had been present at the saga’s events (notably proposed to be Svarthöfði Dufgusson) (White 2020a). In extant form, Þórðar saga kakala contains 50 chapters covering the years 1242-9/50 and 1254-6; however, *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla was longer and, whilst also ending in 1256, likely began in c.1233 (or even earlier in c.1210) (White 2020a). Historically, contemporary sagas – such as the component texts of Sturlunga saga – have been treated uncritically by scholars seeking to cite them as primary sources of Icelandic history. Despite this, in recent years attitudes have begun to change (cf. Jón Viðar Sigurðsson et al. 2017). The transformation in approaches to the contemporary sagas has been spearheaded by the great scholar of Sturlunga saga, Úlfar Bragason, who has sought throughout his career to evaluate the literary qualities of the compilation, especially from a narratological standpoint (e.g. Úlfar Bragason 2010). This article carries out a literary analysis of Þórðar saga kakala, specifically in relation to how its structure and intertextual connections serve as meaning-making devices. Two arguments are presented across this article. The first is that Þórðar saga kakala’s interlaced structure encourages the reader to focus in on Þórður’s personal qualities. The second is that Þórðar saga kakala’s implicit references to other texts serves to induce the reader to attribute Þórður’s successes to his possession of exceptional characteristics. The article closes by emphasising the literary nature of this apparently historical text, and echoes Úlfar’s call for historians to use subject the text to thoroughgoing analysis when using it as a primary source.
![Research paper thumbnail of *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla. Reconstructing the lost original of a saga from the Sturlunga compilation [pre-print]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/67269116/thumbnails/1.jpg)
BodoArXiv, 2021
Scholars of pre-Modern literature are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to include the... more Scholars of pre-Modern literature are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to include the study of lost texts within literary histories (Matthews 2020, 230). The study of lost literary works (eclipsaphilology) can make use of techniques belonging to the field of textual criticism such as stemmatics, but is able to go beyond them in reconstructing the contents, and not necessarily form, when-for example-disentangling remnants of source texts from compilations. This mode of study has long been practiced in Bible Studies, for example by the proponents of the documentary hypothesis. In this article, I attempt to lay out the contents of the lost original of a component text of the fourteenth-century Sturlunga saga, namely: Þórðar saga kakala (*Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla). The approach taken to reconstructing the content of the lost original of Þórðar saga kakala in this article is an inversion of redaction criticism. It seeks after the contents of the source text, *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla, by taking the contents of Þórðar saga kakala in the extant manuscripts and reversing the compilational and editorial processes in play throughout its transmission history. This critique makes use of the categories of evidence used in textual criticism (external and internal evidence), but is not interested in the production of an edition of the lost original.
Delos, 2018
The Tale of Geirmund the Hel-skinned (Geirmundar þáttr heljarskinns) is a short tale (þáttr, lite... more The Tale of Geirmund the Hel-skinned (Geirmundar þáttr heljarskinns) is a short tale (þáttr, literally: strand) from thirteenth-century Iceland which serves as an introduction to The Saga of the Sturlungs (Sturlunga saga). The Saga of the Sturlungs is a collection of several different texts written during the thirteenth century and compiled at some point around the year 1300. The compilation survives in two medieval manuscripts: The Book of Króksfjord (Króksfjarðarbók) and The Book of Reykjafjord (Reykjafjarðarbók), as well as a plethora of post-medieval copies. It tells of events in Iceland during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with a particular focus on how the Icelandic experiment in stateless society failed catastrophically. During this period, élite Icelanders engaged in ever-escalating private warfare to the point where they were forced to cede sovereignty to the Norwegian king in the years 1262–64. That said, The Tale of Geirmund the Hel-skinned is an anomaly among the texts of The Saga of the Sturlungs, since it does not report events during the twelfth or thirteenth centuries, but instead of the ninth century. It is a settlement narrative of the same sort found in the Book of Icelanders (Íslendingabók), the Book of Settlements (Landnámabók), and numerous Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur). However, the tale very much sets the scene for all the texts which follow. Firstly, as a settlement narrative, The Tale of Geirmund the Hel-skinned provides a counterpoint to Iceland’s integration into the Norwegian kingdom at the end of The Saga of the Sturlungs. Geirmund travels from Norway to Iceland to escape Harald’s tyranny, but Iceland is eventually drawn into the clutches of the acquisitive Norwegian king, providing a neat symmetry to the compilation. Secondly, the tale is an exposition of the ideology of lordship in Iceland during the thirteenth century. Norwegian royalist ideology had percolated into the mentality of the Icelandic élite, and the innate qualities Geirmund and his brother inherit as sons of the king are representative of divine vocation and/or the hereditary right to rule. Thirdly, the tale underscores the heroic character of Iceland’s settlers, and serves to give the narrative which follows it an epic quality—a continuation of the heroic past into contemporary times. Fourthly, the tale provides genealogical information significant to characters introduced in the texts following it in the compilation.
Dissertations by D. M . White
This thesis focuses on the origins of Þórðar saga kakala. Chapter 1 reviews scholarship on the lo... more This thesis focuses on the origins of Þórðar saga kakala. Chapter 1 reviews scholarship on the lost original version of Þórðar saga kakala (*Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla). By testing previous arguments and suppositions, it concludes that: *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla was a “biography” of the adult life (c. 1233-56) of Þórður kakali Sighvatsson (c. 1210-56); it was written during the 1270s in the Western Quarter of Iceland; and Svarthöfði Dufgusson (c. 1218-c. 86) may have been its author. It also identifies a gap in previous research of Þórðar saga kakala’s earliest history: there has been no satisfactory attempt to establish its contemporary significance. The thesis attempts to remedy this over the following two chapters. In chapter 2, a literary-analytic approach is applied to *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla. This literary analysis takes into account the formal elements of the extant text and reconstructed lost original, as well as what we know about the worldview of the audience. Chapter 2 constitutes the point of departure for chapter 3: an historical analysis of *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla. After theorising about the telos of the biographical contemporary saga subgenre in general, *Þórðar saga kakala hin mikla is turned to in particular by considering the product of the literary analysis in chapter 2 within a 1270s political context. The conclusion drawn is that the saga can sensibly be considered as a work of propaganda to support Hrafn Oddsson in his power struggle with Þorvarður Þórarinsson during the period 1273-9. Chapter 3 then evaluates the ways in which Þórðar saga kakala concords with what we know and can infer about Hrafn’s political stances to appraise and bolster this interpretation of the text.
Whilst medieval Iceland’s priesthood is historically well-researched, deacons have not enjoyed th... more Whilst medieval Iceland’s priesthood is historically well-researched, deacons have not enjoyed the same level of attention. In this dissertation, I investigate deacons’ representation in thirteenth-century Iceland’s most significant source: Íslendinga saga. Although thirteenth-century Iceland’s ecclesiastical and secular spheres are inseparable, deacons straddled an ideological and political fault-line. Deacons enjoyed elevated ecclesiastical status, and could hold lofty secular roles. Besides secular law, more extensive canon laws governed deacons. Deacons could choose to exemplify Christian or traditional values (admittedly they were not unique in this). Deacons’ relationships with ecclesiastical and secular magnates further complicated divided loyalties in a complex networked society. By analysing deacons’ placements around these fault-lines, this dissertation provides an additional perspective from which to view the institutionalisation and state-formation processes thirteenth-century Iceland. The prosopographic aspect of this dissertation also enables the thesis to reach some tentative general conclusions about diaconal identity and action in thirteenth-century Iceland (or, at least, the deacons who were deemed saga-worthy).
Teaching Documents by D. M . White
HEH66: History of Scandinavia - Ancient and Medieval, 2021
HEH66: History of Scandinavia - Ancient and Medieval, 2021
HEH66: History of Scandinavia - Ancient and Medieval, 2021
HEH67: History of Scandinavia - Modern and Contemporary, 2021
HEH66: History of Scandinavia - Ancient and Medieval, 2021
HEH66: History of Scandinavia - Ancient and Medieval, 2021
Conference Papers by D. M . White
Presented at the International Medieval Congress 2022 (5 July)
COLSONOEL, 2018
One of the classic views scholars of state formation in the Icelandic Commonwealth have put forwa... more One of the classic views scholars of state formation in the Icelandic Commonwealth have put forward is that power became gradually territorialised from about 1000 until 1240. In this paper I will provide an argument against this classic view. I intend on producing a two pronged argument. The first will show the strategic emptiness of territorial claims, by explaining the nature of territoriality as a second order phenomenon (i.e., as a consequence of power over geography) rather than as the basis of power over geography. With this established, the second will provide evidence that there was never a time in the political history of medieval Iceland where territoriality was absent as a second order phenomenon to some extent: the scale of territories simply expanded.
War Through Other Stuff, 2017
Seminar Papers by D. M . White
A paper presented to the Society for Comparative Cultural Inquiry, University College London.
A paper presented to the Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern Seminar, University College London.
A paper presented to SELCS/CMII.
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Monographs by D. M . White
Hitherto, only one English translation of The Saga of the Sturlungar (and thus The Saga of Þórður kakali) has ever been produced. This translation was carried out by Julia McGrew and R. George Thomas (published in two volumes, 1970–74). Nevertheless, even with the invaluable assistance of the eminent Icelandic scholar Sigurður Nordal – who provided English translations of the trickier passages of text – McGrew and Thomas’s translation turned out to be “defective and unreliable” (in the words of Oren Falk).
Published translations are cultural levelers insofar as they open up texts to broader audiences – members of the interested wider public – who may not have the means or time to learn the original language merely to study a single primary source or read a lone literary classic. While McGrew and Thomas’s translation of The Saga of Þórður kakali is more or less serviceable if used with extreme caution (i.e., by native English speakers with fluency in Icelandic), the importance of competent translations should not be forgotten, especially for the reader without Icelandic language skills: poor translations can offend, confuse, and mislead users of the target language.
Journal Articles by D. M . White
Dissertations by D. M . White
Teaching Documents by D. M . White
Conference Papers by D. M . White
Seminar Papers by D. M . White
Hitherto, only one English translation of The Saga of the Sturlungar (and thus The Saga of Þórður kakali) has ever been produced. This translation was carried out by Julia McGrew and R. George Thomas (published in two volumes, 1970–74). Nevertheless, even with the invaluable assistance of the eminent Icelandic scholar Sigurður Nordal – who provided English translations of the trickier passages of text – McGrew and Thomas’s translation turned out to be “defective and unreliable” (in the words of Oren Falk).
Published translations are cultural levelers insofar as they open up texts to broader audiences – members of the interested wider public – who may not have the means or time to learn the original language merely to study a single primary source or read a lone literary classic. While McGrew and Thomas’s translation of The Saga of Þórður kakali is more or less serviceable if used with extreme caution (i.e., by native English speakers with fluency in Icelandic), the importance of competent translations should not be forgotten, especially for the reader without Icelandic language skills: poor translations can offend, confuse, and mislead users of the target language.