The book uses sagas and legal texts to re-examine the relations between mediaeval Icelanders and the Norwegian kings. It demonstrates that the Icelanders - partly subjects of the king, and partly beyond his power - were ready to negotiate with him for their own benefit, and presents a methodological re-evaluation of authorial attributions of the sagas and their use as historical sources. Key to the book is a revisionary analysis of two laws made between the Icelanders and the kings of Norway: a law probably issued by King ?l?fr inn helgi of Norway (1015-1028), and the purported submission agreements with King H?kon H?konarson (1217-1263), known as Gizurars?ttm?li or Gamli s?ttm?li. It also analyses the sagas of the fourteenth-century manuscript M??ruvallab?k against the historical context extracted from this legal re-evaluation.

Icelanders and the Kings of Norway: Mediaeval Sagas and Legal Texts (The Northern World, 17) PDF

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