Ebook: Two Tales of Icelanders: Ögmundar þáttr dytts og Gunnars helmings. - Ǫlkofra þáttr

Preface by Anthony Faulkes.

These two editions were first compiled as theses for the degree of M. Phil. at the University of Birmingham. Jessie Cook's edition of "Ǫlkofra þáttr" was submitted in 1986, Ian Wyatt's edition of "Ögmundar þáttr dytts" in
1989. They are now presented together, with combined glossary and index, in a form in which it is hoped it will be possible for students of Old Icelandic to enjoy these two interesting and entertaining stories. Both were probably first written down in Iceland in the thirteenth century, and "Ǫlkofra þáttr" is normalised in the usual way. But for "Ögmundar þáttr" it was decided to base the text on a fourteenth-century version, which although it is probably not the closest to the original, is still an interesting and authentic redaction which has not before been printed separately, and the spelling of this text is normalised in a way which reflects the stage of development of the Icelandic language in the fourteenth century. The introductions give some information about the differing backgrounds and contexts of the two stories, one of which has close affinity with "Bandamanna saga", also now accessible to English students, the other with the cult of the god Freyr.