Сага об Ингваре Путешественнике. Текст, перевод, комментарий

A detailed analysis of the Prologue (pp. 56–83) leads to the conclusion that its basis was the Swedish version of Eymundar þáttr that has not come down to us, but its existence was suggested by Robert Cook. The revision of this version allowed the author of Yngvars saga to compile the genealogy of Yngvarr as a member of the ruling dynasty of Eirik the Victorious in Svealand. A detailed study of the composition of the main part of the saga (pp. 84–146), supplemented by the study of the epilogue, has shown that all four sections of the saga were written by one author. This is evidenced, first of all, by the unity of one leading theme permeating the entire saga. This theme is the history of the clan, the loss and restoration of its social status: from Aki, Eymundr’s father, whose tragic death deprived the family of possessions, to Eymundr and Yngvarr in their conflict over their ancestral lands with Olaf of Sweden. The happy ending of the plot is the acquisition of a state by Sveinn, the son of Yngvarr, albeit far from his country. This theme is revealed in several storylines, one of which is marriage: Yngvarr, who promised Queen Silkisif to return and marry her, dies but Sveinn becomes husband of the queen and the king of her country. The second prevaling line is the triumph of the right faith. Yngvarr, who revealed the fundamentals of Christianity to the queen and made her ready for its adoption, dies, but Silkisif asks Yngvarr’s companions to send priests who could baptize her and all her people. The bishop brought by Sveinn for this purpose performs the rites of baptism and consecration of the church. The stories about Yngvarr and Sveinn are thus the necessary parts of one whole.

Another sign that gives grounds to say that the saga is a single unit and belongs to one author is the consistency of the plot: the author forms the plot from episodes that allow him to express his attitude to problems that were of particular interest to the people in the Middle Ages. The author considers the question of Christian morality to be perhaps the main one. The themes of observance of moral purity, of the power of gold, and of the troubles that are destined for people who succumbed to the temptations of the devil are the dominant ones in the saga. The author of the saga constantly returns to them, introducing folklore motifs of a fight against dragons, giants, etc., which he interprets as a fight against sinful urges, greed, envy, etc.

An essential indicator of the unity of the text is the author’s individual artistic techniques. These include parallel constructions that are clearly visible in different elements of the plot structure: plot lines duplicating each other (for example, stories about the campaigns of Yngvarr and Sveinn) and largely similar episodes (such as descriptions of Yngvarr’s detachment wintering near Silkisif and Julfr). Parallelism is manifested not only in the composition, but also at the level of verbal expression. Among the author’s favorite devices are references to the oral transmission of this or that information, the purpose of which, obviously, was a desire to give the narrative the appearance of a reliable story. Remarks that someone had said something or had noticed something concerning what was told in the saga can be traced throughout the text.

In the story of Sveinn’s campaign, there is practically no influence of oral Scandinavian sources; the material used to build the episodes clearly belongs to another sphere – different from the retinue tradition – the one which includes stories of the victory of Christians over pagans, which, apparently, is contemporary with the creation of the work.

The specific features of the composition of Yngvars saga viðfǫrla and the sources used in it suggest that it cannot be considered a work typical of the late twelfth century. The combination of the features described above gives grounds for dating Yngvars saga viðfǫrla by the time no earlier than the first half, or the middle, of the thirteenth century (pp. 155–157). Within the historical context of the era of the Danish and Swedish crusades in the Baltic, the oral tradition of a real campaign of the Swedish chieftain to the East was interpreted by the author of the saga as a story of a Christian mission in the Austrvegr (‘Eastern Way’), transforming the story of Yngvarr’s military campaign into a ‘saga about missionaries’ (pp. 200–204).