HROLFS SAGA KRAKA ***
The University of Chicago.
The Relation of the _Hrólfs Saga_ _Kraka_ and the _Bjarkarímur_ to _Beowulf_.
A Contribution to the History of Saga Development in England and the Scandinavian Countries.
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH).
BY
OSCAR LUDVIG OLSON
A Private Edition
Distributed By The University of Chicago Libraries
A Trade Edition Is Published By The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.
1916
THE RELATION OF THE HRÓLFS SAGA KRAKA AND THE BJARKARÍMUR TO BEOWULF.
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF SAGA DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLAND AND THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES.
PREFACE
It was at the suggestion of Professor John M. Manly that I took up the study which has resulted in the following dissertation, and from him I have received much encouragement and valuable assistance on numerous occasions. I have profited by suggestions received from Professor Tom Peete Cross and Professor James R. Hulbert; and Professor Chester N. Gould has been unstinting in his kindness in permitting me to draw on his knowledge of the Old Norse language and literature. In addition to the aid received from these gentlemen, professors in the University of Chicago, I have received bibliographical information and helpful suggestions from Professor Frederick Klaeber, of the University of Minnesota; I have been aided in various ways by Professor George T. Flom, of the University of Illinois, particularly in preparing the manuscript for the press; and from others I have had assistance in reading proof. To all these gentlemen I am very grateful, and I take this opportunity to extend to them my sincere thanks.
INTRODUCTORY.
The following pages are the result of an investigation that has grown out of a study of _Beowulf_. The investigation has been prosecuted mainly with a view to ascertaining as definitely as possible the relationship between the Anglo-Saxon poem and the _Hrólfs Saga Kraka_, and has involved special consideration of two portions of the saga, namely, the _B[o.]ðvarsþáttr_, and the _Fróðaþáttr_, and such portions of the early literature in England and the Scandinavian countries as seem to bear some relationship to the stories contained in these two portions of the saga. Some of the results achieved may seem to be outside the limits of the main theme. But they are not without value in this connection, for they throw light on the manner in which the _Hrólfssaga_ and some of the other compositions in question came to assume the form in which we now find them. Thus these results assist us in determining the extent to which the saga and the _Bjarkarímur_ are related to _Beowulf_.
As the field under consideration has been the object of investigation by a number of scholars, much that otherwise would need to be explained to prepare the way for what is to be presented lies ready at hand, and this is used as a foundation on which to build further.
In order to give the reader who is interested in the subject, but has not made a special study of it, an idea of the problems involved, and the solutions that have been offered, the discussion is preceded by a brief summary of the principal conclusions reached by various scholars.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS
_Aarb._--_Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1894._
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