# Sigrgarðs saga frœkna

Sigrgarðs saga frœkna (modern Icelandic Sigurgarðs saga frækna, the saga of Sigrgarðr the Valiant) is a medieval Icelandic romance-saga, described by Finnur Jónsson as 'all in all ... one of the best and most worthy of reading' of the Icelandic 'stepmother-sagas'.

## Plot and literary character

The plot of the saga was summarised by Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell:
       Ingigerðr, queen of Taricia, and her two sisters, Hildr and Signý, are suffering from a spell placed on them by Hlégerðr, their father's concubine. No suitor can please Ingigerðr, while Hildr and Signý are turned into animals. When Sigrgarðr, a king's son, woos Ingigerðr, she repeatedly makes a fool of him. He leaves Taricia only to return disguised as a merchant. Ingigerðr outwits him when he attempts to abduct her by means of a flying carpet. Finally Sigrgarðr, posing as the viking Knútr, visits Ingigerðr with two foster-brothers. The three succeed in breaking the spells. The saga concludes with a triple wedding.
Notwithstanding Kalkinke and Mitchell's summary, most manuscripts of the saga set Ingigerðr's kingdom not in 'Taricia' but 'Tartaria' (i.e. Tartary), and it has been argued that the lost original manuscript of the saga must likewise have read Tartaria.
While the saga 'has a lot of rough edges' in its style and plotting, it has nonetheless been characterised as 'tightly and powerfully structured', 'throw[ing] itself with unswerving commitment into a wonder-tale of stepmothers and foster-brothers, curses, flying carpets, deception, disguise, shape-shifting, trolls, and bedroom antics'.
The saga has attracted particular critical commentary because of its handling of gender and sexual politics: it is particularly noteworthy amongst romance-sagas because the moral standing of the main male character is questionable. Before beginning to woo Ingigerðr, Sigrgarðr has previously developed a habit of seducing and discarding women; the degradations which he suffers at her hands can, therefore, be understood as comeuppance for his immorality.

## Sources and influences

The saga draws on Viktors saga ok Blávus and Bósa saga ok Herrauðs. More distant similarities with other texts—both medieval ones and later folktales—indicate that the saga draws on oral story-telling traditions, with some details arguably indicating oral links with medieval Irish and Welsh traditions.

## Manuscripts and date

The saga is attested in at least 53 manuscripts, dating from the fifteenth century through to the early twentieth, mostly from Iceland, apparently all descended from a lost common original.
The earliest surviving manuscript is Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, AM 556a-b 4to, from the later fifteenth century, known as Eggertsbók. Peter Jorgensen found that the saga must originally have been composed around 1450×75.
The following list of manuscripts is based on the survey by Kalinke and Mitchell, on Handrit.is, and on the Stories for All Time survey of fornaldarsaga manuscripts. Links to online catalogue entries are provided where available.
| Location | Classmark | date | catalogue entry URL | notes |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 123 8vo | c. 1600 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM08-0123 FASNL | fragmentary |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 167 fol | c. 1660 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM02-0167 | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 556a 4to | C15 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM04-0556a | fragmentary |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 588m 4to | C17 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0588m | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 588n 4to | C17 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0588n | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 592a 4to | C17 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/en/AM04-0592-a FASNL | fragmentary |
| Héraðskjalasafn Borgarfjarðar, Borgarnes | MS 14 / Einkaeign 10 | 1862-1867 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Einkaeign-0010 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | GKS 1002 fol | C17 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/GKS02-1002-1003 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍB 165 4to | 1778 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IB04-0165 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍB 185 8vo | 1760-1780 | https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IB08-0185 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍB 224 8vo | c. 1750 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB08-0224 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍB 426 4to | 1877 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IB04-0426 | fragmentary |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍBR 38 8vo | 1828-1831 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IBR08-0038 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | ÍBR 44 8vo | 1854 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IBR08-0044 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | JS 411 8vo | late C17 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/JS08-0411 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | JS 632 4to | 1799-1800 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/JS04-0632 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1217 4to | 1817 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs04-1217 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1305 4to | 1869-1878 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs04-1305 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1446 8vo | 1864-1871 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs08-1446 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1500 4to | 1880 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-1500 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1637 4to | 1760-1800 | FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 1785 4to | 1833 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 222 fol | 1695-1698 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs02-0222 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 2316 4to | 1850 | FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 2484 8vo | c. 1852 | https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-2484 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 2786 8vo | 1869 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 3165 4to | 1870-1871 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-3165 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 354 4to | C18 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs04-0354 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 3891 4to | late C19 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 3938 8vo | 1872 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 3966 4to | 1869-1871 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-3966 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4070 8vo | 1862 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 423 fol | C18 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs02-0423 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4447 4to | 1868-1869 | | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4718 4to | 1875 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-4718 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4825 4to | c. 1775-1825 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/Lbs04-4825 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4847 8vo | 1868-1874 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-4847 | |
| Copenhagen, Matthew Driscoll | Einkaeign 19 | 1875 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Einkaeign-0019 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4867 8vo | 1870 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-4867 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 4977 8vo | 1896 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs08-4977 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 644 4to | 1710-1750 | https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0644 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 998 4to | late C19 | https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0998 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 5480 4to | C20 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-5480 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 5567 4to | 1913 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-5567 | |
| Reykjavík, National Library of Iceland | Lbs 5767 4to | 1911 | https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-5767 (formerly Böðvar Kvaran, Tjaldanes MS I 2.b) | |
| Copenhagen, Royal Library | NKS 1804 4to | 1681 | FASNL | fragmentary |
| Stockholm, Royal Library | Islandica papp fol 1 | early C17 | FASNL, facsimile | |
| Stockholm, Royal Library | Islandica papp 4to 17 | 1640-1671 | FASNL, facsimile | fragmentary |
| Stockholm, Royal Library | Islandica papp 4to 27 | c. 1650 | https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/db.php?id=15161&if=default&table=mss | |
| Stockholm, Royal Library | Islandica papp 8vo 6 | 1674 | FASNL | |
| Stockholm, Royal Library | Islandica papp fol 66 | 1690 | https://onp.ku.dk/onp/onp.php?m10901 | |
| Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Institute | Rask 32 | later C18 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/en/Rask032 FASNL | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | SÁM 47 | 1867-1868 | http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/SAM-0047 | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | SÁM 131 | 1871-1890 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/SAM-0131 | |
| Copenhagen, Royal Library | Thott 978 2o | late C17 | https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/db.php?id=15043&if=default&table=mss | |
| Winnipeg, Elizabeth Dafoe Library | ISDA JB3 6 8vo | 1838 | | fragmentary |
| Ithaca, New York, Cornell University, Fiske Icelandic Collection | Ic F75 A125, 8vo | C18 | | |
| Baltimore, Md, Johns Hopkins University, Nikulas Ottenson Collection | MS Nr. 1 | 1798 | https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_1425614 | |
| New Haven, Conn., Yale University, Beinecke Library | Z 113.82 | 1806 | http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/1222356 | |
| Jón Ófeigsson, Hafnarnes, Hornafjörður | MS 1 | C19 | | |
| Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar | AM 576b 4to | 1690-1710 | https://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0576b FASNL | résumé |
| Copenhagen, Royal Library | NKS 1144 | late C18 | FASNL | résumé |
Two manuscripts are listed by Kalinke and Mitchell as containing Sigurgarðs saga frækna which actually contain Sigurgarðs saga og Valbrands: Lbs 1496 4to (1883) and Lbs 2319 4to (1727-1729). Likewise, Handrit.is lists Lbs 4547 8vo as containing Sigurgarðs saga frækna, also incorrectly.

## Editions and translations

* Einar Þorðarson (ed.), Sagan af Sigurgarði frœkna (Reykjavík: Einar Þorðarson, 1884), http://www.alarichall.org.uk/teaching/sigrgardssaga.php. [A popular reading edition.]
* Agnete Loth (ed.), Late Medieval Icelandic Romances, Editiones Arnamagæanae, series B, 20–24, 5 vols Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1962–65), V 39–107. [The principal scholarly edition.]
* Alaric Hall, Steven D. P. Richardson, and Haukur Þorgeirsson (ed. and trans.), ‘Sigrgarðs saga frækna: A Normalised Text, Translation, and Introduction’, Scandinavian-Canadian Studies/Études Scandinaves au Canada, 21 (2013), 80–155, http://scancan.net/article.htm?id=hall_1_21. [A normalised Old Icelandic text, and English translation, based on Loth's edition.]