Kumlbúa þáttr
Kumlbúa þáttr (the tale of the cairn-dweller) is a short medieval Icelandic tale (þáttr) set at the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth.[1] It tells the story of Þorsteinn Þorvarðsson who stumbles upon a burial cairn and takes a sword from it. After he returns home he goes to bed and is visited in a dream by the cairn-dweller. The man, who wields a huge pole-axe, demands the return of the sword and threatens Þorsteinn. Þorsteinn's wife wakes him to ask why he is sleeping so poorly but he does not tell her and goes back to sleep at once. The cairn-dweller reappears and declaims a threatening verse. However, Þorsteinn retorts with a more technically proficient verse which 'caps' that of the cairn-dweller who then leaves Þorsteinn.[2] The following day Þorsteinn goes to look for the cairn but cannot find it. He returns home and tells his wife and other people the story.
The text survives in fragmentary form in AM 564a 4to[3][4] (Pseudo-Vatnshyrna) and in paper copies made by Árni Magnússon of the Vatnshyrna manuscript, which was destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728.[5] Like Bergbúa þáttr, it is unusual amongst þættir for not being preserved as part of the kings' sagas manuscripts Flateyjarbók and Morkinskinna.
Critical reception
Stephen Mitchell considers Kumlbúa þáttr to be "a story that achieves neither a satisfying nor harmonious conclusion"[6] and one that communicates a message that "there are forces at loose in the world which cannot be countered, whose source of power is unclear, and whose design we do not understand."[7]
Bibliography
Editions
- Guðni Jónsson (ed.). Kumlbúa þáttr. Íslendinga sögur. Vol. IV: Breiðfirðinga sögur. Digitised at heimskringla.no
- Þórhallur Vilmundarson; Bjarni Vilhjálmsson, eds. (1991). Harðar saga. Íslenzk fornrit. Vol. 13. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. pp. 451–455.
- Modern Icelandic edition at snerpa.is
Translations
- Taylor, Marvin (1997). "The tale of the cairn-dweller". In Viðar Hreinsson (ed.). Complete sagas of Icelanders, including 49 tales. Vol. 2. Reykjavik: Leifur Eiriksson. pp. 443–444. ISBN 9789979929321.
- Waggoner, Ben. "Kumlbúa þáttr: The tale of the cairn-dweller" (PDF). thetroth.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-20.
References
- ^ Lindow, John (2011). "Meeting the other: The cases of Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar and Kumlbúa þáttr". In Anlezark, Daniel (ed.). Myths, legends, and heroes: Essays on Old Norse and Old English literature in honour of John McKinnell. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781442662056.
- ^ Lindow, John (2011). "Meeting the other: The cases of Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar and Kumlbúa þáttr". In Anlezark, Daniel (ed.). Myths, legends, and heroes: Essays on Old Norse and Old English literature in honour of John McKinnell. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press. p. 84. ISBN 9781442662056.
- ^ Nordvig, A. Mathias Valentin (2013). Of fire and water: The Old Norse mythical worldview in an eco-mythological perspective. Aarhus University (PhD dissertation). p. 124.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 690. ISBN 0824047877.
- ^ McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 689. ISBN 0824047877.
- ^ Mitchell, Stephen (2008). "The supernatural and the fornaldarsögur: The case of Ketils saga hængs". In Ney, Agneta; Ármann Jakobsson; Lassen, Annette (eds.). Fornaldarsagaerne: Myter og virkelighed. København: Museum Tusculanums forlag. p. 283. ISBN 9788763525794.
- ^ Mitchell, Stephen (2008). "The supernatural and the fornaldarsögur: The case of Ketils saga hængs". In Ney, Agneta; Ármann Jakobsson; Lassen, Annette (eds.). Fornaldarsagaerne: Myter og virkelighed. København: Museum Tusculanums forlag. p. 285. ISBN 9788763525794.
- v
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- e
- Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu
- Arnórs þáttr jarlaskálds
- Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka
- Bergbúa þáttr
- Bolla þáttr Bollasonar
- Brandkrossa þáttr
- Brands þáttr örva
- Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar
- Egils þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar
- Einars þáttr Skúlasonar
- Eiríks þáttr rauða
- Geirmundar þáttr
- Gísls þáttr Illugasonar
- Grœnlendinga þáttr (I)
- Grœnlendinga þáttr (II)/Einars þáttr Sokkasonar
- Gull-Ásu-Þórðar þáttr
- Gunnars þáttr Þiðrandabana
- Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn fyrri
- Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn síðari
- Hallfreðar þáttr vandræðaskálds
- Hauks þáttr hábrókar
- Hrafns þáttr Guðrúnarsonar
- Hreiðars þáttr
- Hrómundar þáttr halta
- Íslendings þáttr sögufróða
- Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar
- Jökuls þáttr Búasonar
- Kjartans þáttr Ólafssonar
- Kristni þáttr
- Kumlbúa þáttr
- Mána þáttr skálds
- Odds þáttr Ófeigssonar
- Orms þáttr Stórólfssonar
- Óttars þáttr svarta
- Rauðs þáttr hins ramma
- Rauðúlfs þáttr
- Rögnvalds þáttr ok Rauðs
- Sneglu-Halla þáttr
- Steins þáttr Skaptasonar
- Stefnis þáttr Þorgilssonar
- Stjörnu-Odda draumr
- Stúfs þáttr inn meiri
- Stúfs þáttr inn skemmri
- Svaða þáttr ok Arnórs kerlingarnefs
- Sveins þáttr ok Finns
- Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls
- Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar
- Þorleifs þáttr jarlaskálds
- Þormóðar þáttr
- Þorsteins þáttr Austfirðings
- Þorsteins þáttr forvitna
- Þorsteins þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar
- Þorsteins þáttr skelks
- Þorsteins þáttr stangarhöggs
- Þorsteins þáttr sögufróða
- Þorsteins þáttr tjaldstœðings
- Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts
- Þorvalds þáttr tasalda
- Þorvalds þáttr víðförla
- Þorvarðar þáttr krákunefs
- Þórarins þáttr Nefjólfssonar
- Þórarins þáttr ofsa
- Þórarins þáttr stuttfeldar
- Þórhalls þáttr knapps
- Ævi Snorra goða
- Ögmundar þáttr dytts
- Ölkofra þáttr
- Ásbjarnar þáttr Selsbana
- Helga þáttr ok Úlfs
- Helga þáttr Þórissonar
- Norna-Gests þáttr
- Ragnarssona þáttr
- Sörla þáttr
- Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
- Völsa þáttr
- Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns
- Brenna Adams byskups
- Eindriða þáttr ok Erlings
- Eymundar þáttr hrings
- Eymundar þáttr af Skörum
- Hálfdanar þáttr svarta
- Haralds þáttr grenska
- Haralds þáttr hárfagra
- Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar
- Hróa þáttr heimska
- Ísleifs þáttr byskups
- Knúts þáttr hins ríka
- Orkneyinga þáttr
- Otto þáttr keisara
- Ólafs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs
- Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa