Abstrakt
The objective of the presentation is to argue that the narrative designs of the early modally mixed sagas dealing with the Norse monarchs and magnates may have contributed to the gradual evolution of the "classical" form of the kings' saga genre, represented by Morkinskinna, Fagrskinna, and Heimskringla. Such evolution is not meant in the sense of a linear development - it is not assumed that the modally mixed sagas were composed as a conscious response to the narrative form of the earliest kings' sagas.
Instead, it is assumed that since they were less bound by the constraints of historiography, hagiography, or political narrative, the modally mixed sagas may have offered better circumstances for the refinement of certain narrative techniques and perspectives on history, which then secondarily contributed to increased sophistication of the kings' sagas in the "classical" compilations. I illustrate this hypothesis with a case study of Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum and Jómsvíkinga saga.
The aim is to show that Jómsvíkinga saga employs similar narrative devices as Ágrip, but at a more advanced level.