IMC 2006: Sessions

Session 1026: External Influences in Medieval Icelandic Literature

Moderator/Chair:	Hannah Burrows, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York
Paper 1026-a	Stretching the Truth: The Fantastic as Foreign within the Sagas (Language: English) Philip Cardew, London South Bank University
Paper 1026-b	Dreams, Guilt, and Redemption in Mírmanns Saga (Language: English) Jonjo Roberts, School of English, University of Leeds Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian
Abstract	Abstract paper -b: Dreams play an important role in many well-known Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), but their function in the medieval Icelandic romances (riddarasögur) is often overlooked. My paper will examine the dreams in the 14th-century romance Mírmanns saga and show how they combine traditional saga dream elements with biblical imagery, not only to foreshadow conflict (the most common function of dreams in the secular sagas), but also to draw attention to the theme of Christian redemption which underpins the semantic structure of the text.