<i>Barlaam i nord: Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen</i> (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Barlaam i nord: Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen Kirsten Wolf Barlaam i nord: Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen. Edited by Karl G. Johansson and Maria Arvidsson. Bibliotheca Nordica, 1. Oslo: Novus forlag, 2009. Pp. 207; 15 illustrations. NOK 290. Barlaam i nord: Legenden om Barlaam och Josaphat i den nordiska medeltidslitteraturen is the inaugural volume in a new series, Bibliotheca Nordica, edited by Odd Einar Haugen of the University of Bergen and Karl G. Johansson and Jon Gunnar Jørgensen of the University of Oslo. According to the editors, the series will treat the Nordic Middle Ages broadly from linguistic, literary, and historical perspectives and comprises both monographs and collections of articles in English, German, or a Scandinavian language. Bibliotheca Nordica, which seeks to supplement existing journals and series within the field, is aimed at scholars and students, though the editors express the hope that it will be of interest also to a wider group of readers. Barlaam i nord has its origin in a conference held at the University of Oslo in 2004 on the topic of Barlaam and Josaphat, a religious tale based upon legends of the life of Buddha. The tale, which probably originated in Central Asia in the sixth century, was translated from Georgian into Greek, from Greek into Latin, and from Latin into most European vernaculars, including Norwegian, Icelandic, and Swedish. The volume comprises seven articles in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish mostly on the Norwegian translation, though one of the essays deals with a Swedish translation while another treats manuscript illuminations and church murals depicting scenes from the tale. In an introductory essay, Odd Einar Haugen and Karl G. Johansson discuss the origin and development of the legend and present a survey of the extant Nordic versions, which are all derived, directly or indirectly, from the so-called Vulgata version from the twelfth century. The Nordic versions comprise an Old Norwegian translation, Barlaams ok Josaphats saga, undertaken by or at the request of King Hákon Hákonarson (1232–1257); an Old Swedish translation, Sagan om de helige Barlaam och Josaphat, contained in the Old Swedish Legendary from the end of the thirteenth century; a younger Swedish translation, Barlaam och Josaphat, possibly undertaken by Olaus Gunnari or Johannes Hildebrandi around 1440; and an Icelandic translation, Barlaham og Josaphat, in Reykjahólabók (Holm Perg. 3 fol.) from around 1525. The source of the Old Norwegian translation is the Historia duorum Christi militum, which also serves as the source for the abridged versions (epitomae) included in Vincent of Beauvais’s Speculum historiale and Jacob of Voragine’s Legenda aurea. The younger Swedish translation is based on the Speculum historiale (though the translator made use also of the Old Norwegian version), while the older Swedish translation is based on the Legenda aurea. The Legenda aurea is also the source of the legend contained in Reykjahólabók, though at some removes, for the Icelandic translation was based on a version of the Low German Dat Passionael, which in turn was based on the High German Der Heiligen Leben. The four following essays are concerned primarily with the Old Norwegian translation. Magnus Rindal discusses the Norwegian literary milieu in which Barlaams ok Josaphats saga was produced and provides a survey of translation activity in medieval Norway. Odd Einar Haugen treats the composition of the saga and [End Page 376] examines in detail the interpolations in the text. He analyzes the features that differentiate and unite the altogether twenty-four interpolations, the characteristics of exemplum as a genre, and the extent to which the interpolations are to be considered exempla. He concludes that it is reasonable to regard the apologies and parables from the New Testament as exempla but that the legendary and biblical interpolations are borderline cases. Vera Johanterwage examines the depiction of the pagan King Avennir in the saga and its parallels in courtly literature. She focuses on the descriptions of pomp and hierarchical structures, the use of courtly concepts and terms, and the emphasis on emotions, and argues that the depiction of King Avennir is reflective of the Hákon-dynasty’s courtly ideals. Jens Eike...