Structuring disruption: narrative insurrection in Morkinskinna

This thesis analyses the function of the þættir in the construction of royal biographies in Morkinskinna, a thirteenth-century compendium of konungasǫgur. The narratological approach employed as the foundation of this study demonstrates the disruptive utility of the þættir within the wider narrative discourse, with these discordant narrative structures acting in concert with the introduction of unruly characters. This effect is termed as narrative insurrection and is persistent throughout the text, forming a key element in the representation of strife in Norwegian elite society from 1030-1157. The consequent instability of narrative history in Morkinskinna means that different kings’ tactics for dealing with challenges to their authority come to be the primary method by which their legacies are assessed and their reigns are presented. Chapter two provides a comprehensive literature review of previous scholarship relating to the form and function of the þættir and the structure of Morkinskinna. Chapter three rejects amplification and interlacing as methods for understanding Morkinskinna; instead a full investigation of the narrative discourse of the text leads to the production of narrative insurrection as a more suitable theoretical framework by which to understand Morkinskinna. Chapter four examines the narrative discourse of other konungasǫgur in relation to Morkinskinna and the ways in which royal biographies are structured within different texts in the genre. Chapter five provides historical context as to the organisation of the hirð to argue that the depiction of this elite institution is central to the narrative history of Morkinskinna and that the hirð is depicted with a degree of flexibility in the text for literary purposes. Chapter six considers the harmonious hirðir of kings who, despite being renowned for the benevolence, do not tolerate challenges to their authority and suppress unruly figures who seek to enter their hirðir. Chapter seven details the unruly hirðir, wherein more combative kings utilise the disruptive presence of marginal figures to the mutual benefit of both parties, demonstrating an alternate style of productive rule in the process.