CHAPTER VIII.. Icelandic and Provencal.

ICELANDIC AND PROVENCAL.

Resemblances. Contrasts. Icelandic literature of this time mainly prose. Difficulties with it. The Saga. Its insularity of manner. Of scenery and character. Fact and fiction in the sagas. Classes and authorship of them. The five greater sagas. Njala. Laxdaela. Eyrbyggja. Egla. Grettla. Its critics. Merits of it. The parting of Asdis and her sons. Great passages of the sagas. Style. Provencal mainly lyric. Origin of this lyric. Forms. Many men, one mind. Example of rhyme-schemes. Provencal poetry not great. But extraordinarily pedagogic. Though not directly on English. Some troubadours. Criticism of Provencal 333