Dreams, Slander, Gossip, and Rumour. Sturla Þórðarson and Challenges to Narratorial Authority in ›Íslendinga saga‹

Abstract

This article studies instances in which the conventionally unassailable nar­rative voice of the saga form has its authority undercut by subordinate narrative modes offering alternative epistemologies in relationship to narrated action. The se­lected text is ›Íslendinga saga‹ due to the particularly fraught relationship between narrative authority, narratorial identity, and the narration of contemporary events in this samtíðarsaga. The subordinate modes relevant to the present study are dreams, slander, gossip, and rumour, all of which have different discursive functions. They are united, however, in providing a mechanism for perspectives not aligned with that of the narrative voice to appear within the narrative, without the saga ce­ding its construction of a seemingly objective narrative history.