Þáttr

The þættir (Old Norse singular þáttr, literally meaning a "strand" of rope or yarn)^[1][2] are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries.

The majority of þættir occur in two compendious manuscripts, Morkinskinna and Flateyjarbók, and within them most are found as digressions within kings' sagas. Sverrir Tómasson regards those in Morkinskinna, at least, as exempla or illustrations inseparable from the narratives that contain them, filling out the picture of the kings' qualities, good and bad, as well as adding comic relief.^[3]

The short tales of Icelanders or Íslendinga þættir focus on Icelanders, often relating the story of their travels abroad to the court of a Norwegian king.

List of short tales:

• Ásbjarnar þáttr Selsbana
• Helga þáttr ok Úlfs
• Helga þáttr Þórissonar
• Norna-Gests þáttr
• Ragnarssona þáttr
• Sörla þáttr
• Tóka þáttr Tókasonar
• Völsa þáttr
• Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns

• Brenna Adams byskups
• Eindriða þáttr ok Erlings
• Eymundar þáttr hrings
• Eymundar þáttr af Skörum
• Hálfdanar þáttr svarta
• Haralds þáttr grenska
• Haralds þáttr hárfagra
• Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar [no] (two versions)
• Hróa þáttr heimska
• Ísleifs þáttr byskups
• Knúts þáttr hins ríka
• Orkneyinga þáttr
• Otto þáttr keisara
• Ólafs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs
• Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa

• Waggoner, Ben (2010). Sagas of Giants and Heroes. New Haven, CT: Troth Publications. ISBN 978-0578059334. (Tale of Halfdan the Black, 1-11; Tale of Hauk High-Breeches, pp. 11–20; Tale of Jokul Buason, pp. 53–64; Tale of Brindle-Cross, pp. 65–72)

• Ármann Jakobsson (2013). 'The life and death of the medieval Icelandic short story'. JEGP, Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 112. pp. 257–291
• Ashman Rowe, Elizabeth & Harris, Joseph (2007). 'Short Prose Narrative (þáttr)', in Rory McTurk (ed.) A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 462–478
• Lindow, John (1978). "Old Icelandic þáttr: Early usage and semantic history". Scripta Islandica. 29: 3–44.
• Lindow, John (1993). "Þáttr". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. pp. 661–662. ISBN 0824047877.
• O'Donoghue, Heather (2004). Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-23626-9
• Sverrir Tómasson (2006). "Old Icelandic Prose," tr. Gunnþórunn Guðmundsdóttir, in Daisy Neijmann, ed. A History of Icelandic Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. ISBN 978-0-8032-3346-1