The Narrative Voice and its Comments: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Jómsvíkinga saga

Abstract

This article pursues two objectives: as a software-based study, it first demonstrates how quantitative methods can be employed to harvest data, which is hard to retrieve as thoroughly and systematically without digital tools. In combination with ‘classic’, qualitative analyses, such an approach can contribute greatly to gaining new perspectives on (medieval) literary sources. Secondly, this article offers a case study of Jómsvíkinga saga (AM 291 4to) with particular focus on the narrative voice and its narratorial comments. They are used intentionally not only to select, structure, and guide the plot but also to embed the saga into the larger extradiegetic narrative tradition. Despite their brevity, the role of the comments goes beyond narratological organisation because they are simultaneously self-reflective on the process of narration. The narrative voice thus crafts a particular, highly artistic narrative about the adventures of the early Danish kings and the Jómsvikings.