ABSTRACT

A more far-reaching account of the parallels between Grettir’s saga and Beowulf was given by Guthbrandur (1827-89) in 1883, see item 92 below. This earlier brief and even casual account in Guthbrandur’s edition of Sturlunga Saga including the Islend inga Saga, 2 vols, vol. 1, Oxford 1878 (where his name is Anglicised as Gudbrand Vigfússon) was however unexpectedly influential, being picked up and retransmitted by Guthbrandur’s correspondent Hugo Gering (1847-1925), in German, and in a state of great excitement, in Anglia 3 (1880), see further Introduction, pp. 59-60. ‘Prolegomena’, pp. 48-9.