ABSTRACT
Students of Old Norse literature and literary culture have long been aware that hagiographical and ecclesiastical literature has a longer written history in the North than the native saga genres. This chapter reviews the discussion surrounding influences from hagiography and other ecclesiastical literature on the native saga genres from 1953 onwards. Turville-Petre begins with the observation that most prose in twelfth century Iceland was written by clerics ‘in the interest of ecclesiastical and secular powers’ and ‘that these powers could not be sharply distinguished’. Following Turville-Petre, the discussion will be divided into two sections, one on style and a second on content. Turville-Petre’s statement has generally been taken to refer more broadly to style although he makes no reference to the use of dialogues or a realistic mode.
