User:Valeeeeeb/sandbox

Flores saga konungs ok sona hans

INTRODUCTION

This saga belongs to the genre of the Chivalric Sagas, which in Icelandic are called “Riddarasögur”, whose translation is “Sagas of Knights”. These Sagas were probably written between the 13th and the 14th Century, and experts think that they are translations of French Courtly Literature. It is said that was probably King Hákon Hákonarson (1240-1263) the first King who encouraged the production of these sagas, because in that historical period icelandic élite was looking at the European courtly society as an example to reproduce. Some “riddarasögur” have been produced in Iceland and they are a kind of reworked version of the “original” riddarasögur. According to Kalinke and Mitchell, “Flóres Saga Konungs (Svarta) Ok Sona Hans” was probably composed in the late 14th Century, in Iceland. ,the story narrated in this tale is about a princess who is kidnapped by a king, and the lives of their three sons. This princess is called Elína of Kartagía and she is abducted by King Flóres of Traktía. The Princess is forced to marry the King, and they have three children. One day, while the king is away, Elína’s father rescues her and helps her and her children to escape from King Flóres house. They go back to their native kingdom; but their ship disappears, and no one has any more news of the group. For this reason, the king thinks that they are all dead, and marries another woman, who gives him other children. Some years later, a suitor of the king’s daughter asks the King to marry his daughter. King Flóres does not allow the suitor, called Duke Sintram, to marry his daughter, and consequently, the Duke decides to begin a war against him. Due to a tragic coincidence, in Duke Sintram’s army there are King Flóres’ children, that had previously disappeared. They do not know that they will be fighting against their father, and he does not know that he will fight against his sons. Again, accidentally, they are taken as prisoners by King Flóres, and locked in jail. Everything is ready for their execution and they spend the night before it in jain, talking about their past lives and preparing themselves to their imminent death. But the king eavesdrops them and hears the whole story of their lives. For this reason, he understand that the three boys in jail are his lost children, which are not dead. He decides then to forgive them and set them free.The Saga ends with a reconciliation between the King and his sons. As we can understand from Astrid Van Nahl’s book “Originale Riddarasoegur als Teil altnordischer Sagaliterature”, the tale of the king and the princess is just a sort of “frame”. The main story seems to be the one of the three sons of the king, which find themselves implied in a battle against their father. What is interesting is that they do not know that he is their father; and he does not know that they are his three sons.