The Good Outlaw in Icelandic Literature

FAIN: FT-13562-77

Shaun Hughes
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040)

To survey and study the theme of the good outlaw in Icelandic literature from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The study will cover outlaw tales and episodes in the literature up to the reformation (1550), and then will study those form the period after the reformation when the Danish political and economic domination was more harshly felt. At this point, the stories show a marked shift of interest and of emphasis. PI believes that the sagas reflect the prejudices of their authors and of audiences of their time.