CHAPTER VIII.

ICELANDIC AND PROVENÇAL.

Resemblances. Contrasts. Icelandic literature of this time mainly prose. Difficulties with it. The Saga. Its insularity of manner. Of scenery and character. Fact and fiction in the sagas. Classes and authorship of them. The five greater sagas. _Njala._ _Laxdæla._ _Eyrbyggja._ _Egla._ _Grettla._ Its critics. Merits of it. The parting of Asdis and her sons. Great passages of the sagas. Style. Provençal mainly lyric. Origin of this lyric. Forms. Many men, one mind. Example of rhyme-schemes. Provençal poetry not great. But extraordinarily pedagogic. Though not directly on English. Some troubadours. Criticism of Provençal 333