Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr is a medieval Norse romance saga.
Characteristics
The saga is a prose translation of the medieval French romance Floire et Blancheflor, produced in Norway in the thirteenth century. It makes a number of additions to its sources, giving the text both a more heroic and a more religious dimension. In 1312 it became the basis of one of the Swedish verse romances known after their patron as the Eufemiavisorna: Flores och Blanzeflor.Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell, Bibliography of Old Norse–Icelandic Romances, Islandica, 44 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985).
Manuscripts
Kalinke and Mitchell identified the following manuscripts of the saga:
AM 489, 4° (ca. 1450), vellum AM 575a, 4° (15th c.), vellum AM 930, 4° (ca. 1800) AM 948d, 4° (19th c.) IB 185, 8° (ca. 1770) IB 203, 8° (1857-59) IB 228, 4° (ca. 1750) Jón Ôfeigsson, Hafnarnes, Hornafjörður, MS. XI (1854) JS 627, 4° (17th-19th c.) JS 632, 4° (17th-19th c.) JS 641, 4° (17th- 19th c.) JS 636, 4° (17th-19th c.) Karl Jonsson, Purkey, MS. 5, 4° (1872) Lbs 1365, 8° (1823) Lbs 1493, 4° (1880-1905) Lbs 2316, 4° (ca. 1850) Lbs 3162, 4° (ca. 1900) Lbs 423, fol. (18th c.) Lbs 4660, 4° (1841) Lbs 4825, 4° (18th c.) Lbs 998, 4° (19th c.) National Archives, Oslo: NRA 65 (14th c.), vellum National Museum, Reykjavík, Ásbúðarsafn: Sogubok (1795) Nikulas Ottenson Collection, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.: MS. Nr 1 (late 18th c.) NKS 1745, 4° (late 18th c.) Rask 32 (late 18th c.) University Library, Lund: LUB 14, 4° (mid-18th c.) NKS 1144, fol. (18th c.)
Editions and translations
Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr, ed. by Eugen Kölbing, Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek, 5 (Halle a.S.: Niemeyer, 1896) (the principal scholarly edition). Riddarasögur, ed. by Bjarni Vilhjálmsson, 6 vols (Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1949-1951), IV 137-94 (modernised text, based on Kölbing).
References