The Relation of the Hrólfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarímur to Beowulf / A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The / Scandinavian Countries

The dissertation investigates the relationship between an Anglo‑Saxon heroic poem and Scandinavian saga material, concentrating on two episodic passages from a Norse saga and their treatment in later rímur and in Saxo's accounts. Through comparative analysis of narrative variants, onomastics, and motif transmission, it traces how creatures and combat scenes evolve—showing, for example, how bear, wolf, winged‑monster, and dragon episodes are rearranged across traditions—and proposes explanations for the origin of the dragon episode and the redactional processes that produced the later saga and rímur forms. It concludes with a general synthesis of saga development and interregional influence.