heildarsaga

Heildarsaga is a term used in contemporary scholarship to describe a type of Icelandic prose narrative that aims to present a broad, panoramic account of a wide historical or legendary world. It is not a widely attested medieval label for a single work, but rather a modern analytic category applied to sagas that attempt to synthesize multiple strands—genealogies, regional histories, and diverse episodes—within a unified framework.

Etymology and scope: The word combines heildar-, from the sense of whole or total, with saga, meaning tale or saga. In this analytical sense, a heildarsaga seeks to map connections across families, places, and time, offering an overarching perspective rather than a tightly focused, episodic narrative.

Characteristics: Typical features include a broad geographical scope, extensive genealogical material, and cross-cutting storylines that tie together various noble houses or communities. The narrative voice often aims for synthesizing different sources or traditions, presenting a multi-layered history rather than a single-event chronicle. The term highlights the ambition to present a more universal or interconnected panorama than is found in many narrowly focused family sagas or localized chronicles.

Relationship to medieval sagas: Heildarsaga is primarily a modern scholarly label and does not denote a distinct medieval genre with canonical exemplars. It is useful for describing works or sections of works that exhibit an unusually wide scope, or for comparative discussion across different saga types, including konungasögur (king sagas) and family sagas.

See also: Icelandic saga, konungasaga, family saga, saga criticism.