Skip to main content
Log in

Network analysis of the Íslendinga sögur – the Sagas of Icelanders

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
The European Physical Journal B Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Íslendinga sögur – or Sagas of Icelanders – constitute a collection of medieval literature set in Iceland around the late 9th to early 11th centuries, the so-called Saga Age. They purport to describe events during the period around the settlement of Iceland and the generations immediately following and constitute an important element of world literature thanks to their unique narrative style. Although their historicity is a matter of scholarly debate, the narratives contain interwoven and overlapping plots involving thousands of characters and interactions between them. Here we perform a network analysis of the Íslendinga sögur in an attempt to gather quantitative information on interrelationships between characters and to compare saga society to other social networks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. P. Mac Carron, R. Kenna, Euro. Phys. Lett. 99, 28002 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. L. da F. Costa et al., Adv. Phys. 60, 329 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. D.J. Watts, S.H. Strogatz, Nature 393, 440 (1998)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. L.A.N. Amaral, A. Scala, M. Barthélémy, H.E. Stanley, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 11149 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. A. Mislove et al., in Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCOMM conference on Internet measurement 2007, San Diego, California, edited by Co. Dovrolis, M. Roughan (New York, 2007), p. 29

  6. M.E.J. Newman, J. Park, Phys. Rev. E 68, 036122 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. M. Szell, R. Lambiotte, S. Thurner, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 13636 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. M.E.J. Newman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 208701 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. S. Fortunato, Phys. Rep. 486, 75 (2010)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. E. Ravasz, A.-L. Barabási, Phys. Rev. E 67, 026112 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. W.I. Miller, Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland (University of Chicago Press, 1990)

  12. R. Alberich, J. Miro-Julia, F. Roselló, arXiv:cond-mat/ 0202174 (2002)

  13. P.M. Gleiser, J. Stat. Mech. 2007, P09020 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. M.E.J. Newman, SIAM Rev. 45, 167 (2003)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. J. Smiley, The Sagas of Icelanders: a Selection (Penguin Books Limited, London, 2000)

  16. Njal’s Saga, translated by C.F. Bayerschmidt, L.M. Hollander (Wordsworth Classics, Hertfordshire, 1998)

  17. Njal’s Saga, translated by M. Mahnusson, H. Pálsson (Penguin books, Middlesex, 1960)

  18. H. O’Donoghue, Old norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 2004)

  19. M.D. Humphries, K. Gurney, PLoS One 3, e0002051 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. F. Heider, J. Psychol. 21, 107 (1946)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. D. Cartwright, F. Harary, Psychol. Rev. 63, 277 (1956)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. T. Antal, P. Krapivsky, S. Redner, Physica D 224, 130 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. R. Albert, A.-L. Barabási, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 47 (2002)

    Article  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. M.E.J. Newman, Contemp. Phys. 46, 323 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. B. Efron, SIAM Rev. 21, 460 (1979)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. M. Newman, Phys. Rev. E 67, 026126 (2003)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. L. S˜ubelj, M. Bajec, arXiv: 1202.3188

  28. G.A. Ludueña, H. Meixner, G. Kaczor, C. Gros, arXiv:1212.0749 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  29. L.C. Freeman, Sociometry 40, 35 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. M. Girvan, M.E.J. Newman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 7821 (2002)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  31. M.E.J. Newman, M. Girvan, Phys. Rev. E 69, 026113 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. T.M.J. Fruchterman, E.M. Reingold, Software: Practice Experience 21, 1129 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. M.E.J. Newman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 404 (2001)

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  34. A.J. Hamer, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Ph.D. Thesis, 2008

  35. R.I. Dunbar, A. Clark, N.L. Hurst, Ethol. Sociobiol. 16, 233 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Mac Carron.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mac Carron, P., Kenna, R. Network analysis of the Íslendinga sögur – the Sagas of Icelanders. Eur. Phys. J. B 86, 407 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-40583-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-40583-3

Keywords

Navigation