Konungs skuggsjá

Konungs skuggsjá (Old Norse for "King's mirror"; Latin: Speculum regale, modern Norwegian: Kongsspegelen (Nynorsk) or Kongespeilet (Bokmål)) is a Norwegian educational text from around 1250, an example of speculum literature that deals with politics and morality. It was originally intended for the education of King Magnus Lagabøte, the son of King Håkon Håkonsson, and it has the form of a dialogue between father and son. The son asks, and is advised by his father about practical and moral matters, concerning trade, the hird, chivalric behavior, strategy and tactics. Parts of Konungs skuggsjá deals with the relationship between church and state.

A study of the relations of the text's manuscripts was undertaken by Ludvig Holm-Olsen, underpinning his 1983 edition, which is presently the standard one. The most important manuscript is AM 243 a fol., copied in Norway (probably Bergen), around 1275.

The seventy chapters of the text consist of a prologue and two main parts, of which the second may perhaps be subdivided into two sections, one focused on the king's court, the other (more specifically) on the king's justice. In the prologue, the speaker sets out to deal with merchants, kingsmen, the clergy and peasants, but his discussion does not extend much beyond the first two classes. It seems possible that the last two chapters were originally intended for a separate treatment of the clergy.

Prologue
1. The son states the purpose of the work, useful as he considers it to be both as a King's Mirror and as a handbook for a wider audience.

First part. The merchant and the natural world
2. The dialogue between father (himself a kingsman) and son begins.
3-4. The business and customs of the merchant
5. The sun and the winds
6-7. The sun's course
8. The marvels of Norway
9. Scepticism about the genuineness of marvels
10-1. Marvels of Ireland
12-5. Marvels of the Icelandic sea (e.g. whales) and of Iceland (e.g. volcanoes, springs)
16-20. Marvels of Greenland, its waters, animals, products, climate, etc.
21. Cold and hot zones of the earth
22-3. Navigation, winds and seasons

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