The Great Embassy was established as part of The Saga Heritage Foundation's outreach work. The purpose was to bring together cultural figures, communicators, professionals from various fields, artists, and others to follow in the footsteps of Flateyjarbók and experience the cultural landscape that produced this saga masterpiece. Additionally, it aimed to build bridges and bonds among people dedicated to preserving living culture across boundaries of time and space, both real and imagined, but always rooted in the conceptual universe of the saga tradition.
The Embassy, as a self-styled “diplomatic mission” of the saga tradition, has undertaken journeys to the USA, England, Iceland, the Orkney Islands, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, where we have been received by leading cultural institutions as well as representatives of governments to highlight the importance of cultural heritage for both present and future generations.
Project manager Baard Titlestad presenting the president of the Icelandic parliament with the Norwegian edition of Flateyjarbok.
Iceland 2015
“It has gradually dawned on me that these people very likely recognize themselves a little in the headstrong Icelanders of Flateyjarbók. They are souls on fire, dynamos, with one foot in the official, the conventional and accepted Norway, and one foot outside, and they want to give something more. For me the words “cultural heritage” have always carried the slighly musty odor of museums and conservatism. But I have seldom felt Norse culture so vitally alive and open as on this tour.”
The Saga Isle. This magical place gave birth to many of the most widely known manuscripts of the Norse saga canon. In 2015 we traveled to Flateyjarbók's birthplace, and visited the farm where it's creator Jon Hákonarsson lived, as well as the convent where it was most likely written. During the trip we visited the Allthing (The Icelandic parliament) and did a presentation and exhibit at the University campus in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy in Reykjavik. The trip was covered by the main Icelandic print and TV media.
The Faeroe islands
The team presents the prime minister of the Faeroe Islands with the Norwegian edition of Flateyjarbok.
The Faeroe Islands is an enigmatic place. One gets a sense of a place where history can be touched as it is still handed down as a living tradition. Yet as in so many other places in the world, these traditions are endangered. Some of the most dramatic stories of Flateyjarbok happened in the Faeroe Islands, and we visited them. We also visited the Faroese parliament and gave the Norwegian edition to the prime minister, before hosting a presentation at Nordens Hus in Torshavn in collaboration with Nám.
return to the beginning
Flateyjarbok in its original form is completed by the presentation in the Nidaros cathedral.
The Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim Norway.
