FROM ICELAND TO UZICE By students and EL teachers of Užice Grammar School
Excerpt from Njáls saga in the Möðruvallabók, circa 1350
If the title has just intrigued you and you have begun wondering what on earth Iceland and Uzice have in common, here is the explanation. Our journey starts in Iceland, where the term saga originates from. The Icelandic saga (pl. sögur) refers to (1) "what is said, statement" or (2) "story, tale, history". It is cognate with the English word "say". Sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. The texts were epic tales in prose of heroic deeds of days long gone, tales of worthy men, who were often Vikings, sometimes Pagan, sometimes Christian. Most of them were written between the 12th and 14th centuries in the Old Norse language. They were probably started to provide entertainment around the fire during the long cold winters in those countries. Today we gather around the television watching soap operas that tell long stories of dramatic events over many generations.
Famous literary sagas include Beowulf, the Nobel-prizewinning novel The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy and the planetary Harry Potter bestsellers.
Film sagas include blockbusters such as The Godfather, Rocky, Indiana Jones or The Lord of the Rings.
Our journey takes us to the mini saga, which is a recent invention. It first appeared in a competition run by the Sunday Telegraph in 1982 and it was supported by the BBC who broadcast the results on the radio. There were 48,000 entries and this mini saga by Guy Carter was one of the winning ones.
The Postcard Friendless, he despatched a letter to the twelfth century. Illuminated scrolls arrived by return post. Jottings to Tutankahmen secured hieroglyphics on papyrus; Hannibal sent a campaign report. But when he addressed the future, hoping for cassettes crammed with wonders, a postcard drifted back with scorched edges. It glowed all night.
The rules for writing a mini saga are very simple. It must be exactly 50 words. It must tell a story. The story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. The title may have no more than 15 words, and is not counted as part of the Saga. We are in Uzice now. Inspired by all this and hopeful of making their students do something new, challenging and worthwhile, the English teachers of Uzicka gimnazija organized another literary competition – a saga writing contest. Those were the competition requirements:
There were about 50 entries. Some might think ‘Too few for a school of more than 700 students.’ But what a selection it was – sentimental, scary, thought-provoking, with adorable twists at the ends, they were truly fun to read. The jury consisting of the English teachers of Užička gimnazija, Dušanka Nikačević, Svetlana Gavrilović, Brankica Skorković and Nevenka Demirović, had a tough job but eventually decided on the best seven. The ultimate result of the whole event was the publishing of the best entries in a booklet, simply called “Saga Writing Contest 2009’. Here are the winning sagas, whose linguistic beauty and artistic value is by all means self-evident, together with the forward to the booklet, written by Dušanka Nikačević.
Foreword How could any word Be a fore-word to the words that follow? The authors have been diving for pearls,
Soaring for stars, Panning for pure gold of noble words, soft and sharp, Sparkling and witty, wise and funny …
First prize: Tsunami by Miloš Đurić IV6 It was a calm morning on the eastern coast of an island. Most of the people were on dock, preparing their fishing boats. A usual day it seemed to be. But then, a great shadow covered the Sun. No scream was heard before the mighty blow. There was no after.
Second prize: Tranquility by Dimitrije Radojević IV6 The fireball viciously stands still, frozen in time. It is over two hundred meters wide, as bright and hot as a star suspended in mid-air above ground zero. A moment ago, a woman looked upon the skies while breastfeeding her baby in the park. The birds flew silently above Hiroshima. Third prize: Tango by Sanja Milinković IV3 ‘Mom, John hit me today!’ ‘What for?’ ‘I don’t even know! He bought a pair of new sneakers and bragged all day! I accidentally stepped on them a few times!’ ‘Accidentally? You know, it takes two to tango!’ ‘Mom! Are you listening? We were not dancing, he hit me!’
Fourth prize: The Thrill by Miroslav Jevremović IV2 Winger passes the ball to attacker … Here is a chance! He shoots! Goal!!!..Yes…Yes!!! A brilliant move by the great player, artistic one!!...
Beautiful action of the entire team and breathtaking shot!!!... We will win the game, the trophy, the glory!!... Oh no!... No! It is offside!? Nooo!! …Thump…
Fourth prize: Only Fools and Friends by Kristina Savić I3 An old man was sitting in a place for days. Time passed and he was still sitting. ‘I’m expecting my friend,’ he said every time someone asked him. When the last sand grain of his biological clock fell his friend came. But people still thought he was a fool.
Fifth prize: The Secret by Danica Jevđović II5 - Are you okay? - I’m fine. - If you were fine you wouldn’t be crying. - I’m not crying, I’ve got something in my eye. - Tell me, what’s wrong? - Nothing … - Tell me! - I’ll tell you, but it must remain a secret. They never spoke of it again.
Fifth prize: What’s Equal to Love by Marina Karapandžić II4 It was a beautiful day. A young girl was walking across the field, enjoying the countryside. Suddenly she saw a frog and she kissed it. The frog turned into a handsome prince. It was just like in fairytales.
Then the prince kissed her. She turned into a bottle of beer. The authors received books sponsored by Longman and its representatives in Belgrade, who understood the value of the project and supported it wholeheartedly. And this is the end of our journey.
P.S. In the course of preparing the contest, we came across some ideas and lesson plans that might be useful to any of the teachers willing to try writing sagas with their students. Here are three of them: Writing a mini saga lesson plan 2002 taken from onestopenglish.com Writing a mini saga taken from Teaching Teenagers by Herbert Puchta and Michael Schratz, Longman, 1993 Write a mini saga taken from Stories on Learnenglishcentral