The Sagas of the Icelanders
Title | The Sagas of the Icelanders PDF eBook |
Author | Jane Smilely |
Publisher | Penguin UK |
Total Pages | 348 |
Release | 2005-02-24 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 0141933267 |
In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world’s great literary treasures – as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.
An Introduction to the Sagas of Icelanders
Title | An Introduction to the Sagas of Icelanders PDF eBook |
Author | CARL. PHELPSTEAD |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 2024-05-14 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 9780813080680 |
Combining an accessible approach with innovative scholarship, Carl Phelpstead draws on historical context, contemporary theory, and close reading to deepen our understanding of Icelandic saga narratives about the island's early history.
The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, Including 49 Tales: An epic : Njal's saga
Title | The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, Including 49 Tales: An epic : Njal's saga PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 488 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | Old Norse literature |
ISBN |
The set contains "the first complete, coordinated English translation of The sagas of Icelanders, forty in all, together with forty-nine of the shorter Tales of Icelanders."--Preface.
Icelanders in the Viking Age
Title | Icelanders in the Viking Age PDF eBook |
Author | William R. Short |
Publisher | McFarland |
Total Pages | 285 |
Release | 2010-03-01 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0786447273 |
The Sagas of Icelanders are enduring stories from Viking-age Iceland filled with love and romance, battles and feuds, tragedy and comedy. Yet these tales are little read today, even by lovers of literature. The culture and history of the people depicted in the Sagas are often unfamiliar to the modern reader, though the audience for whom the tales were intended would have had an intimate understanding of the material. This text introduces the modern reader to the daily lives and material culture of the Vikings. Topics covered include religion, housing, social customs, the settlement of disputes, and the early history of Iceland. Issues of dispute among scholars, such as the nature of settlement and the division of land, are addressed in the text.
The Icelandic Saga
Title | The Icelandic Saga PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Hallberg |
Publisher | U of Nebraska Press |
Total Pages | 212 |
Release | 1962-01-01 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 9780803250826 |
In this stimulating and reliable introduction to the Icelandic saga, Peter Hallberg correctly designates the genre as "Scandinavia's sole, collective original contribution to world literature." These prose narratives dating from the thirteenth century are characterized by a psychological realism which sets them apart from all other contemporary forms of European literature. Mr. Hallberg's emphasis is on the branch of saga literature which deals with the native heroes--with the settlement of Iceland by Norse chieftains and with the lives of these settlers and their descendants. After disposing of the controversial "free-prose" theory of the origin and transmission of these stories, the author treats such problems as style and character portrayal, dreams and destinies, values and ideals, humor and irony. Several of the major sagas are studied in some detail. The concluding discussion concerns the decline of saga writing and the role played by the Sagas in modern Scandinavian life and literature. Paul Schach's introduction and copious annotation furnish additional background material and bibliographical references to English translations of the individual sagas and to significant studies on the major problems of saga research. Although intended primarily for the layman, The Icelandic Saga is of value to the specialist since it judiciously evaluates and incorporates the revolutionary findings of the so-called "Icelandic school" of saga study.
Laxdaela Saga
Title | Laxdaela Saga PDF eBook |
Author | Magnus Magnusson |
Publisher | Penguin |
Total Pages | 276 |
Release | 1969 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780140442182 |
Written around 1245 by an unknown author, the Laxdaela Saga is an extraordinary tale of conflicting kinships and passionate love, and one of the most compelling works of Icelandic literature. Covering 150 years in the lives of the inhabitants of the community of Laxriverdale, the saga focuses primarily upon the story of Gudrun Osvif's-daughter: a proud, beautiful, vain and desirable figure, who is forced into an unhappy marriage and destroys the only man she has truly loved – her husband's best friend. A moving tale of murder and sacrifice, romance and regret, the Laxdaela Saga is also a fascinating insight into an era of radical change – a time when the Age of Chivalry was at its fullest flower in continental Europe, and the Christian faith was making its impact felt upon the Viking world.
The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic Saga
Title | The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic Saga PDF eBook |
Author | Margaret Clunies Ross |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | 210 |
Release | 2010-10-28 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1139492640 |
The medieval Norse-Icelandic saga is one of the most important European vernacular literary genres of the Middle Ages. This Introduction to the saga genre outlines its origins and development, its literary character, its material existence in manuscripts and printed editions, and its changing reception from the Middle Ages to the present time. Its multiple sub-genres - including family sagas, mythical-heroic sagas and sagas of knights - are described and discussed in detail, and the world of medieval Icelanders is powerfully evoked. The first general study of the Old Norse-Icelandic saga to be written in English for some decades, the Introduction is based on up-to-date scholarship and engages with current debates in the field. With suggestions for further reading, detailed information about the Icelandic literary canon, and a map of medieval Iceland, this book is aimed at students of medieval literature and assumes no prior knowledge of Scandinavian languages.