Sagas of the Icelanders

[Baldur]

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The Sagas of Icelanders (Icelandic: Íslendingasögur), many of which are also known as family sagas, are prose histories mostly describing events that took place in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature.

The Icelanders' sagas are a literary phenomenon of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They are focused on history, especially genealogical and family history. They reflect the struggle and conflict that arose within the societies of the second and third generations of Icelandic settlers.

The authors of these sagas are unknown. One, Egils saga, is believed by some scholars to have been written by Snorri Sturluson, a descendant of the saga's hero, but this remains uncertain. The standard modern edition of Icelandic sagas is known as Íslenzk fornrit.



The Icelandic Saga Database is an online resource dedicated to the digital publication of the Sagas of the Icelanders -- a large body of medieval literature which forms the foundation of the Icelandic literary tradition. This website contains all the extant Icelandic family sagas in an easily readable format using modernized Icelandic spelling, with Old Norse versions and translations into English and other languages made available where these exist in the public domain.

The Icelandic sagas are prose histories describing events that took place amongst the Norse and Celtic inhabitants of Iceland during the period of the Icelandic Commonwealth in the 10th and 11th centuries AD. They were most likely written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AD, perhaps originating in an oral tradition of storytelling. While their facticity and authorship is for the most part unknown, they are a widely recognized gem of world literature thanks to their sparse, succinct prose style and balanced storytelling. The sagas focus largely on history, especially genealogical and family history, and reflect the struggles and conflicts that arose amongst the second and third generations of Norse settlers in medieval Iceland, which was in this time a remote, decentralised society with a rich legal tradition but no organized executive power.

and now to the link :cool:
http://www.sagadb.org/

[Graham]

Aye, aye cry me a river baby Vikings.


Ketill Flatnose brought his ship to Scotland, and was well received by the great men there; for he was a renowned man, and of high birth. They offered him there such station as he would like to take, and Ketill and his company of kinsfolk settled down there - all except Thorstein, his daughter's son, who forthwith betook himself to warring, and harried Scotland far and wide, and was always victorious. Later on he made peace with the Scotch, and got for his own one-half of Scotland. He had for wife Thurid, daughter of Eyvind, and sister of Helgi the Lean. The Scotch did not keep the peace long, but treacherously murdered him.


Thorstein became a warrior king, and formed an alliance with Earl Sigurd the Great, son of Eystein the Rattler. They conquered Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, and Moray, and more than half Scotland. Over these Thorstein was king until the Scots plotted against him, and he fell there in battle.

Probably was being wanker, trying to steal shit.


The cases were then considered, and the end result was that Arngrim Goði was made a full outlaw along with all the rest who had taken part in the burning, with the exception of Thorvald Oddsson, who was sentenced to three years banishment from the country, after which he could return. Money was given to him and to the other men to meet their travel expenses. Thorvald left Iceland that summer; he sailed down to Scotland, where he was captured and enslaved.

Always up tae no good.


In the spring the earl would go on warfare, and Gunnlaug made ready to go with him; and that summer they harried wide about the South-isles and Scotland's firths, and had many fights

Fuck that.


Now, before this, when Leif was with King Olaf Tryggvason, and the king had requested him to preach Christianity in Greenland, he gave him two Scotch people, the man called Haki, and the woman called Hækja.

[Kazimiera]

Ten Icelandic Sagas you may not have heard of

Source: http://www.medievalists.net/2013/10/ten-icelandic-sagas-you-may-not-have-heard-of/

Some of the richest and most interesting writings from medieval Europe come from one of its furthest corners: during the 13th and 14th century Icelanders began to write down the stories they had collected orally from previous centuries. These sagas would cover events in Iceland and elsewhere, going back to the days when the island was first discovered and settled back in the ninth century. They are stories of family feuds, outlaws and the occasional monster lurking somewhere the uninhabited stretches of the Iceland.

Many readers will know some of these Icelandic sagas, such as Egil’s Saga or Njal’s Saga, but the Icelandic writers penned dozens of these stories. Here are ten sagas that you may not have heard of, but offer a fascinating tale. All of these works are available in an English translation, but it maybe difficult to find a copy:

The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong

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It follows the adventures of Finnbogi Asbjornson, a 10th century Icelander known for his great strength. It doesn’t look good for Finnbogi when his birth mother decides to abandon him shortly after he is born, but another family rescues the infant and raises him. As a child he begins to show his great strength – when Finnbogi 12 he breaks the neck of a bull, and a few years later he takes on a bear and breaks his back. In some ways the story is like Egil’s Saga, as Finnbogi faces various challenges in Iceland and Norway.


The Saga Of Gunnlaugur Snake’s Tongue

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A classic love-triangle tale, where two men love the same woman. Being Icelanders they decide to settle it by a duel to the death.


Audun’s Story

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A poor farmhand in Greenland decides to buy a polar bear and goes a journey to give it to the King of Denmark.


Magnus’ Saga

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A short account of the life of St. Magnus, Earl of Orkney (1075-1116). Magnus is one of two earls who share rule over the Orkney Islands, but discord between them leads to battle, where Magnus is captured and executed. But that is the only the start of his story, as we read of the miracles performed by Magnus as he is declared a saint. There is also a longer account of his life.


Viga-Glums Saga

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A struggle for power set in tenth-century Iceland, it features a ruthless chieftain named Glum who is determined to get his way, by legal means or by force.


Heidarviga Saga

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Most of this story involves Bardi Gudmundson and the feud he has that gets more violent and leads to a bloody battle taking place on a moor in 1018.


The Saga of the Confederates

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A kind of comedy saga, this story set in eleventh-century follows Odd and his father Ofeig. While Odd goes into business and becomes wealthy, his father remains a poor farmer. But when the eight most powerful chieftains of Iceland come together in a confederacy so they can legally outlaw Odd and take his wealth for themselves, it is Dad who comes to the rescue, using his wits to get his son out of trouble.


Gongu-Hrolfs Saga

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A romantic saga, where a Russian princess is doomed to marry the man who killed her father unless a young Norwegian warrior can rescue her. This story has everything – sorcerers, demons, dwarves and legs that are cut off and sewn back on! And yes, he gets the girl.


Svarfdale Saga

Set first in Norway and Sweden, and then the Svarsdale region of Iceland, it follows three generations of a family who have feuds and need to gain revenge for the wrongs done to them. Similar to other family sagas, historians haven’t been particularly interested in this work as it lacks the style found in works like Njal’s Saga. You can read some of the proverbs and quotes from this saga at this site, including lines like: “Someone who loses his gloves cannot be happy even if he gets another pair.”


The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki

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A mythic saga, it tells the story of King Hrolf, the ruler of Denmark from the 6th century AD. Similar to Beowulf, this story has wizards, berserkers and several interesting female characters.

[LouisFerdinand]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6JfrbH_x-k

[♥ Lily ♥]

It's intriguing.

[Grace O'Malley]

There is a dna study coming out on the Icelanders hopefully sometime this year. That should be interesting. It should be quite a comprehensive study as well looking at admixture in the Icelandic population.

[Morena]

I love folklore and I want to read them at some point.

[♥ Lily ♥]

There is a dna study coming out on the Icelanders hopefully sometime this year. That should be interesting. It should be quite a comprehensive study as well looking at admixture in the Icelandic population.

It should be interesting. I've read in the past that Irish people have also settled in Ireland.

[Grace O'Malley]

It should be interesting. I've read in the past that Irish people have also settled in Ireland.

I think there was Irish monks there before the Vikings but some Irish went along with the Vikings some as slaves but some of them were Norse-Gaels.

[The Lawspeaker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3CX-FzzIY

Written in the 13th century in Iceland, the Tale Of Ragnar Lothbrok (Ragnars saga loðbrókar) tells the story of the legendary Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons, a story of love, tragedy, trickery and of course - a dragon.