The Sagas of the Icelanders

by Jane Smiley

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141933269
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	02/24/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
Sales rank:	217,363
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Jane Smiley's ten works of fiction include The Age of Grief, The Greenlanders, Ordinary Love and Good Will, Moo, A Thousand Acres (which won the Pulitzer Prize), and most recently the bestselling Horse Heaven.

Hometown:

Northern California

Date of Birth:

September 26, 1949

Place of Birth:

Los Angeles, California

Education:

B.A. in English, Vassar College, 1971; M.A., Iowa University, 1975; M.F.A, 1976; Ph.D., 1978

Table of Contents

The Sagas of Icelanders List of Illustrations and Tables
Preface by Jane Smiley
Introduction by Robert Kellogg
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
Sagas
Egil's Saga (trans. Bernard Scudder)
The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (trans. Andrew Wawn)
The Saga of the People of Laxardal (trans. Keneva Kunz)
Bolli Bollason's Tale (trans. Keneva Kunz)
The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi (trans. Terry Gunnell)
The Saga of the Confederates (trans. Ruth C. Ellison)
Gisli Sursson's Saga (trans. Martin S. Regal)
The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue (trans. Katrina C. Attwood)
The Saga of Ref the Sly (trans. George Clark)
The Vinland Sagas:
The Saga of the Greenlanders (trans. Keneva Kunz)
Eirik the Red's Saga (trans. Keneva Kunz)
Tales
The Tale of Thorstein Staff-struck (trans. Anthony Maxwell)
The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II (trans. Terry Gunnell)
The Tale of Sarcastic Halli (trans. George Clark)
The Tale of Thorstein Shiver (trans. Anthony Maxwell)
The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords (trans. Anthony Maxwell)
The Tale of the Story-wise Icelander (trans. Anthony Maxwell)
Reference Section:
Illustrations and Diagrams: Ships; The Farm; Social and Political Structure
Glossary
Index of Characters

Editorial Reviews

"One of the great marvels of World Literature.... This is a dream come true." —Ted Hughes

"A testimony to the human spirit's ability not only to endure what fate may send it but to be renewed by the experience." —Seamus Heaney

"The glory of the Sagas is indisputable." —Milan Kundera

"Generally excellent, accurate and readable, these translations are sure to become the standard versions." —The Times Literary Supplement (London)

From the Publisher