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Review
"With its account of the Norse discovery of North America and its fine translation of Hrolfs Saga (indispensable for any serious study of the mythic Beowulf), this text remains the single best saga intro. in print."--Stephen Glosecki, University of Alabama
"I require my Beowulf students to read Hrolf Kraki's Saga, and GJ's translation in this book is both excellent . . . and readily available."--Marijane Osborn, University of California, Davis
"Still the best single-volume collection of Viking tales in English."--James Massengale, University of California, Los Angeles
"[Jones's] English has a yeasty Welshness in it that corresponds quite nicely to the idiomatic springiness of the original."--L. Michael Bell, University of Colorado
"I require my Beowulf students to read Hrolf Kraki's Saga, and GJ's translation in this book is both excellent . . . and readily available."--Marijane Osborn, University of California, Davis
"Still the best single-volume collection of Viking tales in English."--James Massengale, University of California, Los Angeles
"[Jones's] English has a yeasty Welshness in it that corresponds quite nicely to the idiomatic springiness of the original."--L. Michael Bell, University of Colorado
Product Description
The remote and inhospitable landscape of Iceland made it a perfect breeding-ground for heroes. The first Norsemen to colonize it in 860 found that the fight for survival demanded high courage and tough self reliance; it also nurtured a stern sense of duty and an uncompromising view of destiny. The Icelandic sagas relate the adventurous lives of individuals and families between 930 and 1030, which began as oral tales but were skilfully documented in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and are now regarded as written literature.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this on a boat from Denmark to Iceland, via the Faroe Islands, on the very routes the vikings had sailed, and then driving through Iceland by car.
Crossing Iceland, and its other-worldly landscapes, it was the perfect companion: the sagas came alive; the life the vikings lead, facing natural challenges, blood-feuds, love, and passions, for instance the saga of the Vapnfjord Men, from the eastern parts of Iceland.
The sagas have both historical value, as the saga of Eirik the Red give an insight into how two new world's met (without even knowing it), but are also able to reflect on human lives, as the saga of Authun and the bear.
Finally, there are the sagas of King Hrolf and his men, full of bloody battles, revenge and love-feuds, which are truly engaging.
After reading this, I only feel like reading more sagas!
Crossing Iceland, and its other-worldly landscapes, it was the perfect companion: the sagas came alive; the life the vikings lead, facing natural challenges, blood-feuds, love, and passions, for instance the saga of the Vapnfjord Men, from the eastern parts of Iceland.
The sagas have both historical value, as the saga of Eirik the Red give an insight into how two new world's met (without even knowing it), but are also able to reflect on human lives, as the saga of Authun and the bear.
Finally, there are the sagas of King Hrolf and his men, full of bloody battles, revenge and love-feuds, which are truly engaging.
After reading this, I only feel like reading more sagas!
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The problem with any Scandinavian saga for a modern (non-academic) reader is that the culture no longer exists in which it is both a duty and a source of honour to recognise and glory in one's ancestors. Reading a saga becomes, therefore, either a study of medieval Icelandic culture or an engrossing tale of chivarly, blood-feuds and romance hiding beneath a thick layer of geneology.
This particular collection of Icelandic sagas deals enirely with mortal men, which may put off some of those looking primeraly for Odin and the like. What Eirik the Red provides is a detailed and insightful cross-section of Icelandic society after the invasion of the Norwegians fleeing their new-formed kingdom. Particularly interesting is the discovery of America by the Greenlanders, several centuries before Columbus. I would heartily recommend this collection for anyone with more than a passing interest in medieval Scandinavian culture, but would add that the plethora of names and places mentioned requires the reader to be fully awake!
This particular collection of Icelandic sagas deals enirely with mortal men, which may put off some of those looking primeraly for Odin and the like. What Eirik the Red provides is a detailed and insightful cross-section of Icelandic society after the invasion of the Norwegians fleeing their new-formed kingdom. Particularly interesting is the discovery of America by the Greenlanders, several centuries before Columbus. I would heartily recommend this collection for anyone with more than a passing interest in medieval Scandinavian culture, but would add that the plethora of names and places mentioned requires the reader to be fully awake!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
A Very Nice Compendium of Some of the Lesser Sagas
3 Dec 2000
Format:Paperback
Gwyn Jones here gives us his very smooth and stylish translations of some of the lesser, and lesser known, sagas in the Icelandic literary opus. From the title piece, "Eirik the Red's Saga", to his rendering of the Hrolf Kraki saga, these are all nicely wrought translations of some of the smaller gems in the old Norse literary tradition. Among my favorites are "The Vapnfjordmen" and the "Tale of Spike Helgi". These brilliantly demonstrate, in spare saga style, the way in which the best of these old Norse works capture and crystallize real people through an archaic and slightly clouded lense. But the images shining through are starkly real and resonate with our modern sensibility in a way which is surprising for such medieval fare. Of course, the title piece and the Hrolf Kraki piece which end the book go to the other extreme: the realm of legend and fantasy. Modern scholars tend to believe that the "Greenlanders' Saga" is an older and more reliable tale concerning the Norse excursions to Vinland than is the "Eirik's Saga" (this book's title piece) though "Eirik's Saga" is richer, by far, in literary motifs and more rife with fantastic elements, while yet being more literary overall than the plainer, sparer "Geenlanders' Saga" (which Jones did not choose to include here). And few will dispute that Hrolf Kraki's tale, this book's end-piece, is mainly one of myth and legend, albeit an exciting and well-told tale in its own right. In sum, Jones selected the most literary of the smaller sagas for this work, sandwiching in between two more legendary pieces, some more solidly realistic tales. But all with sufficient literary merit to warrant inclusion here. A nicely done collection for the saga aficionado!The King of Vinland's Saga
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