Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Icelandic Stories
Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Icelandic Stories

Author:

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-03-31

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0141961422

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Written around the thirteenth century AD by Icelandic monks, the seven tales collected here offer a combination of pagan elements tightly woven into the pattern of Christian ethics. They take as their subjects figures who are heroic, but do not fit into the mould of traditional heroes. Some stories concern characters in Iceland - among them Hrafknel's Saga, in which a poor man's son is murdered by his powerful neighbour, and Thorstein the Staff-Struck, which describes an ageing warrior's struggle to settle into a peaceful rural community. Others focus on the adventures of Icelanders abroad, including the compelling Audun's Story, which depicts a farmhand's pilgrimage to Rome. These fascinating tales deal with powerful human emotions, suffering and dignity at a time of profound transition, when traditional ideals were gradually yielding to a more peaceful pastoral lifestyle.

Viking Myths and Sagas
Viking Myths and Sagas

Author: Rosalind Kerven

Publisher: Chartwell Books

Published: 2017-09-15

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0785835555

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Written in consultation with leading academics.

Seven Viking Romances
Seven Viking Romances

Author:

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-05-26

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0141966807

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Combining traditional myth, oral history and re-worked European legend to depict an ancient realm of heroism and wonder, the seven tales collected here are among the most fantastical of all the Norse romances. Powerfully inspired works of Icelandic imagination, they relate intriguing, often comical tales of famous kings, difficult gods and women of great beauty, goodness or cunning. The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops is skilfully adapted into a traditional Norse legend. These are among the most outrageous, delightful and exhilarating tales in all Icelandic literature.