The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki
The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki

Author: Jesse Byock

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-06-30

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0141914092

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Composed in medieval Iceland, Hrolf's Saga is one of the greatest of all mythic-legendary sagas, relating half-fantastical events that were said to have occurred in fifth-century Denmark. It tells of the exploits of King Hrolf and of his famous champions, including Bodvar Bjarki, the 'bear-warrior': a powerful figure whose might and bear-like nature are inspired by the same legendary heritage as Beowulf. Depicting a world of wizards, sorceresses and 'berserker' fighters - originally members of a cult of Odin - this is a compelling tale of ancient magic. A work of timeless power and beauty, it offers both a treasury of Icelandic prose and a masterful gathering of epic, cultic memory, traditional folk tale and myths from the Viking age and far earlier.

Hrolf Kraki's Saga
Hrolf Kraki's Saga

Author: Poul Anderson

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2015-11-24

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1504024397

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Winner of the British Fantasy Award: The ancient legend of the Danish Viking king is retold in a tale of vengeance, battles, magic, and monsters. In the court of the Anglo-Saxon king, a visiting storyteller regales the assembled nobles with the enthralling tale of her faraway land’s most revered hero: the Viking Hrolf Kraki. Born of an incestuous union into a royal family with a history of violence, jealousy, usurpation, and murder, Hrolf assembled a loyal band of the mightiest champions in the realm and expanded his small kingdom through wisdom, courage, and conquest. Unbeaten on the battlefield, his great deeds and victories became legends throughout the North as he ushered in an era of peace and prosperity. But Hrolf’s desire for vengeance was ever the warrior-king’s driving force, as he sought the truth about his father’s murder. This obsession would threaten Hrolf’s life and his rule—and ultimately bring his great kingdom to ruin. Poul Anderson, one of the acknowledged giants of twentieth-century fantasy, employs his unparalleled storytelling talents to bring Denmark’s great Viking king to life. A saga that predates the stories of King Arthur and his knights and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, while echoing the Oedipus and Beowulf myths, the Norse legend of Hrolf Kraki takes on a new and breathtaking richness in this classic novel the Guardian described as “full of thrills.”

The Saga of the Volsungs
The Saga of the Volsungs

Author:

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2012-06-19

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0520951514

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The Saga of the Volsungs is an Icelandic epic of special interest to admirers of Richard Wagner, who drew heavily upon this Norse source in writing his Ring Cycle and a primary source for writers of fantasy such as J. R. R. Tolkien and romantics such as William Morris. A trove of traditional lore, it tells of love, jealousy, vengeance, war, and the mythic deeds of the dragonslayer, Sigurd the Volsung. Byock's comprehensive introduction explores the history, legends, and myths contained in the saga and traces the development of a narrative that reaches back to the period of the great folk migrations in Europe when the Roman Empire collapsed.

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.

Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes
Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes

Author: Jackson Crawford

Publisher: Hackett Publishing

Published: 2021-10-19

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1647920094

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Inherited through the line of the berserker Angantýr and his war-loving daughter Hervor, the ever-lethal, shining sword Tyrfing and its changes of hands frame the uncanny story of The Saga of Hervor and Heiđrek. A second heroic saga, Hrólf Kraki and His Champions, recounts the daring deeds of the members and entourage of the ancient Danish house of Skjoldung. Passed down orally in pre-Christian Norse times, transmitted in writing in medieval Iceland, and here wielded by the hand of Jackson Crawford, the tales told in this volume retain their sharp edges and flashes of glory that never fail to slay.

Orkneyinga Saga
Orkneyinga Saga

Author:

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1981-07-30

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780140443837

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Written around AD 1200 by an unnamed Icelandic author, the Orkneyinga Saga is an intriguing fusion of myth, legend and history. The only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action, it tells of an era when the islands were still part of the Viking world, beginning with their conquest by the kings of Norway in the ninth century. The saga describes the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney and the adventures of great Norsemen such as Sigurd the Powerful, St Magnus the Martyr and Hrolf, the conqueror of Normandy. Savagely powerful and poetic, this is a fascinating depiction of an age of brutal battles, murder, sorcery and bitter family feuds. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Njal's Saga
Njal's Saga

Author: George Webbe Dasent

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2006-01-17

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0486443671

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Instigated by a spiteful and selfish wife, a grim blood feud between the families of two well-to-do Icelandic landowners spirals out of control, claiming lives and property. Widely regarded as the capstone of Icelandic literary achievement, this gripping thirteenth-century saga not only recounts long and costly battles but documents Viking civic and legal institutions as well. It also presents a cogent exposition of Icelandic religious practices amid stirring tales of war and conquest. The finest English-language version available, this volume includes an informative introduction, editor's notes, and a complete chronology of events.

The Saga of the Jómsvíkings
The Saga of the Jómsvíkings

Author: Lee M. Hollander

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-05

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 9780292788749

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A loyal translation of the medieval Icelandic saga of a strong ruler and his men versus a brotherhood of fierce Viking mercenaries. In A.D. 986, Earl Hákon, ruler of most of Norway, won a triumphant victory over an invading fleet of Danes in the great naval battle of Hjórunga Bay. Sailing under his banner were no fewer than five Icelandic skalds, the poet-historians of the Old Norse world. Two centuries later their accounts of the battle became the basis for one of the liveliest of the Icelandic sagas, with special emphasis on the doings of the Jómsvíkings, the famed members of a warrior community that feared no one and dared all. In Lee M. Hollander’s faithful translation, all of the unknown twelfth-century author’s narrative genius and flair for dramatic situation and pungent characterization is preserved. “[A] famous tale of derring-do . . . Hollander has been able to do the even more difficult job of faithfully rendering one text into English with complete loyalty to the style and spirit of his original.” —Speculum

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.

King Harald's Saga
King Harald's Saga

Author: Snorri Sturluson

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-04-28

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0141915072

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This compelling Icelandic history describes the life of King Harald Hardradi, from his battles across Europe and Russia to his final assault on England in 1066, less than three weeks before the invasion of William the Conqueror. It was a battle that led to his death and marked the end of an era in which Europe had been dominated by the threat of Scandinavian forces. Despite England's triumph, it also played a crucial part in fatally weakening the English army immediately prior to the Norman Conquest, changing the course of history. Taken from the Heimskringla - Snorri Sturluson's complete account of Norway from prehistoric times to 1177 - this is a brilliantly human depiction of the turbulent life and savage death of the last great Norse warrior-king.