num_pages: 267
description: Composed at the end of the fourteenth century by an unknown author, The Saga of Grettir the Strong is one of the last great Icelandic sagas. It relates the tale of Grettir, an eleventh-century warrior struggling to hold on to the values of a heroic age becoming eclipsed by Christianity and a more pastoral lifestyle. Unable to settle into a community of farmers, Grettir becomes the aggressive scourge of both honest men and evil monsters - until, following a battle with the sinister ghost Glam, he is cursed to endure a life of tortured loneliness away from civilisation, fighting giants, trolls and berserks. A mesmerising combination of pagan ideals and Christian faith, this is a profoundly moving conclusion to the Golden Age of the saga writing.
language: English
title: The Saga of Grettir the Strong
titlecomplete: The Saga of Grettir the Strong
genres: Scandinavian Literature, Medieval, Classics, History, Historical, Read For School, 14th Century, Mythology, Literature, Poetry
ratings_count: 1039
series: Íslendingasögur/Sagas of Icelanders
publisher: Penguin Classics