Saga

Sagas are stories mostly about ancient Nordic and Germanic life. Some are entirely invented, and some have an historical basis.

They tell about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland.Old Norse saga, class of heroic prose narratives (Merriam-Webster)

The texts are tales in prose which share some similarities with the epic, often with stanzas or whole poems in alliterative verse embedded in the text, of heroic deeds of days long gone, "tales of worthy men," who were often Vikings, sometimes pagan, sometimes Christian.  They are sometimes romanticised and fantastic, but always dealing with human beings one can understand.  De islandske sagaer by Peter Hallberg, Stockholm: Svenska bokförlaget, BonniersVésteinn Ólason 1998. Dialogues with the Viking age: narration and representation in the sagas of the Icelanders. Heimskringla. 

The best sagas are recognised as fine literature. Njál's Saga, or the Saga of Burnt Njál, is one of the most famous.Magnusson, Magnus. 1987 [1960]. Introduction, Njal's Saga. Penguin Classics. Thorsteinn Gylfason. 1998. Introduction, Njál's Saga. Wordsworth Classics. 

In Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Beowulf is a saga written in England, and so is the later Gawain and the Green Knight, written in a West Midlands dialect. These are both works of the imagination, but Layamon's Brut (about 1200 AD) is based on English history since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Sagas of Icelanders
"The Icelandic sagas are the backbone of all ... literature" from the Nordic countries, says Roy Jacobsen  (en), a translator of Sagas of Icelanders, and author.Roy Jacobsen. "Gersimi Mikla: Sagaene er realisme av edleste vare. De er paradoksale, tvetydige, klassiske, moderne. Den store veven" Gersimi Mikla: the sagas are realism, as pure as it comes. The sagas have paradoxes, the sagas can be interpreted in more than one way; they are classic and modern. The large web. 2016-02-20. Klassekampen. p. 5. http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20160220/PLUSS/160229955, 

List of the Sagas of Icelandic’s 

The saga of Gísli Súrsson; or Gísla saga - (two versions) of an outlaw poet – Gísla saga
The saga of the people of Eyri;Byock, Jesse. Viking Age Iceland. Penguin Books Ltd; London, 2009. Page 99. or Eyrbyggja saga
Ljósvetninga saga
Vatnsdøla
The Saga of the People of Laxárdalr; or Laxdøla saga
Valla-Ljóts saga
The Saga of Hen-Thorir; or Hænsna-Þóris saga
The saga of Gunnlaugr Snake-tongue; or Saga of Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue
Bandamanna saga
Egil's Saga
Hardar saga; or Harðar saga ok Hólmverja
Rankel saga
 Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss
 Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa
 Droplaugarsona saga
 Eiríks saga rauða – Saga of Erik the Red
 Færeyinga saga
 Finnboga saga ramma
 Fljótsdæla saga
 Flóamanna saga
 Fóstbrœðra saga (two versions)
 Grettis saga - Saga of Grettir the Strong
 Grœnlendinga saga – Greenland saga
 Gull-Þóris saga
 Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls
 Hallfreðar saga (two versions)
 Harðar saga ok Hólmverja
 Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings – The saga of Hávarður of Ísafjörður
 Heiðarvíga saga
 Hrafnkels saga
 Hrana saga hrings (post-medieval)
 Kjalnesinga saga
 Kormáks saga
 Króka-Refs saga
 Laurentius Saga
 Ljósvetninga saga (three versions)
 Njáls saga
 Reykdœla saga ok Víga-Skútu
 Svarfdœla saga
 Valla-Ljóts saga
 Víga-Glúms saga
 Víglundar saga
 Vápnfirðinga saga
 Þorsteins saga hvíta
 Þorsteins saga Síðu-Hallssonar
 Þórðar saga hreðu
 Ölkofra saga

 References 


Category:Norse mythology