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The Sagas of Icelanders: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (World of the Sagas)
from: Penguin (Non-Classics)

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.63008
EAN: 9780141000039
ISBN: 0141000031
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 848
Publication Date: March 01, 2001
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: February 27, 2001
Sales Rank: 35619
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's greatest literary treasures-as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured further west-to Greenland and, ultimately, the coast of North America itself.

The 10 Sagas and seven shorter tales in this volume include the celebrated Vinland Sagas, which recount Leif Eiriksson's pioneering voyage to the New World and contain the oldest descriptions of the North American continent.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Sagas of the Icelanders
I love this book. I bought it to read the story of Hrafnkel, Frey's Gothi, which depicts Icelandic concepts of honor, dedication of an animal to a specific God, sacrifice, Thing proceedings, etc.

Rating:

- Breakneck Plotting and Broken Necks
The Icelandic sagas are a magnificent and still underrated landmark of medieval literature. They are unadorned, realistic prose narratives from an age that is otherwise best known for its religious and baroque tendencies; they are concise where most medieval literature is painfully diffuse; they deal with violence in a familiar and unsentimental manner ("He twisted the tail of his cloak around Thorbjorn's throat and bit through it, then snapped his head back, breaking his neck. With such rough treatment Thorbjorn quietened down considerably.") and the plots often move extremely rapidly, but the better sagas also have moments of great psychological insight. In short, they're a must-read.

This selection offers good value for money: it includes a lot of sagas, and -- unlike many paperbacks its size -- uses high-quality paper, and is well-bound and not especially liable to disintegrate. It is also just about ... Read More

Rating:

- Icelandic Sagas
I guess any attempt to provide a selection of anything will meet with some disgruntlement, in terms both of what is included and what is omitted. Based on some of the comments, this volume is apparently no exception. Although at 780+ pages, the editors didn't exactly skimp in terms of what they decided to include.

First, to state what this book is not: it is not a collection which includes the semi-legendary sagas, such as Hrolf-Kraki and the Volsungs. It does not contain any King's sagas, such as in the Heimskringla. It is not concerned with any of the Sturlung Sagas of later Icelandic history. It does contain a very strong representative selection from among the Icelanders' Sagas, that is those that take place in Iceland, or whose protagonists are Icelanders abroad, during and just after the Viking Age. Finally, it does not contain every one of such sagas.

The book contains Egil's Saga, as ... Read More

Rating:

- Classical Icelandic Literature
~The Sagas of Icelanders: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition~ is an intriguing collection of prose describing life and events in Iceland during the 10th and 11th centuries. They are extraordinary specimens of Icelandic literature. Icelanders were prominently of Nordic Viking descent and were also amalgamated with Celtic/Gaelic peoples whom they often took as wives. Their adopted homeland was not inhabited until after the 9th century. Iceland is a desolate landscape of basalt and lava beds, punctuated by volcanoes, geysers, and glaciers, which makes it the site for some epic adventures. The image of the Vikings that inhabited this land is varied. Some see them as noble, genius at maritime skill and navigation, prolific traders and explorers. Others regard them as savage marauders who loot and plunder. The later Norsemen in these Sagas were more tempered than the ones of the earlier centuries.

Iceland was very ... Read More

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