I spent the past four months reading nothing but sagas and saga-related material, and now you people are gonna hear about it!
What are the sagas?
Saga is an Old Norse word originally meaning “something said”, “a story” (cognate with English say) but later coming to refer specifically to the prose stories written in Iceland mainly between about 1200 and 1400. There are somewhere around 150 surviving sagas. They are remarkable among Medieval literature for being written in the vernacular and in straightforward prose rather than in verse. In addition to the long-form sagas, there are a number of shorter tales called þættir with similar style and content. (There’s no firm dividing line between saga and þattr, and for some of the intermediate-length stories, whether it’s called a saga or a þattr is just a matter of convention).
What are the sagas about?
Since the 19th century, the sagas have been divided into about five different genres. While this taxonomy is useful, it’s best to bear in mind that it’s at least a partial anachronism; the Medieval writers and readers of the sagas wouldn’t necessarily have drawn these clear distinctions.
Legendary sagas (fornaldarsögur): These are stories about the distant past, the mythic “pre-history” of the Scandinavian peoples. While of course there’s no firm date that divides the mythic past from the historical past, the conventional place to make the division is at at the accession of Harald Fairhair as king of all Norway, which coincides with the first Norse settlement of Iceland, around 875.
The legendary sagas range from heroic legends based on dimly-remembered historical events to fairy-tale-like stories set in a purely imaginary past. The best known example of a legendary saga is probably the Saga of the Volsungs, which tells one version of the story of Sigurd the dragon-slayer.
Sagas of Kings and Rulers (konungasögur): These are sagas documenting the lives of historical (so, roughly, 10th century and later) Scandinavian rulers (mostly kings and earls, but sagas of bishops sort of fall into this category as well). As compared with the legendary sagas, they tend to be more sober accounts, and were intended more as history than as entertainment. That doesn’t mean that they don’t feature occasional supernatural elements or more consciously writerly episodes, though. The best known of these are the sixteen sagas comprising Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla, chronicling the kings of Norway.
Sagas of Icelanders (Islendingasögur): These are sagas set in Iceland in the first two centuries or so after its settlement (a period somewhat misleadingly referred to as “the Saga Age”). They’re largely based on real events, but should probably be thought of more like historical fiction than history; bear in mind, they were written anywhere from one to five centuries after the events they describe. When people talk about the sagas, these are largely what they’re talking about. The most famous of the Islendigasögur are Njal’s Saga, Egil’s Saga, and Laxdaela Saga.
Contemporary Sagas (samtímasögur): These are sagas about events in Iceland that were more recent at the time the sagas were written. Most of these are found in the Sturlunga Saga collection, and tell about the power struggles that ultimately led, in 1264, to the submission of Iceland to the Norwegian crown. These are mostly of interest to historians, and I haven’t read any of them.
Chivalric sagas (riddarasögur): These comprise translations of continental romances as well as original stories written in imitation of them. These have long been dismissed as inferior and uninteresting works, though recently some scholarship has started to take them a little more seriously. There is sometimes a fine line between chivalric and legendary sagas, since each genre influenced the other.
Saints’ Sagas (heilagra manna sögur): Lives of saints, again either translated from continental sources or composed originally in Iceland. Also included in this category are a few other sagas on Christian themes.
What’s so great about these sagas?
Well, they’re not all great; as with any body of literature, the medium includes plenty of mediocre specimens as well as some downright duds. But the best of the sagas rank up there among the greatest works of pre-modern literature. They’re written in a (sometimes deceptively) simple style, with a lot of character work and drama lying in what isn’t said (yeah, they’re like jazz), and they’re filled with understatement and dry humour.
The legendary sagas have an obvious appeal for anyone who enjoys myth and folklore. They’re filled with giants and dragons, sorcery and prophecy; aged kings and beautiful princesses; farmers who worship an animated horse phallus – all the usual stuff. They range in tone from dark Germanic tragedies (e.g. Volsunga Saga) to bawdy adventure stories (e.g. Bosi and Herraud) to genre-conscious parodies (e.g. Sturlaug the Hard-working). The Norse gods make occasional appearances, especially Odin, though since these sagas were all written after the conversion to Christianity, they are often treated in a euhemerized way.
But it’s the sagas of Icelanders that have been held in the highest critical regard, as least since the early 20th century. To understand why requires a little knowledge of the unusual society that was medieval Iceland. Prior to its discovery by Norwegians around 870, Iceland was home only to a few scattered Irish anchorites. According to the sagas and histories written from the 12th century onwards, it was settled largely by Norwegians seeking freedom from the increasingly centralized Norwegian government following King Harald Fairhair’s unification of Norway. Iceland had no kings, no nobles, and no army. And though it had laws and a system of assemblies and courts, it had no permanent government. It would be a mistake to think of it as an egalitarian society in a modern sense; like elsewhere in medieval Europe, it did have slavery, and there was a distinction between landholders and landless freemen. But for the time, it was very unusual, populated by free farmers and their households.
The sagas of Icelanders are similarly unusual among bodies of medieval literature. Like all the sagas, they’re in the vernacular and in prose rather than verse, which sets them apart already, but these particular sagas are not about kings and earls but about farmers. The protagonists of most of these sagas are not concerned so much with war and conquest as they are with their sheep straying onto a neighbour’s land, or with having enough hay to last the winter. The Islendingasögur are thus much more interested in the mundanities of everyday life than pretty much any other medieval literature, and this makes them in some ways feel quite modern.
That’s not to say that these sagas are boring; on the contrary, most of them are about blood feuds and struggles for power, within the limited sphere that is medieval Iceland. But those feuds are grounded in a social realism that can make them compelling to a modern audience. One of the most delightful aspects of these sagas is the way they show minor, domestic incidents bringing out unspoken tensions and spiralling into cycles of revenge that are difficult to break.
The sagas were written as that society was undergoing massive changes: in the 12th and 13th centuries, power was consolidated in the hands of a smaller number of powerful chieftains, and in 1264, Iceland came under the power of the Norwegian crown, ending the Icelandic Commonwealth. The writers of the Islendingasögur, then, were looking back with somewhat mixed feelings at a romantic past, and they used the sagas both to assert the value of their own heritage against the new dominance of Norway and to explore the failings of that society.
What’s a good place to start with the sagas?
That depends on what one’s interested in. The “big three” of the Sagas of Icelanders are Njal’s Saga, Egil’s Saga, and Laxdaela Saga, and these are all great – but I’m not sure if they’re the best introduction to the sagas, as all three of them are quite long and feature a large number of characters across several generations, which can be difficult to keep track of. They also, I think, benefit from an understanding of the social expectations of medieval Iceland and might be better enjoyed if one has already become familiar with that setting. However, if the large number of characters doesn’t bother you, and if you only intend to read one saga, any of those three are good choices. Translations of all three of these can be found in standalone volumes.
If you want to start with a shorter and simpler, but still very good, saga, you might try the Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi or the Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue. These can both be found in the Sagas of Icelanders compilation, and the latter also in Sagas of Warrior-Poets.
If you’re more interested in the legendary/mythical material of the fornaldarsögur, I highly recommend the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, which can be found in a Penguin edition or together with the Saga of Hervor and Heidrek in a more recent volume. The volume Six Sagas of Adventure also contains some excellent ones, notably the Saga of Hrolf Gautreksson and the Saga of Hrolf the Walker. (Lots of good sagas about people named Hrolf, for whatever reason).
If you’re more interested in the historical side of things, the two Vinland sagas, Eirik the Red’s Saga and the Saga of the Greenlanders, offer two different versions of the history of Norse expeditions to the New World. While neither of these is a great saga from a literary point of view, they’re worth reading for students of history.
I’m not an expert on different translations, but I will note that older translations tend toward a certain archaizing language, while newer translations tend to be in more straightforward English. Lee Hollander’s translations from the mid-20th century are a tiny bit old-fashioned, but not bad. I’ve enjoyed translations by, among others, Herman Pálsson, Jesse Byock, and Jackson Crawford. Ben Waggoner has a number of excellent translations of mostly legendary sagas that are unfortunately in somewhat cheaply made editions but are replete with helpful endnotes.
To go into a bit more depth, here are some thoughts on some of the sagas I enjoyed the most:
Islendingasögur:
Njal’s Saga: This is the Beethoven’s 9th of sagas. The longest, the most complex, and almost universally considered the best. It tells of a series of feuds in southern Iceland involving the two central characters, Gunnar (a traditional saga hero figure) and Njal (an extremely wise man and the best lawyer in Iceland). Njal’s Saga takes a particular interest in the Icelandic legal and judicial system, and has a lot to say (mainly by way of implication) about the virtues and failings of that system. This is undoubtedly one of the great works of medieval literature.
Laxdaela Saga: The second-longest of the Islendingasogur, Laxdaela follows a family over several generations from their settlement in Iceland, culminating in a tragic love story. The characters in Laxdaela Saga feel particularly well-drawn and realistic, and it has moments of pathos that I think exceed any others in the sagas. It’s also notable for taking more of an interest in the lives of its female characters than most sagas do. But be warned, this saga is very much a “slow burn” and it takes a while for things to really kick into high gear.
Egil’s Saga: The titular protagonist, Egil Skallagrimson, a troublesome warrior-poet with a sensitive side, is perhaps the most interesting and well-drawn character in the sagas – once we get to him, about halfway through the saga. The first half is also very good, chronicling Egil’s family from his grandfather down to his older brother. Personally, I find the latter parts of the narrative to be a little too episodic, but there’s no denying that this is a great saga.
Gisli Sursson’s Saga: This is my favourite saga. One of the “outlaw sagas”, this one deals with the conflicting social obligations put on its titular hero when tensions arise between his brother, his sister’s husband, and his wife’s brother. It’s filled with both nuanced storytelling and thrilling action.
Saga of Grettir the Strong: Another outlaw saga, this one starts several generations before the birth of its protagonist, but once it gets to the troublesome Grettir, it becomes a rollicking adventure story with several excellent set pieces. This saga features several battles with draugar – corpses that rise from the grave and start causing trouble.
Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers: The least well-known of the three outlaw sagas, this one certainly is weaker than Gisli and Grettir; the narrative is a bit clumsier and some of the conflicts feel forced. But it nonetheless contains some excellent scenes, notably the raid of the burial mound of Soti the viking and the last stand of the outlaw band.
Kormak’s Saga; Saga of Hallfred the Troublesome Poet; Saga of Bjorn, Champion of the Hitardal People; Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue: These four form a distinct group, a micro-genre about warrior-poets with failed romances. Of the four, I find Kormak and Hallfred distinctly weaker, but I think both Bjorn and Gunnlaug are quite good. Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue is the best regarded of the group, critically speaking, and it’s a nicely compact, classical sort of story. Bjorn, Champion of the Hitardal People is significantly longer – some would argue too long – but I find that it’s well structured and paced, and the author has a keener sense of how to build up dramatic tension than many saga writers.
Viglund’s Saga: A late saga, very much influenced by continental romances, this one plays with and subverts the conventions of the warrior-poet micro-genre and, in my opinion, is a lot of fun. (The late sagas are often critically derided, but I think many of them deserve re-evaluation).
Bard’s Saga: This is a weird one; it’s an Islendingasaga insofar as it’s set (largely) in Iceland, but in terms of content it reads more like a legendary saga. The first half follows the titular Bard, who becomes a sort of local demigod in western Iceland, while the second half follows his son Gest on what I can only describe as several D&D-esque adventures. A really interesting thing about this saga is that it seems to posit a society of giants, trolls, and such mythical beings living alongside that of Iceland’s humans, with their own customs, social ties, and so forth mirroring those of human society.
Saga of Ref the Sly: Ref means “fox” in Icelandic, and Ref the Sly is something of a Reynard-like trickster figure. This saga isn’t especially deep, but it is tremendously fun. I laughed out loud several times while reading it.
Saga of the Sworn Brothers: Following the exploits of our two amoral heroes, Thormod and Thorgeir, this saga features a number of very good episodes, and the two main characters are nicely contrasted in their characterization. I have to ding it a few points for the overly long and unnecessary epilogue with Thormod at the Battle of Stiklestad, which is just tedious King Olaf hagiography, but other than that, this is a good one.
Bandamanna Saga: Also called the Saga of the Confederates, I’d highly recommend this one but perhaps not as the first saga you read. It’s an unusual tale, taking place mostly at the Althing, and seems to be a thinly veiled critique of the overmighty chieftains of the 13th century, couched in the form of a story about an 11th-century lawsuit.
Saga of Hrafnkel, Frey’s Godi: A tightly written, compact story about a power struggle among chieftains in eastern Iceland. I think this is a great place to start with the sagas.
Eyrbyggja Saga: Overlapping somewhat in terms of time, place, and characters with Laxdaela Saga, Eyrbyggja is a complex story about power struggles and feuds among several interrelated families. Compared to some of my favorites, it’s a little bit unfocused, but it has some great characters and scenes, and if anything its unfocused nature gives it an air of verisimilitude. It’s notable for featuring a large amount of supernatural stuff, so if you’re looking for bizarre magical seals (the animal, not like on a letter) or lawsuits against the undead, this is the saga for you.
Vatsndaela Saga: This follows several generations of the foremost family that settles in Vatsndal, and chronicles their conflicts with various troublemakers in the region. It’s perhaps a conservative saga, in the sense that it seems to be exalting the godar and the established order of Icelandic society, a kind of medieval copaganda, perhaps. But on the other hand, it features some exciting battles, good one-liners, and a sorcerer protected by twenty magical black cats.
Fornaldarsögur:
Volsunga Saga: This is undoubtedly the best-known of the legendary sagas, and it tells one version of the story of Sigurd the dragon-slayer, Brynhild, and the Burgundians that’s also found in both the Prose and Poetic Eddas and the Nibelungenlied. I have very mixed feelings about this saga, because it’s unquestionably a great and powerful story, but I simply don’t think the saga version is the best telling of it. Personally, I’d say read the Nibelungenlied instead – or, if you want the Norse version, read the Eddas.
Saga of King Hrolf Kraki: This is based on some of the same old legends that underlie Beowulf, but refashioned somewhat under the influence of Arthurian literature. It has been criticized as being unfocused, since it doesn’t just follow Hrolf himself but digresses to give origin stories for several of his champions, somewhat in the manner of something like Le Morte d’Arthur (though not at nearly such length). Personally, I don’t find this to be a flaw at all; if anything, I wish more of the champions had been given origin stories. This is a great saga.
Arrow-Odd’s Saga: A prophecy says that Odd will be killed by his favorite horse, Faxi. So, to avoid death, Odd immediately kills Faxi and sets out from home, never intending to return. He travels all over semi-mythic Europe and Asia having adventures, making friends and making enemies. Although it’s quite episodic, certain recurring motifs and characters give it a sense of coherence that sustains the long narrative. Two prequels were written later about Arrow-Odd’s father and grandfather, Ketil Trout’s Saga and Grim Shaggy-Cheek’s Saga; these ones are much shorter and not nearly as good, but are worth reading alongside Arrow-Odd. All three, as well as the Saga of An Bow-Bender (see below) are collected in excellent translations in The Hrafnista Sagas.
Saga of An Bow-Bender: I had read this one, along with the other three Hrafnista Sagas, years ago, and An’s Saga didn’t make much of an impression on me. So it was quite a surprise to revisit it and find it becoming one of my favorites. Part of that is that reading it in the context of all these other sagas, I could better appreciate the way the author was playing with saga conventions; part of it is that, guided by the introductory notes, I was more able to see the strongly anti-monarchical agenda of the saga and appreciate its message of strength in apparent weakness. I now think it’s a brilliant piece of writing.
Saga of Hrolf the Walker: This one, even more than Hrolf Kraki, is clearly influenced by chivalric literature. It’s an excellent, cohesive story with some good moments of comedy that don’t detract from the story. It features a number of memorable villains, and battle scenes that are more engaging than those often are.
Saga of Halfdan, Brana’s Fosterling; Saga of Sorli the Strong: The Saga of Halfdan Brana’s Fosterling is a fairly uninteresting legendary saga with a lot of focus on giants and trolls, one of several that uses the trope of a (human) hero who is fostered by a giant. I include it in this list, though, because of its sequel, the Saga of Sorli the Strong. Sorli’s Saga starts out as a very straightforward repetition of the tropes of Halfdan’s (for the first half or so, I was thinking that this was the Home Alone 2 of sagas), but then it takes a very interesting turn and ends up re-evaluating and subverting that saga in interesting ways.
Saga of Hervor and Heidrek: In contrast to some of the legendary sagas, this one is earlier and more of a “pure” Scandinavian product with less chivalric influence. There are clumsy moments in the narrative, but there is a lot of great stuff here, including not one but two warrior women, a riddle contest with Odin, and a dramatic scene where Hervor wakes her father’s ghost to demand the sword Tyrfing as her inheritance.
Sagas of Kings & Rulers:
Færeyinga Saga: This one, about the rulers of the Faroe Islands, kind of defies classification, as it’s really much more like an Islendingasaga than like the sagas of kings and earls. It’s an excellent and underappreciated story, centered on the anti-hero Thrand Thorbjarnarson, and notable for the sophisticated way in which the author hides and then reveals information from/to the reader in a few instances.
Saga ranking
Just for kicks, here’s my personal final ranking of all the sagas I’ve read. Note, I’m ranking them by how enjoyable they are from a literary point of view; many of the more historical sagas are interesting for other reasons, even if they don’t always make compelling reading material. These are sagas of Icelanders unless noted otherwise (L: legendary, R: kings & rulers, C: chivalric, S: saints).
- Gisli Sursson’s Saga
- Laxdaela Saga
- Njal’s Saga
- Egil’s Saga
- Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (L)
- Bandamanna Saga
- Saga of Ref the Sly
- Saga of An Bow-Bender (L)
- Saga of Grettir the Strong
- Saga of Hrolf the Walker (L)
- Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi
- Saga of Bjorn, Champion of the Hitardal People
- Viglund’s Saga
- Arrow-Odd’s Saga (L)
- Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue
- Saga of the Sworn Brothers
- Færeyinga Saga (R*)
- Eyrbyggja Saga
- Saga of Fridthjof the Bold (L)
- Volsunga Saga (L)
- Saga of Thord Menace
- Vatnsdaela Saga
- Hen-Thorir’s Saga
- Saga of Hrolf Gautreksson (L)
- Saga of Finnbogi the Mighty
- Saga of Hervor and Heidrek (L)
- Saga of Sorli the Strong (L)
- Saga of Havard of Isafjord
- Bard’s Saga
- Saga of Hord and the People of Holm
- Saga of the Slayings on the Heath
- Saga of Egil and Asmund (L)
- Kormak’s Saga
- Saga of Thorstein Vikingsson (L)
- Saga of Droplaug’s Sons
- Saga of Bosi and Herraud (L)
- Saga of Sturlaug the Hard-working (L)
- Saga of Vilmund the Outsider (C)
- Saga of the People of Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta
- Saga of Samson the Fair (C)
- Kjalnesinga Saga
- Saga of Hallfred the Troublesome Poet
- Valla-Ljot’s Saga
- Saga of Asmund Champions’ Bane (L)
- Saga of Yngvar the Far-traveller (L*)
- Saga of Halfdan, Brana’s Fosterling (L)
- Vapnfirðinga Saga
- Gold-Thorir’s Saga
- Fljotsdaela Saga
- Saga of Grim Shaggy-Cheek (L)
- Saga of Hakon the Good (R)
- King Gautrek’s Saga (L)
- Ale-hood’s Saga
- Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok (L)
- Svarfdaela Saga
- Saga of the Jomsvikings (R)
- Saga of Hromund Gripsson (L)
- Saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson (L)
- Saint Olaf’s Saga (R)
- Killer-Glum’s Saga
- Saga of Harald Sigurdarson (R)
- Ynglinga Saga (R)
- Ljosvetninga Saga
- Ketil Trout’s Saga (L)
- Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (R)
- Saga of King Half and His Warband (L)
- Parceval’s Saga (C)
- Saga of Thorstein the White
- Saga of Harald Fairhair (R)
- Erik the Red’s Saga
- Saga of Illugi, Grid’s Fosterling (L)
- Saga of Magnus the Blind and Harald Gilli (R)
- Saga of the Sons of Magnus (R)
- Saga of the Greenlanders
- Orkneyinga Saga (R)
- Saga of the Sons of Harald (R)
- Saga of Hakon the Broadshouldered (R)
- Saga of Eirik the Far-traveller (L)
- Saga of the Mantle (C)
- Saga of Thorstein Sidu-Hallson
- Saga of Harald Greycloak (R)
- Saga of Magnus the Good (R)
- Saga of Magnus Barelegs (R)
- Saga of the Apostle Bartholomew (S)
- Saga of Halfdan the Black (R)
- Saga of the Descent into Hell (S)
- Saga of Olaf the Gentle (R)
- Floamanna Saga
- Saga of Gunnar the Fool of Keldugnup