The Sagas



The average life expectation in the days of the Vikings was about 30, and life conditions were harsh. According to a quote of the HAVAMAL, life was short and sure to end. But fame would never perish. Many Vikings looked for that kind of fame, and the SKALDS, the poets of SAGAS - stories reporting the exploits/adventures of heroes, had an important and esteemed function in society.
The Vikings used a script called RUNES, the alphabet, FUTHARK, thought to be derived from the Etruscan. Runic inscriptions are found all over Scandinavia, mostly inscribed in stones set up at certain places. These inscriptions usually are brief and, like the sagas, report the exploits of individual Vikings. Despite the knowledge of writing, Viking society was an oral society, the sagas composed as a form of poetry, to be memorized and recited again and again. Saga recitations were a major form of entertainment, and the Vikings' hunger for stories was such, that the Skalds integrated older stories, such as the THIDREKSAGA (Theoderic the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, 493-526) and the NIBELUNGENLIED (the Burgundian defeat at the hands of the Huns, early 5th century) in their repertoire. The oldest text of English literature, BEOWULF, also belongs to the Viking Sagas, probably brought to England by the settlers of the DANELAW.
Icelandic society, due to the remoteness of the island, preserved much of it's Viking character, even after the adaptation of christianity. Mostly Icelanders, such as SNORRI STURLUSSON (ca. 1179-1241), are credited with the codification of the saga literature. Our major sources are the EDDAS, the HEIMSKRINGLA (the saga of the kings of Norway), the ORKNEYINGA SAGA (of the Jarls of Orkney). The sagas, which include episodes about heroes slaying dragons, have for a long time been regarded by historians as incredible. Modern historians however regard them as a valuable source of information. As most sagas were codified by Icelanders, they focus on Iceland, Norway and the North Atlantic. Few report on the events in Sweden and the East, in the Danelaw etc.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Sagas, Eddas and Runes, from the Viking Network
Egil's Saga, from the Viking Network, short summary
DOCUMENTS Grettir's Saga, from OMACL, or from Univ. Lulea
Njal's Saga , from OMACL
Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturlusson, from OMACL
Cormac's Saga, from Univ. Lulea
Beowulf , from wvu, orthe edition by Kevin Kiernan, uky
REFERENCE Icelandic Literature, in : Historical Atlas of the Vikings, by John Haywood, London : Penguins 1995, pp.94-95, illustrated, concise, scholarly


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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