The Sagas of Icelanders: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

The price of the book is worth it for the first three sagas alone. Egil's Saga, Vatnsdal Saga, and Laxardal Saga will keep you flipping the pages all day long. You will find that there are names upon names upon names upon names in these stories. Once you start to figure out that you can ignore 90% of the names in these books and just pay attention to what characters are being focused on in the chapters, the stories become much more enjoyable. There is plenty of drama, violence, magic, treachery, and heroism in these stories. I've also read Njal's Saga and Grettir's Saga. I would recommend buying those two purchases as well. How these stories haven't been turned into TV series is beyond me. Could you imagine a season based on each of these sagas? It'd be incredible. Unfortunately Hollywood would screw them up somehow. Buy this.

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 light enough that you can read it in bed. Some of the most famous sagas -- "Njal's Saga" and "Grettir's Saga" in particular -- have been omitted. Some omissions were inevitable, because of space, but the omission of "Njal's Saga" was still unfortunate. (If you're unfamiliar with the sagas, read Njal's first: it's a much more effective hook than any of the others.) On the other hand, several of the shorter sagas in this volume are excellent and less than famous -- e.g. the saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue and the tale of Sarcastic Halli. The introduction is thorough if somewhat boring, and the maps, charts, and genealogies are invaluable. The translations range from adequate to solid -- sometimes awkward but at least never archaic.

This book has already provided hours of enjoyable reading for both myself and my 15 year old son and we aren't even half way done. The book consists of 9 complete sagas, and 6 tales, two introductions-- one very in depth, reference maps and images, a short glossary of nordic terms and an index of all the characters involved--a very important addition considering there are sometimes 5 or 6 characters with the same name. Some characters interweive in multiple sagas which I found a fun way of figuring the timing. I was afraid the stories would either be dry like a history book or fantastical and unrealistic like mythology. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find the tales flow very well, never drag, and are believable and brilliantly practical. Like a well written and researched novel, this book is hard to put down and I find myself mourning when I reach the death scenes of characters I grew to love in each saga: such as the handsome and lucky Ingimund; the violent, ugly, but ultimately loveable Emil Skallagrimsson; and the unwanted slave's-son, Thorkel Thorgrimsson Scratcher, who despite everyone's heckling, grows up to be wise and heroic enough to lead his whole people. If you love imagining Vikings and want a better understanding of their thoughts and ways, this is a fun way to learn more about them and gain insight into the adventurous settling of a small but important nation.

For the price offered ($16) this is an amazing bargain. For the cost of two Penguin translations (2 Sagas) you get 9 sagas and multiple tales. Speaking as a person that bought the hardback the paperback is not missing anything as far as I can tell by comparing tables of contents. However, earlier criticisms that it is missing some very classic sagas such as, _Njal's Saga_ though valid should not deter you from getting this book. I will conjecture that the length of those definitive sagas were too much to put into a one volume collection. Get the book - no shelf should be without the sagas and it is a thrifty choice. The collection that both the hardback and softback are taken from is a large collection called _Sagas of the Icelanders_ which is about ~$600 so you might also keep that in mind when buying. By no means is this all the sagas from that massive collection but it is a good survey and there is a good further sources section. For those who are saga junkies be aware that the Sagas of the Icelanders (Islendasogur) is only the Icelandic family sagas and not any of the Bishop Sagas nor Heroic/Mythic Sagas e.g., Saga of Hralf Kraki. So if you are hoping to score the Saga of Harold or any saga whose action is outside of Iceland or not related to one of the great families look elsewhere. Also, for saga junkies these translations do not footnote the geneaology of the characters which the Penguin translations usually did. So you get more of the original feel with "son of...daughter of.." Overall, if you have become enthralled with the sagas or just taking the plunge for the first time this is a very good and economical choice. Be aware that it is a very thick paperback and not as sturdy as it could be. But by all means get it. Highly recommended. If you like this set then get Njal's Saga.

An amazing read for anyone trying to learn the ways and culture of the ancient Icelanders, and Norse in general. When reading through the sagas you pick up on so much little details of life back then, it's really so much more than just a story. For a practicing Asatruar/Norse Pagan, this really should be one of the first books you read. As others have said, the pages are cut unevenly, but that's obviously by design. It's to give the book a more "antique" feel. I think it's rather cool, though it does make flipping through it a little more difficult.

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 well as the Vatnsdaela, the Laxardaela, Hrafnkel Frey's Godi, The Confederates, Gisli Sursson, Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue, Ref the Sly, and the Vinland Sagas, as well as 6 short prose tales of other Icelanders, usually in foreign service. There is a great deal of supplementary information about the different kinds of sagas, Ages of Icelandic history, Viking ship types, Icelandic social and political structure, the Icelandic calendar, as well as a generous dose of genealogical tables and maps of Iceland, Norway, Vinland, etc. with detail maps showing the action of the separate sagas. I won't waste space describing the sagas themselves, under the assumption that someone considering purchasing this book has read at least one saga, and so knows what to expect from the genre. But I can't resist quoting an Icelandic scholar referred to in the introduction, who describes the Icelandic sagas as "farmers at fisticuffs." I also own Njal's Saga, and once I acquire the Book of Settlements, these two works in addition to the present collection will probably complete my Icelandic saga needs, because this work is so thoroughly and attractively assembled. I also recommend Viking Age Iceland by Jesse Byock as a companion volume to this one.

Overall, this thick book of sagas and tales has been a joy to read. It includes relevant maps of the places talked about in the stories. The only thing I might change is to keep the proper spellings of the names and places. For example, if a person or place's name would have the letter 'ð', it would be replaced by a 'd'. For example, 'Sigurður' to 'Sigurdur'. This is done because of how little known letters like 'ð', 'þ', and 'æ' are, which is completely understandable, but it would be a nice thing to see. If you enjoy learning about the peoples of Scandinavia and Iceland, I would highly recommend getting this book because of how many stories it contains for as reasonable a price as it is compared to buying each saga individually.

The saga of the Icelanders , a masterpiece the detail is impressive and perfect for research or reading lovers, you can learn more about their culture, vikings are incredibly