Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas (Oxford World's Classics)
Binding: Paperback Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks ISBN: 0192835300 ISBN-13: 9780192835307 Released: 03 Jun 1999 RRP: £7.99 Average Rating:
Customer Reviews
The making of an active reader- By: R. Barlow, 25 Jun 2008 The problem with any Scandinavian saga for a modern (non-academic) reader is that the culture no longer exists in which it is both a duty & a source of honour to recognise & glory in one's ancestors. Reading a saga becomes, therefore, either a study of medieval Icelandic culture or an engrossing tale of chivarly, blood-feuds & romance hiding beneath a thick layer of geneology.
This particular collection of Icelandic sagas deals enirely with mortal men, which may put off some of those looking primeraly for Odin & the like. What Eirik the Red provides is a detailed & insightful cross-section of Icelandic society after the invasion of the Norwegians fleeing their new-formed kingdom. Particularly interesting is the discovery of America by the Greenlanders, several centuries before Columbus. I would heartily recommend this collection for anyone with more than a passing interest in medieval Scandinavian culture, but would add that the plethora of names & places mentioned requires the reader to be fully awake!
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