Whether you’ve visited Iceland and heard some of the tales or you are simply looking to learn more about Iceland’s remarkable history, find out all about the Icelandic Sagas in this blog…
What are the Icelandic Sagas?
The Icelandic Sagas were written in the 13th century and simply put, cover the history of Icelanders from the 9th century. Since the country was fist discover, the tradition of storytelling has been the foundation of Iceland with its people writing, drawing and re-telling its history well before even pen and paper was invented. The Icelandic Sagas is a collection of narrative events that are believed to have taken place between the 9th and 11th century, a time often referred to by Icelanders as the Saga Age or the Viking Age.
The Icelandic Sagas are one of the earliest known examples of Icelandic literature and still to this day play an important role in Iceland’s heritage. When you visit some of the country’s most famous sites references to the stories will be told, telling of the genealogy and family connections during the time, the struggles and conflicts that arose in the community and how the next generations continued the legacies.
The Guardian describes the Icelandic Sagas this way: “As tragic as Shakespeare, as colorful as The Canterbury Tales, as enduring as Beowulf, as epic as The Iliad and eminently more readable than The Holy Bible.”
Interesting Facts & Stories from the Icelandic Sagas
- There are between 40-50 Icelandic Sagas in total
- There are stories about ghosts and witches
- As well as teaching about the history of Iceland, the Icelandic Sagas tell of other Scandinavian countries
- Legend says that some of the Sagas were lost as people used to eat what had been written when there was not enough food.
- Women play an important part in many of the Icelandic Sagas
- There are stories of volcanic eruptions , ice ages, glacier floods and other major geological events
- There are many descriptions of what Iceland used to be like when it was first discovered, interestingly, there were more trees
- There are stories of love, death, sacrifice and revenge
- The Icelandic Sagas display how short the life expectancy was back in the 9th and 11th centuries
The Full List of Icelandic Sagas
- Atla saga Ótryggssonar
- Bandamanna saga – Bandamanna saga
- Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss – From Snæfellsnes Peninsula
- Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa
- Droplaugarsona saga
- Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar – Egil’s Saga
- Eiríks saga rauða – Saga of Erik the Red
- Eyrbyggja saga
- Færeyinga saga
- Finnboga saga ramma
- Fljótsdæla saga
- Flóamanna saga
- Fóstbrœðra saga (two versions)
- Gísla saga Súrssonar, (two versions) of an outlaw poet – Gísla saga
- Grettis saga – Saga of Grettir the Strong
- Grœnlendinga saga – Greenland saga
- Gull-Þóris saga
- Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls
- Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu
- Hallfreðar saga (two versions)
- Harðar saga ok Hólmverja
- Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings – The saga of Hávarður of Ísafjörður
- Heiðarvíga saga
- Hrafnkels saga
- Hrana saga hrings (post-medieval)
- Hænsna-Þóris saga
- Kjalnesinga saga
- Kormáks saga
- Króka-Refs saga
- Laurentius Saga
- Laxdæla saga
- Ljósvetninga saga (three versions)
- Njáls saga (one of the most famous stories)
- Reykdœla saga ok Víga-Skútu
- Skáld-Helga saga (known only from rímur and later derivations of these)
- Svarfdœla saga
- Valla-Ljóts saga
- Vatnsdœla saga
- Víga-Glúms saga
- Víglundar saga
- Vápnfirðinga saga
- Þorsteins saga hvíta
- Þorsteins saga Síðu-Hallssonar
- Þórðar saga hreðu
- Ölkofra saga
Call us on +44 (0) 1773 850222
ATOL Protected
Thank you so much Gareth for organising such a lovely holiday for us! We gave a basic outline of what we wanted from our holiday and Gareth organised everything. Everything ran very smoothly and what an amazing experience. Thank you for all your suggestions, so glad we took them on
We are here to reassure you that you can trust our team with your Iceland holiday plans, knowing that all bookings with us are ATOL protected