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from: Penguin (Non-Classics)
List Price: $22.00Amazon.com's Price: $14.96 You Save: $7.04 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.63008
EAN: 9780141000039
ISBN: 0141000031
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 848
Publication Date: March 01, 2001
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: February 27, 2001
Sales Rank: 47499
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's great literary treasures - as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Breakneck Plotting and Broken Necks
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 ... Read More
Rating: - Icelandic Sagas
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 ... Read More
Rating: - Classical Icelandic Literature
~The Sagas of Icelanders: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition~ is an intriguing collection of prose describing life and events in Iceland during the 10th and 11th centuries. They are extraordinary specimens of Icelandic literature. Icelanders were prominently of Nordic Viking descent and were also amalgamated with Celtic/Gaelic peoples whom they often took as wives. Their adopted homeland was not inhabited until after the 9th century. Iceland is a desolate landscape of basalt and lava beds, punctuated by volcanoes, ... Read More
Rating: - Great Reading At A Bargain Price!
This is a great collection of stories for 2 reasons. The first is because it's a great bargain for the price. This is a HUGE book & will entertain the reader for hours. I've bought several volumes of the great Sagas, including several such as Egil's Saga & Njal's Saga or Burnt Njal, which contained only one story. This book contains all of Egil's Saga as well as many others. I think Penguin definitely gives you a lot for your money.
The second reason is that these are great stories. The characters ... Read More
Rating: - ICELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CULTURE
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
Roots time for me. I am half Icelandic. People tend to think of the ancient Norsemen as barbaric murderers. Well, they went a-Viking, and you probably wouldn't want to meet them on one of their "shopping trips". But the Norse had a rich and complicated culture, their own religion, and some of the most powerful sagas in the world. Icelanders were the scribes and intellectuals. The Icelandic sagas have been compared to the Greek in scope and power. ... Read More
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