Laxdaela Saga

by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson

Book Overview

Laxd la saga, written in the 13th century, tells of people in the Brei afj r ur area of Iceland from the late 9th century to the early 11th century. The saga particularly focuses on a love triangle... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140442189
• ISBN13: 9780140442182
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

It transports you to another world...

I read the Laxdaela Saga more than a year ago for a class I took on Viking History. I have enjoyed few books in my life as much as I enjoyed this one. I've read it three times total now. For me, it was a life-changing book (due in no small part to the professor who was teaching the class, but I digress). Because of this book, I'm now majoring in Medieval History and plan to get a Master's degree in Sweden. While you probably won't find it quite as fascinating as I did, it is a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Viking Age, Medieval Europe or just a good read. The story unfolds throughout the settlement period in Iceland and chronicles the lives of the adventurous and bold people who lived in the Lax River Dale over the course of several generations. The center-piece is the tragic love-triangle of Gudrun Osvifsdottir, Kjartan Olafsson and Bolli, his cousin. It is speculated that because of the abundance of female characters and a strong sense of their motivation that this saga may have been written by a woman. The Magnussen translation balances native terminology with modern English and the footnotes, maps and family trees are invaluable. I highly recommend this saga. If you've read the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, you probably will find the Laxdaela Saga similar in style. A tip to keep in mind while reading: Don't try to remember every character; there are way too many. Just keep track of the major ones and refer to the glossary of characters at the back of the book as needed for family connections and the like.

One of the finer ones!

As a lover of the Icelandic sagas, I can say I've had the opportunity to read quite a few. But this one, the tale of Gudrun Osvif's Daughter who marries four times, while bringing about the death of one of the most remarkable men Iceland had ever seen up to that time, out of a kind of lover's pique, is surely one of the best. Gudrun belongs to an illustrious family and soon comes into the orbit of an even more illustrious one, that of Olaf the Peacock. While this tale, like all true sagas, spans several generations, the core of the book revolves around the fair Gudrun and the men she encounters and enters into relationships with. But it's a tragic tale in the end, as well, because Gudrun, proud and unforgiving as any Norseman in the saga world, cannot give way and is thus doomed to lose the one man she may have desired most of all. It falls, finally, to her son, born after the killing of her third husband, to bring a kind of rough Icelandic justice to those who brought down the father he never knew, while Gudrun, in her old age, remains typically taciturn, unable to tell him who it was she cared for most, the man who sired him or the one whose death she sought. SWM author of The King of Vinland's Saga

Men (and Women) of Iron

Whenever I confront the Icelandic sagas, as I have the urge to do from time to time, I feel anew the onrush of a different reality. Did someone do you dirt? Then bushwhack him and and his family and put them all to the sword. There will be settlements to be paid based on your wealth and influence and that of your victim's friends and remaining family, and the desire of your neighbors to put a cap on a burgeoning intergenerational blood feud. Divorce? Tell your old man you've had it with him, march away, and lay claim to half of his estate. (This while women in mainland Europe barely had the right to breathe.) The LAXDAELA SAGA is one of the best of the sagas, ranking with THE BURNT NJAL SAGA as one of the greatest works to come from the Viking world -- and the greatest literary works of the 12th-14th centuries from anywhere. Its numerous cast of characters (I count 189 names in the book's helpful Glossary of Proper Names, about 40 of which begin with "Thor") boggles the mind. Just remember, these were real people, and their names are enshrined in the history of Iceland by their descendents. It takes several generations of ambushes, conniving marriages and bloody divorces, and even the introduction of Christianity around A.D. 1000 before the main story gets under way, namely the story of Gudrun Osvifs-daughter and her four marriages. This is no blushing romance: Look at Gudrun the wrong way, and start drafting your will! Her boyfriend Kjartan Olafsson dallies too long in Norway, and she marries his cousin Bolli out of spite. Then, when he returns, she does everything she can to urge Bolli to kill him and his men. A series of internecine feuds breaks out, and it takes more than twenty years for the bad blood to be drained off. Even minor characters suddenly come to life. Here is how Vigdis Ingjalds-daughter treats a man she regards as dishonorable: "Vigdis went indoors to a chest that belonged to Thord [her husband] and there, at the bottom, she found a heavy purse. She took the purse and went out with it to Ingjald [no relation], and told him to take his money. Ingjald cheered up at this and held out his hand for it. Vigdis raised the purse and struck him on the nose with it, drawing blood; she accompanied this with a stream of derisive words, adding that he would never get the money back, and told him to clear off." Life was cheap in medieval Iceland. The anonymous author of this saga was, however, a great writer who identified closely with the people and events that went into the making of this sometimes barbaric, always awe-inspiring masterpiece.

One of the best Icelandic Sagas and known as romantic.

This Icelandic saga deals with event in Laxriverdale, first tracing the story of the families involved before leading into the real story of the desirable Gudrun and her sequential marriage to four gentlemen. The basis for the story is certainly true, although it is never known how true an Icelandic saga is. This is one of the best sagas both for its moving story and easier readability than other sagas. Is interesting too in that it deals in part with the introduction of Christianity into Iceland. Contains family trees for the characters involved and four maps of Iceland and Laxriverdale.