This is the second edition of The Vinland Sagas that I've purchased from the Penguin Classics series. The first, published a few decades ago, was adequate, but this new edition is well worth having an extra copy around. These translations, by Keneva Kunz, are fast-paced, clear, and easy to read. The two sagas included here are The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Eirik the Red. Both tell of the Norse discovery of...
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The Vinland Sagas are important in that they provide textual background for the Norse discovery of North America in the 10th-11th centuries. However, they present a number of problems from a historical perspective (inconsistency being one of them). This work does not shrink from these issues and addresses them head-on. The work provides the Greenlanders' Saga first and most scholars today accept this as the older one. ...
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"The Vinland Sagas" brings together English translations of two medieval Icelandic sagas: "Graenlendiga Saga" and "Eirik's Saga." These tales tell the story of the discovery and exploration of North America by the Norsemen in the 10th and 11th centuries. Together, they offer fascinating glimpses into a remarkable era in the history of the Americas.Translators Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson have also produced a thorough...
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A must-read for anyone interested in American history, American prehistory, or just anyone wanting a good read! I found the introduction to the book (which was actually the first half of the book) to be the most informative, as it put the Viking voyges to America in historical context. All in all very well written and informative!
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124 pages, containing maps including one from 1590. This book contains two sagas giving accounts of the Viking arrival and attempted settlement of New England (they called Vinland). The first is Graenlendinga Saga which first speaks to the discovery of Greenland by Erik the Red, and the further exploration of Vinland by his sons. The second, Eirik's Saga gives a somewhat different account of the same events. Although the...
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