Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Added to your cart
Paperback The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America Book

ISBN: 0140441549

ISBN13: 9780140441543

The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America

(Part of the Íslendingasögur/Sagas of Icelanders Series)

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Good

$6.09
Save $6.91!
List Price $13.00
Almost Gone, Only 3 Left!

Book Overview

One of the most arresting stories in the history of exploration, these two Icelandic sagas tell of the discovery of America by Norsemen five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Together, the direct, forceful twelfth-century Graenlendinga Saga and the more polished and scholarly Eirik's Saga, written some hundred years later, recount how Eirik the Red founded an Icelandic colony in Greenland and how his son, Leif the Lucky, later sailed south to explore - and if possible exploit - the chance discovery by Bjarni Herjolfsson of an unknown land. In spare and vigorous prose they record Europe's first surprise glimpse of the eastern shores of the North American continent and the natives who inhabited them.

Customer Reviews

8 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 5 stars
Excellent new edition

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...

1Report

Rated 5 stars
Well done work

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. ...

1Report

Rated 5 stars
Classics of "first contact" literature

"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...

1Report

Rated 5 stars
Excellen! Fascinating!

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!

1Report

Rated 5 stars
Two interesting sagas of Viking settlement in America

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...

1Report

Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured