The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America

by Magnus Magnusson

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140441549
• ISBN13: 9780140441543
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

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 and attempts (there were more than one) to settle in North America. They differ in focus and emphasis, but tell essentially the same stories. First, Eirik the Red settled himself in Greenland. Then, when Norse sailors were blown off course and sighted more land even farther west, Eirik's son Leif decided to check it out for himself. Leif, later known as "the Lucky" after rescuing wrecked sailors, discovered a land where wild grapes and "self-sown wheat" grew and named it Vinland. He and others explored up and down the coast of Canada and New England, perhaps as far south as Manhattan. They settled in several places all along the coast and even traded with the natives. Then things turned sour. The Vikings, many are shocked to learn, actually fought wars with the Indians. Of course, the Norse settlers won handily in every engagement, but the fighting was enough to convince them that the sheer numbers of the natives would eventually wear them down, and after several years of exploration, settlement, and farming, they packed up and returned to Iceland and Greenland. But Vinland was never forgotten. The book is short, and the sagas even shorter--the two combined take up only 48 pages in this edition. But the book is rounded out with an informative--if sometimes dry--introduction and notes by Gisli Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson mentions several instances from later records in which people were said to have sailed to Vinland, including a man cutting lumber who returned from his trip and a bishop who did not. Also included are illustrations and diagrams of Icelandic farms and Norse ships that have been lifted from the Sagas of Icelanders collection. Perhaps the most helpful appendix in the book is the map section. There are six pages of maps and a two-page table setting out scholars' guesses on the locations of places in the sagas. For example, is Vinland actually Newfoundland? Or perhaps Prince Edward Island? The maps themselves are labeled according to Sigurdsson's suggestions, which certainly helps while reading the sagas. But even if you aren't going to look at the introduction or back matter, the sagas themselves are well worth reading. And of course, if you are interested in learning more about Leif the Lucky and the New World's first European settlers, this edition of the Vinland Sagas, with its strong translation and good supplementary material, is the one to have. Highly recommended.

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. This is followed by the Saga of Erik the Red. This is combined with a good introduction. I would recommend this work, and suggest pairing it with Edgar Polome (ed), "Old Norse Literature and Mythology: A Symposium" (1969) which includes a useful paper comparing the sagas and looking at historical vs non-historical aspects of the sagas.

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 37-page introduction which discusses the archeological evidence for the medieval Norse presence in the Americas, the historical development of the sagas themselves, and the evolution of the saga as a unique genre of literature. Maps, a chronology, and other resources further enhance this book's usefulness for students and teachers.But don't let the scholarly apparatus fool you into thinking that "The Vinland Sagas" is just a text for the classroom. The sagas themselves, likely written in the 12th and 13th centuries, are still great reading all these hundreds of years later. With their simple, no-nonsense prose style, along with the presence of characters with such names as "Thorhall the Hunter" and "Aud the Deep-Minded," the sagas have a truly unique quality.And for those interested in the history of the Americas or in multicultural issues, these two sagas contain a wealth of tantalizing episodes and characters. Each tale reflects the conflict between Christianity and Paganism within Norse culture during that great age of exploration. Also fascinating are the accounts of the first encounters between the Norsemen and the "skraelings" (the Norse word for the indigenous inhabitants of this new world). Also noteworthy is each saga's colorful portrayal of the Norse women; both feminist scholars and general readers should be intrigued by these bold foremothers.The "first contact" tale has long been a mainstay of classic science fiction in book, television, and motion picture form. Think of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "E.T." and other narratives that depict an imaginary initial encounter between human beings and alien cultures. The stories contained in "The Vinland Sagas" represent the great medieval precursors of such science fiction classics; even more remarkably, these Icelandic sagas are grounded in real history. These stories are full of insights and surprises; read them for both education and enjoyment.

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!

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 details remain similar, the persons and personalities shift. Both are short but interesting, and the first chapter of each had to be restored from another account as the original chapters for each were lost. That should no distract from one of the amazing stories in human history.