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The remote and inhospitable landscape of Iceland made it a perfect breeding-ground for heroes. The first Norsemen to colonize it in 860 found that the fight for survival demanded high courage and tough self reliance; it also nurtured a stern sense of duty and an uncompromising view of destiny. The Icelandic sagas relate the adventurous lives of individuals and families between 930 and 1030, which began as oral tales but were skilfully documented in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and are now regarded as written literature. Selected by Gwyn Jones - the eminent Celtic scholar- for their excellence and variety, these nine Icelandic sagas include "Hen-Thorir," "The Vapnfjord Men," "Thorstein Staff-Struck," "Hrafnkel the Priest of Prey," "Thidrandi whom the Goddesses Slew," "Authun and the Bear," "Gunnlaug Wormtongue," "King Hrolf and His Champions," and the title piece.
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THE W O R L D’ S CLASSI CS E IR IK T H E R ED and other Icelandic Sagas The Icelandic sagas relate the adventurous lives of individuals and families between 930 and 1030. They began as oral tales, but were so skilfully refined and reshaped when written down in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries that they must be regarded as written literature. Some are precisely historical; others have been proved to be imaginative creations. All deal with battles, bloodfeuds, perilous jour neys, and the demands or conflicts of loyalty. They are rooted in the Germanic heroic tra dition, and rank with Beowulf, Maldon, the story of the Nibelungs, Waltharius, and the Eddie lays of Helgi and Sigrun. G w y n J o n e s , Emeritus Professor of English Language and Literature at University College, Cardiff, is the author of A History of the Vikings, translator (with Thomas Jones) of The Mabinogion, and editor of The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English. He has translated these nine sagas with rare eloquence and verve, allowing the modern reader to appreciate these full-blooded stories of medieval Iceland. TH E WORLD’ S C LA SSIC S Eirik the R ed and other Icelandic Sagas Translated with an Introduction by GWYN JONES Oxford New York Toronto Melbourne OXFORD U N IV E R S IT Y PRESS Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6 dp OXFORD LONDON OLASOOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON KUALA LUMPUR SINOAPORE JAKARTA HONO KONO TOKYO DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI NAIROBI DAR E8 SALAAM CAPE TOWN Selection , Translation and Introduction © O xford U n iversity P ress 19 6 1 F irs t p u b lish ed by O xford U n iversity P ress 19 6 1 F irs t issued as a W orld's C lassics paperback 19 8 0 R eprin ted 19 8 2 A ll rights reserved . N o p a rt o f this p u blication m ay be reproduced, stored in a retrieva l system , or transm itted, in any fo rm or by any m eans, electronic, m echanical, photocopying, recording, or otherw ise, w ithout the p rio r perm ission o f O xford U n iversity P ress The paperback edition is so ld subject to the condition that it s h a ll not, by w ay o f trade or otherw ise, be len t, re-so ld, h ired out, or otherw ise circulated w ithout the p u b lish er's p rio r consent in a ry Jb rm o f bin din g or cover other than that in w hich it is p u b lish ed an d w ithout a sim ila r condition in cludin g this condition being im posed on the subsequent purchaser British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Eirik the Red, and other Icelandic sagas. (World’s classics). 1. Sagas 2. Icelandic and Old Norse prose literature - Translations into English 3. English prose literature - Translations from Icelandic and Old Norse I. Jones, Gw yn 839'.6'8 o8 P T 7 2 6 2 .E 5 79~ 4 I055 IS B N 0 - 1 9 - 2 8 1 5 2 8 - 8 Printed in Great Britain by Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd, Aylesbury, Bucks CONTENTS INTRODUCTION viii S A G A S OF