Icelanders in the Viking Age
The People of the Sagas
William R.
Short
ISBN
978-0-7864-4727-5
47 photos, glossary, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
283pp.
softcover
2010
Available for immediate shipment
Description
The Sagas of Icelanders are enduring stories from Viking-Age Iceland filled with love and romance, battles and feuds, tragedy and comedy. Yet these tales are little read today, even by lovers of literature. The culture and history of the people depicted in the Sagas are often unfamiliar to the modern reader, though the audience for whom the tales were intended would have had an intimate understanding of the material. This text introduces the modern reader to the daily lives and material culture of the Vikings. Topics covered include religion, housing, social customs, the settlement of disputes, and the early history of Iceland. Issues of dispute among scholars, such as the nature of settlement and the division of land, are addressed in the text.
About the Author
William R. Short is an independent scholar living in Southborough, Massachusetts. He regularly demonstrates and lectures on Viking-age topics in universities, museums, and other cultural institutions in North America and Iceland.
Reviews
"riveting exploration...a solid addition"--Midwest Book Review
"interesting...especially helpful"--Iceland Review
"a perfect companion to the study of the Icelandic sagas as well as a corrective for those who only know Iceland from film and Hagar the Horrible--Reference and Research Book News
Read more reviews
|
|
Table of Contents & Excerpts
Related Books
History/Medieval
History/World
Interdisciplinary Studies/Medieval Studies
Europe
|
