Heimskringla was one of the best finds of the year for me. History comes alive through the writings of Snorri Sturluson. I have read it a couple times and still find things I missed before. Although this book is out of print, it is available by other translators (ISBN #0-292-73061-6), and well worth the money for pure enjoyment as well as for research.

These Icelandic sagas are fascinating in their portrayal of this harsh bygone era. Egils Saga is a fine example of what the vikings were up to long before Chris Columbus got the urge to sail a boat across the sea. It was a savage, violent era but still there was poetry. This is an intriguing paradox but I guess it shows how much the times have changed. The saga of Egil is a compelling one. He is both killer and poet. He is a savage and a family man. I would be lying if I said I would like to have lived through this era but it is interesting to read about nonetheless.

I picked up this book in preparation for a trip to Iceland as a way to get a feel for the country's history, so I expected to appreciate it in an educational sense. In that respect, the book did its job. However, I was also surprised to find both the plot and the writing style engaging, so though I started the book out of a sense of duty, I finished the book wrapped up in the story.

The saga follows the life of Egil Skallagrimmson, one of Iceland's early settlers, beginning with a relatively lengthy section about several generations of ancestors preceding any mention of Egil's birth. Egil himself is a morally ambiguous figure, committing his first murder at six, but displaying moments of generosity and leadership as well, and of course he's also a poet. The action revolves primarily around Egil's movements back and forth between Norway and Iceland, though there is also a section that takes place in England, with Egil acting as a mercenary in a war against Scotland. Sagas do not read like modern novels--this is more of a biography that follows Egil birth to death--but part of the saga's purpose is to entertain, and it does that well.

Two things are involved in making this saga readable: first, the skill of the translators, whose sole fault seems to be an utter inability to translate Egil's poetry in any way that conveys why people thought he was such a great poet (maybe it just sounds better in Icelandic). Fortunately, the poetry takes up a pretty small fraction of the book. More significant is the author's skill together with the distinctive features of the saga genre--namely this: the sagas are primarily concerned with people and their actions. Thus every detail serves to carry the plot forward. You won't get landscape descriptions unless landscapes are relevant to the plot. Use of dialogue is frequent and relatively natural, but the conversations are brief and always move things forward. This might sound like the book reads like an action movie (and to a degree it does), but the fact that the saga includes Egil's genealogy and stories about others in his generation in his family that result in a story that evolves from a web of motivations. You don't get much in the way of examination of Egil's psyche, but the stripped-down style of the saga and its convincing portrayal of Egil as a complete human personality makes me wonder how necessary the tendencies of much modern literature to pay so much attention to inner life as a true representation of the human experience really are.

Egil Skallagrimmson is one of the great neglected characters of all time. Poet, magician, politician, good guy, bad guy, warrior--Egil is one of the more interesting characters that you'll ever read about. It's too bad that he's known mainly to fans of Icelandic sagas. If you're only going to read one Icelandic saga in your lifetime, choose this one.

While Young's translations are quite good, it should be noted that these are *selections* from the Prose Edda, and are not complete. Notably missing are large sections of Skaldskarpamal, or "Poetic Diction". This is a good edition if you just want the mythological stories, but having the complete Prose Edda is even better -- there are a lot of kennings and other details of the poetry that shed further light on the mythology.

Fortunately, there is a good, complete, and inexpensive translation available, and Amazon also carries it -- the Anthony Faulkes translation.

The absolute most essential document for anyone interested in Norse mythos or Scandinavian literature, THE PROSE EDDA is an absolute must read. THE PROSE EDDA is divided into three parts: Gylfaginning ("The Deluding of Gylfi"), Skaldskaparmal ("Poetic Diction"), and Hattatal (which is omitted in this edition).

The first section of THE PROSE EDDA, Gylfaginning, details the various mythologies of the time, delivered in the form of a conversation between the High Ones and the crafty King Gylfi. Readers of fantasy literature will discover how much of the genre was derived from this work. The myths range from the mystical to the humorous, the Norse gods being victim to pranks and other mischiefs from time to time. The second part, Skaldskaparmal, was originally intended to be a guide for poets about the mythos, giving examples of kennings and other idiomatic expressions.

Readers interested in Scandinavian literature absolutely must read THE PROSE EDDA, as it will ease understanding of other works, like THE POETIC EDDA and the various sagas. Readers with a general interest in mythology and the Middle Ages will also be delighted at this compilation, as it is truly one of the foremost works of the time.

I read this text while at university, and in the years since it is never far from my mind. I recommend it to anyone interested in literature, myth, language, or just exhibits an enquiring mind. What intrigued me the most was the skaldic verse form. To my mind it is the most complicated and creative form I have ever witnessed. Without this book, so much about Scandinavian mythology would have been lost to us forever. Snorri Sturlusson was certainly a special man, with a great gift and a proud endevour. Through his work, his ancestors are still breathing, and waiting in Valhalla.

I have never read a more hilarious piece of academic literature. The Norse Kings are so funny... you wouldn't believe how many of them died in drunken accidents. But that's not the book's focus. As a college junior, I found this book to be a great reference for my History and English papers and have included it in my necessary-reference-books collection. Sturluson is great! A very entertaining read.

Word Ninja

Snorri, an often unscrupulous (and very successful) politician who lived in the real world, was also a very learned man. He was arguably the greatest historian of medieval Europe, and in his methods he has often been compared to Thucydides. "Heimskringla" means "the world is round" -- appropriate for a people who considered the entire world their arena -- and is the overall title given to his collection of earlier sagas, rationalized and pruned of recognizable nonsense, which is still the basis of history in the North. Snorri's style is simplicity itself and because "history" until very recently concerned itself with the actions of great men, he spends considerable time detailing the interrelationships among the many leaders of Scandinavia -- and especially of Harald "Fairhair," who conquered and united the many domains of those leaders. (Why "Fairhair"? Read the saga.) The roots of William the Conqueror are here, as well as those of Canute and St. Olaf. This simply-illustrated edition noted above runs to nearly 900 pages and is generally regarded as the best, but any will do. This is history, literature, genealogy, and mythology, and should be read by anyone with a serious interest in medieval history.

There are two chief sources for the Norse myths, the Elder (Poetic) Edda and the Younger (Prose) Edda. This is a translation of the Prose Edda and includes the creation of the earth from the remains of the giant Ymir, the death of Baldr, the twilight of the gods (Ragnarök), and certain stories of Sigurd and Brynhild (Siegfried and Brünnhilde in Wagner's operas). Most translations include only the parts that are "of interest to the general reader", but this one is complete, so you can make your own judgment about which parts to read and which to skip. The translation is solid, though perhaps a little flat at times, and the price is right. Definitely for those with more than a passing interest in Norse mythology, though; if you just want to read the stories without bothering about the literary sources, you might be better off with a retelling, e.g. Favorite Norse Myths by Mary Pope Osborne.

As someone with an interest in the Viking ways and Norse mythology I was given this book to read by a freind. Upon completion I felt almost enlightened into the Norse ways of life as well as the actual stories of the Norse Gods such as Thor, Odin, and Freyia. The enormous strenght of Thor is admirable and amazing, yet he is as honorable as one man can be. At times the reading can be a little slow but this seems to be more of a difference realized from the translation as well as the difference between 1200 AD (approx. time it was written) and today, both in familiar written form as well as over all cultural differences. Despite these factors this book is necessary reading for anyone interested in some of the more popular stories of Thor as well as the rest of Viking and Norse mythology.