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The sagas (word originating from Old Norse) are stories about
ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking
voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about
migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families.
They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland.
The texts are epic tales in prose, often with stanzas or whole
poems in alliterative verse embedded in the text, of heroic
deeds of days long gone, "tales of worthy men," who were often
Vikings, sometimes Pagan, sometimes Christian. The tales are
usually realistic, except legendary sagas, sagas of saints, sagas
of bishops and translated or recomposed romances. They are
sometimes romanticised and fantastic, but always dealing with
human beings one can understand.

This article is part of a series on:

Old Norse
Dialects

[show]

Use

[show]

Literature

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1 Background

Ancestors

[show]

2 Classification
2.1 Other

Descendants

[show]

Contents [hide]

Catal

3 The term in contemporary Nordic languages

esky

4 External links and references

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Cymraeg
Dansk

Background

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Excerpt from Njls saga in the

Mruvallabk (AM 132 folio 13r) circa
1350.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga[27/02/2012 09:23:30]

[edit]
The term saga originates from the Norse saga (pl. sgur),
and refers to (1) "what is said, statement" or (2) "story, tale,
history". It is cognate with the English word "say", and the
German sagen. Icelandic sagas are based on oral
traditions and much research has focused on what is real
and what is fiction within each tale. The accuracy of the
sagas is often hotly disputed. Most of the manuscripts in
which the sagas are preserved were taken to Denmark and
Sweden in the 17th century, but later returned to
Iceland.Classic sagas were composed in 1200's. Scholars
believe d these sagas were transmitted orally from
generation to generation until scribes wrote them down in
the 1200's. However, most scholars now believe the sagas
were conscious artistic creations, based on both oral and
written tradition.
There are plenty of tales of kings (e.g. Heimskringla),

Saga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Latvieu
Magyar
Nederlands

Norsk (bokml)
Norsk (nynorsk)
Polski
Portugus

everyday people (e.g. Bandamanna saga) and larger than

life characters (e. g. Egils saga). The sagas describe a part
of the history of some of the Nordic countries (e.g. the last chapter of Hervarar saga). The British
Isles, northern France and North America are also mentioned. It was only recently (start of 20th
century) that the tales of the voyages to America were authenticated.
Most sagas of Icelanders take place in the period 9301030, which is called sguld (Age of the
Sagas) in Icelandic history. The sagas of kings, bishops, contemporary sagas have their own time
frame. Most were written down between 1190 to 1320, sometimes existing as oral traditions long
before, others are pure fiction, and for some we do know the sources: the author of King Sverrir's
saga had met the king and used him as a source.

Romn

Slovenina
Srpskohrvatski /

Suomi
Svenska
Trke

Vro

Classification

[edit]

Norse sagas are generally classified as: the Kings' sagas

(Konungasgur), Icelanders' sagas (slendinga sgur),
Short tales of Icelanders (slendingattir), Contemporary
sagas (Samtarsgur or Samtmasgur), Legendary sagas
(Fornaldarsgur), Chivalric sagas (Riddarasgur) and Saga
of the Greenlanders (Grnlendingasgur).
The Kings' Sagas are of the lives of Scandinavian kings.
They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries. The
Icelanders' sagas (slendinga sgur) are heroic prose
narratives written in the 12th to 14th centuries of the great
families of Iceland from 930 to 1030. These are the highest
form of the classical Icelandic saga writing. Some wellknown examples include Njls saga, Laxdla saga and
Grettis saga. The material of the Short tales of Icelanders
sagas is similar to slendinga sgur, in shorter form. The
narratives of the Contemporary Sagas are set in 12th- and
13th-century Iceland, and were written soon after the
events they describe. Most are preserved in the
compilation Sturlunga saga. The Legendary Sagas blend
remote history with myth or legend. The aim is on a lively
narrative and entertainment. Scandinavia's pagan past was
a proud and heroic history for the Icelanders. The Chivalric
Sagas are translations of Latin pseudo-historical works and
French chansons de geste as well as native creations in
the same style.

Other

Snorri Sturluson, perhaps the greatest

saga recorder[says who? ] ; portrait by
Christian Krohg.

[edit]

Styrbjarnar ttr Svakappa

Hra ttr heimska
Eymundar ttr hrings
Eindria ttr ok Erlings

The term in contemporary Nordic

languages

[edit]

Through the centuries, the word saga has gained a

broader meaning in Nordic languages. In contemporary
Swedish and Danish it describes a non-realistic or epic
work of fiction. Folksaga means folk tale; a fairy tale by an
unknown author, in Swedish and Danish. Konstsaga is the
Swedish term for a fairy tale by a known author, such as H.
C. Andersen or Astrid Lindgren, while the Danish and
Norwegian term is eventyr ("adventure"). A saga can also
be a work of fantasy fiction. J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the
Rings series was translated to Swedish by ke Ohlmarks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga[27/02/2012 09:23:30]

Queen Ragnhild's dream.

Saga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

by the title Sagan om ringen: "The Saga of the Ring".

Tolkien knew enough Swedish to be dissatisfied with the
Swedish title (and the translation work in general), and the 2004 translation was titled Ringarnas
herre, a literal translation from the original.
In Swedish history, the term sagokung, "saga king" is intended to be ambiguous, as it describes the
semi-legendary kings of Sweden, who are known only from unreliable, probably fictional, sources.
In Faroese, the word underwent U-umlaut becoming sga , and adopted a wider meaning. In
addition to saga, it also covers terms such as history, tale, story.
A modern example of a saga is George Lucas's classic film trilogy, The Star Wars Saga. The Lord of
the Rings novels by J.R.R. Tolkien are also a saga.

External links and references

Icelandic Saga Database
into many languages

[edit]

- The Icelandic sagas in the original old Norse along with translations

Old Norse Prose and Poetry

The Icelandic sagas at Nettgfan
The Finnwife's Prophecy, English translation of an Icelandic Saga from "Fuenf Geschichten aus
dem westlichen Nordland", Prof. Felix Niedner
Narrative

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Theme

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Style

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Suspension of disbelief Symbolism Tone

Form

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Play Poem Screenplay Short story List of narrative forms

Genre

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Horror Magic realism Mystery Paranoid Philosophical Political Romance Saga Satire
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Tense

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Subjective) Stream of consciousness The narrative types of the narrator Unreliable
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Literature portal

Categories: History of the Germanic peoples Medieval literature Sagas

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Medieval Scotland Old Norse literature

This page was last modified on 22 February 2012 at 01:12.

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