The Vinland Sagas

Some believe that The Saga of the People of Laxardal was written by a woman.

The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red&rsquo;s Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Written down in the early thirteenth century, they recount the Icelandic settlement of Greenland by Eirik the Red, the chance discovery by seafaring adventurers of a mysterious new land, and Eirik&rsquo;s son Leif the Lucky&rsquo;s perilous voyages to explore it. Wrecked by storms, stricken by disease and plagued by navigational mishaps, some survived the North Atlantic to pass down this compelling tale of the first Europeans to talk with, trade with, and war with the Native Americans.

Njal's Saga

New edition of one of the most powerful of the Icelandic prose sagas

Robert Cook is Professor of English at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.

Written in the thirteenth century, Njal's Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law's inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence beyond their control. It is populated by memorable and complex characters like Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a powerful warrior with an aversion to killing, and the not-so-villainous Mord Valgardsson. Full of dreams, strange prophecies, violent power struggles, and fragile peace agreements, Njal's Saga tells the compelling story of a fifty-year blood feud that, despite its distance from us in time and place, is driven by passions familiar to us all. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction, chronology, index of characters, plot summary, explanatory notes, maps, and suggestions for further reading.

Sagas of Warrior-poets

Diana Whaley is a Reader in Medieval Studies at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. 
Translators: Diana Whaley, Rory McTurk, Katrina Attwood, Alison Finlay, Marianne Kalinke

Kormak's Saga, The Saga of Hallfred Troublesome-Poet, The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue, The Saga of Bjorn, Champion of the Hitardal People, Viglund's Saga  Set in the farmsteads of Viking age Iceland at a time when the old ethos of honour and heroic adventure merged with new ideas of romantic infatuation, each of these sagas features poet heroes, complex love triangles, and travels to foreign lands.

Leifur Eiricksson

Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir

Keneva Kunz

The action of the saga takes place at the end of the tenth century, at about the time Scandinavia was converting from worship of Norse gods to Christianity. A masterpiece of medieval literature, the story focuses on two families &mdash; that of Hoskuld, a prominent farmer with several sons, and that of Gudrun, the most beautiful woman ever born in Iceland.

Leifur Eiricksson

Books by Leifur Eiricksson

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter