cheats: The LAXDAELA SAGA (the Laxdale Saga) - an Ancient Norse Saga - BBC 4's The Viking Sagas

The LAXDAELA SAGA (the Laxdale Saga) - an Ancient Norse Saga - BBC 4's The Viking Sagas

The LaxdÅ"la saga is an Icelandic saga (story) of the men and women of the Salmon River valley involving the clan of Laxárdalur. It is one of the most important Icelandic sagas, originally written in Old Icelandic; probably sometime around the year 1245 AD. It is noted for its mention of the first known Norseman in the Varangian Guard: the Icelander Bolli Bollason.The story stretches from the latter part of the 9th C. to 1030AD and traces the family of Ketill Flatnose, who was a mighty and high-born chieftain (hersir) in Norway, from his move to Iceland at the time of King Harald the Fairhaired who left Ketill and his kinsmen two choices "either to fly the land or to be slaughtered each in his own seat".

An amalgam of historical fact, myth, epic, romance, anachronism, and literary invention, the Laxdaela Saga is, in essence, a dramatization of the circumstances surrounding a blood-feud between two sides of a great dynasty; in its second and decisive portion, it treats a love triangle that re-ignites the feud and its adjoining intrigues.

Guðrún Ã"svífursdóttir, who is famous for her beauty is our protagonist.

Courted by the two foster-brothers Kjartan Ã"lafsson and Bolli Þorleiksson. Guðrún preferred Kjartan, but she gave herself to Bolli, because of a false rumour that Kjartan was engaged to Ingibjörg, the sister of King Ã"lafur Tryggvason. The two foster-brothers engaged in hostilities which ended with Bolli killing Kjartan, and Bolli being killed by Kjartan's kinsmen.

The story is carried forward by the mysterious workings of fate, symbolized by the prophetic dreams of Gudrun. Noted for its detached narrative style and ornately-patterned structure, the Laxdaela Saga remains a highly influential work of Scandinavian literature and is considered an outstanding example of medieval prose romance.

33% of the publisher's profit from the sale of this book will be donated to UNICEF.

For more information, a table of contents, a sample of the text or to order,go to http://www.fairytales-n-folklore.com/laxdaela.html or http://www.abelapublishing.com/laxdaela.html

 

To see all the Norse sagas and books which relate to the BBC4 series "The Viking Sagas" go to http://www.abelapublishing.com/VikingandIcelandicTales.html