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Seven Viking Romances
Combining traditional myth, oral history and re-worked European legend to depict an ancient realm of heroism and wonder, the seven tales collected here are among the most fantastical of all the Norse romances. Powerfully inspired works of Icelandic imagination, they relate intriguing, often comical tales of famous kings, difficult gods and women of great beauty, goodness or cunning.
The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops is skilfully adapted into a traditional Norse legend.
These are among the most outrageous, delightful and exhilarating tales in all Icelandic literature.
The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops is skilfully adapted into a traditional Norse legend.
These are among the most outrageous, delightful and exhilarating tales in all Icelandic literature.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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1181 people want to read
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See also: Anonymous
* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 15, 2011
This is one of the bests books I've ever read. I love viking stories, and this book gave me the opportunity to learn more about this fantastic culture, their ancient beliefs and the way they used to live. I found really interesting that vikings were really brave and adventurous men. They were always looking for action, adventures and new challenges to take. I love the way they face problems, they always come with some creative and fantastic idea to solve them. This book includes seven romances, and my favourite one was definitely Arrow-Odd. It is about the life of the breavest viking on Earth. One day, a sorceress tells him his fortune, but he didn't want to listen to it, so he kicks her away from his house and goes far away from his country, and gets himself involved in the most fantastic adventures.
I would really recommend this book to anyone who likes stories full of adventures, love and fantasy. Reading this tales is like going sailing in a dragon ship, full of brave men willing to kill monsters and get fantastic treasures. A fantastic adventure!
"Plenty of things seem full of danger to start with, but bring you luck in the end."
I would really recommend this book to anyone who likes stories full of adventures, love and fantasy. Reading this tales is like going sailing in a dragon ship, full of brave men willing to kill monsters and get fantastic treasures. A fantastic adventure!
"Plenty of things seem full of danger to start with, but bring you luck in the end."
May 25, 2007
i find these viking tales rather charming. they're casually bloody, and often funny. and i like the attitude towards the supernatural: in one of these stories, for example, a man is roused by his foster father in the middle of the night. this is a man he's known for years and years, just an ordinary scruffy raider like anyone else. but in the night the foster father leads his foster son to an island, and a stone table on the island. in the dark, there are eleven people sitting around the table, and the foster father takes the twelfth seat, at the head of the table. the twelve begin to speak, and they call each other by the names of the old gods. "well met, thor," says the foster father. "well met, odin," says the voice of thor. ordinary voices, in the dark and wind, become the voices of fate so easily, so naturally. i find it comforting, i guess, or uncanny, or some strange combination of the two.
December 27, 2018
Historically important, particularly if you want to understand how the people of that era lived their lives.
That said ... they're not particularly exciting or interesting stories. As is often the case with stories meant to be transmitted orally, there was a lot of repetition, a lot of stilted language, and a lot of plots that were "... and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened."
It is interesting to me, though, how in Norse/viking stories the "heroes" are quite often very unlikable (at least by modern standards). Not sure if that reflects on different standards of likeability back in that society or what, but it's interesting to me...
That said ... they're not particularly exciting or interesting stories. As is often the case with stories meant to be transmitted orally, there was a lot of repetition, a lot of stilted language, and a lot of plots that were "... and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened."
It is interesting to me, though, how in Norse/viking stories the "heroes" are quite often very unlikable (at least by modern standards). Not sure if that reflects on different standards of likeability back in that society or what, but it's interesting to me...
May 2, 2019
Seven Viking Romances was a fun read. I enjoyed seeing how the storytellers put an Icelandic slant on some well-known tales from elsewhere in the world. A few bits had me laughing out loud. If you already enjoying reading Icelandic medieval tales and sagas, you'll find something to enjoy in this book. If you are new to them, this is possibly a good place to start as the tales are short and simple, lacking the complex familial relationships of the longer, heavier family sagas.
April 14, 2019
Well this sure was a good read! It felt very much like reading some ancient fairytales and I could but love how they were all connected and how intriguing it all was. I have a few fave, of course, including the saga of Harald Eysteinsson and that of Herraud. Each mention of another saga made my heart flutter. This was inspirational.
August 21, 2024
The first saga (Arrow Odd) is pretty good, but the following six sagas are mediocre. The translations are pretty terrible and really detracted from the stories. There were grammar problems throughout, the prose doesn't read very well (juvenile at times) and at one point they confused wary for weary. This was definitely a disappointment.
November 30, 2023
An interesting collection of Icelandic stories. These tend to have a lot more of the supernatural or mythological than the typical sagas, but are equally fun to read.
December 20, 2024
2.5 stars. This book was not as easy one to get through. It’s somewhat rare, but not impossible, to find a saga that’s as entertaining as modern media, but oftentimes sagas can be both dull and fascinating in equal measure. Most of the sagas in this collection, though, were just dull. There were interesting aspects to most of them, which I go into, but even the most interesting ones (save for Halfdan Eysteinsson and Starkad’s part of King Gautrek) were a slog. Still, I’m glad I read this, as I am with every saga I read. But this collection is only for people who are very interested in Old Norse sagas and want a deep-dive, because these are significantly less interesting than the popular legendary sagas.
Arrow-Odd is a long, epic tale of adventure and revenge. While this saga clearly sets itself within the Icelandic Saga genre, it has many elements of a Legendary Saga with its dealings with monsters like giants, ogres, sorceresses, etc. The scale is large, and the stakes are high. It was also very Pagan — until it abruptly wasn’t. Still, it was nice for the first 100 pages. It was enjoyable enough, but it was also very episodic, which doesn’t work super well for Icelandic sagas; because of the limited page count, the author has to use up much of it with exposition at the beginning of each section, which gets dull very quickly.
King Gautrek is a change of pace, which is very nice. It’s funnier, the prose is more engaging, and the story is tighter. It tells two distinct stories (Starkad’s tale and Gautrek/Ref’s tale), and both are engaging in their own way. Starkad’s story was the standout for me, though. At first it seemed like a basic “viking goes on expeditions and gains fame” story, but when it introduces the gods in a major way, there are unique complexities that follow. Starkad feels forced to kill his king, Vikar, to appease the gods, and thus the common folk hate him, as Thor said they would, and Starkad hates himself for it. This plays with the theme of fate that’s prevalent in so many Norse stories. Could he have done something different? Would whatever he did still have resulted in the common folk hating him? Is he a bad person? I just love how his story played with those ideas.
The story of Gautrek and Ref in King Gautrek was fine, but ultimately not as good at Starkad’s. It followed the basic Medieval formula of repeating the same action to achieve some sort of reward, reminiscent of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, only less interesting. The first few chapters with King Gauti were very good, though!
The saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson was a wild adventure, and one that was very engaging and interesting. Firstly, the story was fantastic — we see an interesting twist on the revenge narrative here where Skuli killed Halfdan’s father, but then saved Halfdan’s life. I think it says a lot that Halfdan chose to forgive him and enter into blood-brotherhood with him; the message is that compassion wins over vengeance. It’s more important that Skuli saved a life than took it, and the debt that Halfdan owes Skuli is greater than the weregild Skuli owes Halfdan. It purposefully flips the common narrative on its head and questions the system of reciprocity that’s so prevalent in the sagas.
Halfdan’s saga was also very enjoyable to read. While it was a little complicated, it wasn’t too bad. The action scenes are actually quite good, and there are plenty of magical elements (like shapeshifting) that are very fun. It’s very much a legendary-esque take akin to the Volsunga Saga.
Bosi and Herraud’s saga, in contrast, was awful in many ways. There aren’t many sagas that I actively dislike, only one aside from this one (Ragnar Lothbrok’s saga), so this is rare for me. Firstly, the prose style utterly dull. Old Norse sagas tend to say things as they are, i.e. “They got married and there was a great feast, then the king went to bed because he was fairly drunk,” and such, but most of the time they have a notable sense of craftsmanship. But this author had no sense of literary talent whatsoever.
This issue was further highlighted by the inane plot. It’s the basic viking-quest plot except this time one of the characters has sex with a woman each time they go out on an adventure and the author uses truly cringy euphemisms to describe it. I know euphemisms and kennings are a huge part of Old Norse literature, but doing it to this extent was just awful. No other saga that I’ve read has done it this egregiously because it just isn’t good. But my main problem with the sex is the perception of manhood that comes with it — Bosi is seen as more of a man because he has a big, hard penis and he’s good at sex. The story praises him because of that. The message seems to be that you’re only a good man if you’re good at sex and you fight good. Not if you’re an honorable, courageous, or generous person, as almost every other saga’s standard for good men is. It’s problematic and regressive even for the time.
Almost contradictorily, the saga was very christian. Not in theme or anything, but with its mythology. Which makes it even more annoying when they try to connect it with Ragnar’s saga, a famously Pagan saga. It is ironic, though, that the two worst sagas are connected.
Egil and Asmund’s saga was fine. I like how it was split into the three personal stories of the three main characters (Egil, Asmund, and Eagle-Beak), and any story set in Giantland is at least vaguely interesting — but overall it was not a very memorable saga.
Thorstein Mansion-Might’s saga was similar to Egil and Asmund’s in tone and enjoyability, but it did have a very interesting theme of religious common ground. Firstly, the whole saga was very Pagan; Jotunheim and Giantland is a uniquely Pagan concept, even if this version of Giantland is nothing like what the Eddas portray. Second, the main king character of the story, Godmund, is a Pagan giant who teams up with Thorstein, a man who serves the christian King Olaf. But Olaf is hardly in the story, Thorstein spends the whole time helping Godmund take over Giantland. And by the end, they part as great friends who disagree about religion. To quote their dialogue at the end:
“‘You can have it all if you become my man,’ said Godmund.
‘Then you won’t interfere with my faith?’ said Thorstein.
‘That’s a promise,’ said Godmund.”
Very rarely do you see a post-christian saga where the main Pagan character doesn’t get converted, and rarer still if the two characters of opposing faiths remain friends. The saga is notable simply for that alone.
Helgi Thorisson’s saga was so short it’s hardly worth a mention. I didn’t like how christian it was, but at least the messaging was somewhat mixed — Godmund seems to be the villain, but we don’t actually know his motivations. He welcomed Helgi with open arms and provided him with all the comfort a Pagan ought to and more, so he clearly isn’t evil. If Godmund and Olaf have it out for each other, I’m not inclined to believe either is in the wrong, and that’s just makes Godmund and Thorstein’s friendship of the previous saga all the more wonderful.
I would like to specifically shout out the giant Godmund. He’s a very interesting, multi-faceted mythological creature who the characters of post-christian Scandinavia seem to interact with quite a bit. Not only that, but he’s overtly Pagan and still respected by many christian Vikings. I think he’s a fascinating character and he deserves recognition.
Arrow-Odd is a long, epic tale of adventure and revenge. While this saga clearly sets itself within the Icelandic Saga genre, it has many elements of a Legendary Saga with its dealings with monsters like giants, ogres, sorceresses, etc. The scale is large, and the stakes are high. It was also very Pagan — until it abruptly wasn’t. Still, it was nice for the first 100 pages. It was enjoyable enough, but it was also very episodic, which doesn’t work super well for Icelandic sagas; because of the limited page count, the author has to use up much of it with exposition at the beginning of each section, which gets dull very quickly.
King Gautrek is a change of pace, which is very nice. It’s funnier, the prose is more engaging, and the story is tighter. It tells two distinct stories (Starkad’s tale and Gautrek/Ref’s tale), and both are engaging in their own way. Starkad’s story was the standout for me, though. At first it seemed like a basic “viking goes on expeditions and gains fame” story, but when it introduces the gods in a major way, there are unique complexities that follow. Starkad feels forced to kill his king, Vikar, to appease the gods, and thus the common folk hate him, as Thor said they would, and Starkad hates himself for it. This plays with the theme of fate that’s prevalent in so many Norse stories. Could he have done something different? Would whatever he did still have resulted in the common folk hating him? Is he a bad person? I just love how his story played with those ideas.
The story of Gautrek and Ref in King Gautrek was fine, but ultimately not as good at Starkad’s. It followed the basic Medieval formula of repeating the same action to achieve some sort of reward, reminiscent of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, only less interesting. The first few chapters with King Gauti were very good, though!
The saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson was a wild adventure, and one that was very engaging and interesting. Firstly, the story was fantastic — we see an interesting twist on the revenge narrative here where Skuli killed Halfdan’s father, but then saved Halfdan’s life. I think it says a lot that Halfdan chose to forgive him and enter into blood-brotherhood with him; the message is that compassion wins over vengeance. It’s more important that Skuli saved a life than took it, and the debt that Halfdan owes Skuli is greater than the weregild Skuli owes Halfdan. It purposefully flips the common narrative on its head and questions the system of reciprocity that’s so prevalent in the sagas.
Halfdan’s saga was also very enjoyable to read. While it was a little complicated, it wasn’t too bad. The action scenes are actually quite good, and there are plenty of magical elements (like shapeshifting) that are very fun. It’s very much a legendary-esque take akin to the Volsunga Saga.
Bosi and Herraud’s saga, in contrast, was awful in many ways. There aren’t many sagas that I actively dislike, only one aside from this one (Ragnar Lothbrok’s saga), so this is rare for me. Firstly, the prose style utterly dull. Old Norse sagas tend to say things as they are, i.e. “They got married and there was a great feast, then the king went to bed because he was fairly drunk,” and such, but most of the time they have a notable sense of craftsmanship. But this author had no sense of literary talent whatsoever.
This issue was further highlighted by the inane plot. It’s the basic viking-quest plot except this time one of the characters has sex with a woman each time they go out on an adventure and the author uses truly cringy euphemisms to describe it. I know euphemisms and kennings are a huge part of Old Norse literature, but doing it to this extent was just awful. No other saga that I’ve read has done it this egregiously because it just isn’t good. But my main problem with the sex is the perception of manhood that comes with it — Bosi is seen as more of a man because he has a big, hard penis and he’s good at sex. The story praises him because of that. The message seems to be that you’re only a good man if you’re good at sex and you fight good. Not if you’re an honorable, courageous, or generous person, as almost every other saga’s standard for good men is. It’s problematic and regressive even for the time.
Almost contradictorily, the saga was very christian. Not in theme or anything, but with its mythology. Which makes it even more annoying when they try to connect it with Ragnar’s saga, a famously Pagan saga. It is ironic, though, that the two worst sagas are connected.
Egil and Asmund’s saga was fine. I like how it was split into the three personal stories of the three main characters (Egil, Asmund, and Eagle-Beak), and any story set in Giantland is at least vaguely interesting — but overall it was not a very memorable saga.
Thorstein Mansion-Might’s saga was similar to Egil and Asmund’s in tone and enjoyability, but it did have a very interesting theme of religious common ground. Firstly, the whole saga was very Pagan; Jotunheim and Giantland is a uniquely Pagan concept, even if this version of Giantland is nothing like what the Eddas portray. Second, the main king character of the story, Godmund, is a Pagan giant who teams up with Thorstein, a man who serves the christian King Olaf. But Olaf is hardly in the story, Thorstein spends the whole time helping Godmund take over Giantland. And by the end, they part as great friends who disagree about religion. To quote their dialogue at the end:
“‘You can have it all if you become my man,’ said Godmund.
‘Then you won’t interfere with my faith?’ said Thorstein.
‘That’s a promise,’ said Godmund.”
Very rarely do you see a post-christian saga where the main Pagan character doesn’t get converted, and rarer still if the two characters of opposing faiths remain friends. The saga is notable simply for that alone.
Helgi Thorisson’s saga was so short it’s hardly worth a mention. I didn’t like how christian it was, but at least the messaging was somewhat mixed — Godmund seems to be the villain, but we don’t actually know his motivations. He welcomed Helgi with open arms and provided him with all the comfort a Pagan ought to and more, so he clearly isn’t evil. If Godmund and Olaf have it out for each other, I’m not inclined to believe either is in the wrong, and that’s just makes Godmund and Thorstein’s friendship of the previous saga all the more wonderful.
I would like to specifically shout out the giant Godmund. He’s a very interesting, multi-faceted mythological creature who the characters of post-christian Scandinavia seem to interact with quite a bit. Not only that, but he’s overtly Pagan and still respected by many christian Vikings. I think he’s a fascinating character and he deserves recognition.
July 28, 2013
I was somewhat disappointed by these fairy stories. Compared to the Sagas of Icelanders -- which themselves had fantastic elements, but embedded in a more or less realistic story mostly about real people -- they have much less general interest. I could understand that they served a purpose, most likely as entertainments for the family during the long, cold, and dark winter nights. They feature kings, beautiful princesses, warrior princes, berserkers, witches, trolls, dwarves, and monsters. The stories take place in mythical or semi-mythical locales such as Jotunheim, Geirrodstown, Giantland, Gnipalund, and Permia. The farther away from Iceland the stories took place, the more likely they would be the settings for these tales. These included the more remote parts of Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Finland.
Probably the best of the tales is the first, "Arrow-Odd."
Probably the best of the tales is the first, "Arrow-Odd."
February 28, 2015
A couple girls gave me funny looks and asked about "Romance" in the title. So I explained this is romance as in heroic sagas of mighty warriors committing supernatural deeds. (Okay, so I glossed over these same warriors impregnating every woman in their path.) Not muscular men seducing women.
Until it was. Somewhere around 200 pages in one of the heroes uses an obvious euphemism for what is between his legs to seduce a girl. And then another euphemism on another girl. I could not believe it. Scandinavian romance novel in both senses.
The stories were amusing and fast. But then I like stuff about Odysseus, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh. And the fictional Conan.
P.S. It seems like everyone is related to someone named "Grim" though. Is that the John of Scandinavia?
Until it was. Somewhere around 200 pages in one of the heroes uses an obvious euphemism for what is between his legs to seduce a girl. And then another euphemism on another girl. I could not believe it. Scandinavian romance novel in both senses.
The stories were amusing and fast. But then I like stuff about Odysseus, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh. And the fictional Conan.
P.S. It seems like everyone is related to someone named "Grim" though. Is that the John of Scandinavia?
June 10, 2010
Not only did the Vikings plunder a people's home and property, they also helped themselves to their tales and literature. I found Ovid, Homer, and other classics cobbled together into these tales. Unlike the Niebelingenleid, these stories displayed heroic, melodramatic acts accompanied by some pretty funny one liners. For example, a couple of Vikings run into each other and start a pitched battle. Suddenly, one of them realizes that neither of them has any loot and states, "We might be the stupidest people in the world, fighting over nothing!" To hell with fame and glory; these guys are about a buck! And ya gotta love a guy who can compose couplets while being hacked to pieces.
December 6, 2024
"The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops is skilfully adapted into a traditional Norse legend. "
I don't think a more asinine take could've been written into the blurp of this mish-mash collection.
I don't think a more asinine take could've been written into the blurp of this mish-mash collection.
August 18, 2019
Having just visited l'Anse au Meadows, the site of a Viking settlement in northern Newfoundland, my interest in the medieval sagas of this hardy people was rekindled. Upon reading these particular stories, I'd have to say they are diverting, semi-engaging and, unfortunately, all too predictable.
They follow several distinctive tropes: almost all major characters are either Kings or retainers of Kings, all the lead female characters are young, very beautiful and remarkable in all things that make one a woman - their words, not mine. Once a hero goes wandering off by himself, as frequently occurs, you can count on his becoming lost in some mist or storm, a prelude to his encountering fantastic, mystical, magical beings or some similar dire, fateful situation . Sh0uld the hero have to avenge the wrongful, cowardly death of a father, brother or friend (almost never a woman), you can rely on his five ships with twenty men each having to fight against thirty ships with fifty men each (rough numbers, but you get the idea of exaggerated heroism due to exaggerated numbers). Magical artifacts abound: flying carpets, flint that when held makes one invisible and, the most common: a sheepskin shirt the wearing of which makes one immune to tiredness when swimming or fighting as well as to any injuries sustained in the latter.
All that being said, I found the extended saga on Arrow-Odd (called such due to his possession of magical arrows, some of which were made of stone) quite superior to the others in this collection, probably because it was longer and there was just a hint of character development allowed for in the three hundred year lifespan of the title character. Also, the story of Bosi and Herrauld was, while essentially repeating its structure two or three times, still great fun. Bosi seduces maid after maid, never using the same euphemism for sex twice. On the other hand, the story of King Gautrek never seemed to figure out who truly was its main character, while that of Helgi Thorisson was so slight as to prompt a thought that it was a fragment of a longer work.
Generally, okay.
They follow several distinctive tropes: almost all major characters are either Kings or retainers of Kings, all the lead female characters are young, very beautiful and remarkable in all things that make one a woman - their words, not mine. Once a hero goes wandering off by himself, as frequently occurs, you can count on his becoming lost in some mist or storm, a prelude to his encountering fantastic, mystical, magical beings or some similar dire, fateful situation . Sh0uld the hero have to avenge the wrongful, cowardly death of a father, brother or friend (almost never a woman), you can rely on his five ships with twenty men each having to fight against thirty ships with fifty men each (rough numbers, but you get the idea of exaggerated heroism due to exaggerated numbers). Magical artifacts abound: flying carpets, flint that when held makes one invisible and, the most common: a sheepskin shirt the wearing of which makes one immune to tiredness when swimming or fighting as well as to any injuries sustained in the latter.
All that being said, I found the extended saga on Arrow-Odd (called such due to his possession of magical arrows, some of which were made of stone) quite superior to the others in this collection, probably because it was longer and there was just a hint of character development allowed for in the three hundred year lifespan of the title character. Also, the story of Bosi and Herrauld was, while essentially repeating its structure two or three times, still great fun. Bosi seduces maid after maid, never using the same euphemism for sex twice. On the other hand, the story of King Gautrek never seemed to figure out who truly was its main character, while that of Helgi Thorisson was so slight as to prompt a thought that it was a fragment of a longer work.
Generally, okay.
January 26, 2019
I'd read Palsson's translations of Njalssaga, and this reminded me of it in some ways. It's deeply insightful into the culture's values, e.g., female sexuality is more openly celebrated than one might have expected, but a stingy man tries to refuse a gift, since he doesn't feel he can repay it. Odd tries to run from his fate and eventually fails, but there's an element of curse in the prophecy, that once it's been stated it WILL come true. Also, magical shirts that protect the wearer from injury AND from getting tired while swimming are a popular gift. The distinction between mail and such a device is obviously pronounced, which lends it its magical capabilities, but I don't recall swimming as such a focus in any of the Arthurian legends or other mythoi, suggesting that perhaps the ability to swim well, rapidly, and for long distances, was perceived as being a more central part of a warrior's skill set in the saga/Viking age. Possibly the result of a more seafaring-focused people, as likely an untimely death due to drowning as to battle.
January 25, 2026
“‘What’s this stone house for, where you’ve been all this time?’ asked Arrow-Odd.
‘We call it a minster or a church,’ said the peasant.
‘What was all that noise you were making?’
‘We call that the Mass,’ he said. ‘But what about you, are you really a complete heathen?’
‘We don’t know anything about religion,’ said Arrow-Odd, ‘except that we believe in our own might and strength, and we don’t believe in Odin. What is your faith?’
‘We believe in Him who created heaven and earth, the sea, the sun, and the moon,’ said the man.
‘He must be very great, if he’s made all that,’ said Odd, ‘that much I can understand.’
After Odd had stayed in the village for several weeks, the local people tried to find out if Odd was willing to embrace the faith.
Odd said he would offer them terms: ‘I’ll take your faith but keep my old habits. I won’t offer sacrifices to Thor and Odin, but I’m not so keen to stay here. I want to roam about from land to land, sometimes among the Christians and sometimes among the heathen.’”
‘We call it a minster or a church,’ said the peasant.
‘What was all that noise you were making?’
‘We call that the Mass,’ he said. ‘But what about you, are you really a complete heathen?’
‘We don’t know anything about religion,’ said Arrow-Odd, ‘except that we believe in our own might and strength, and we don’t believe in Odin. What is your faith?’
‘We believe in Him who created heaven and earth, the sea, the sun, and the moon,’ said the man.
‘He must be very great, if he’s made all that,’ said Odd, ‘that much I can understand.’
After Odd had stayed in the village for several weeks, the local people tried to find out if Odd was willing to embrace the faith.
Odd said he would offer them terms: ‘I’ll take your faith but keep my old habits. I won’t offer sacrifices to Thor and Odin, but I’m not so keen to stay here. I want to roam about from land to land, sometimes among the Christians and sometimes among the heathen.’”
December 6, 2021
While I don't typically review translations of older/ancient literature, I felt the need to clarify my three-star rating. Since I do not speak or read Old Norse or Icelandic, I cannot comment on the translation itself. However, the introduction felt a little scant, and unlike some other saga collections, each saga does not receive its own introduction. This was a bit of a letdown for someone who loves delving deeper into the sagas.
Beyond that, the title is completely ignores the modern definition of "romance," and while most readers will probably be aware that these are not, in fact, love stories, it still seems an odd choice.
In terms of the quality of the sagas themselves, I personally feel there are some strong sagas with a couple of weaker ones. However, as a collector of sagas, I appreciate translations of any saga, regardless of popularity or appeal.
Beyond that, the title is completely ignores the modern definition of "romance," and while most readers will probably be aware that these are not, in fact, love stories, it still seems an odd choice.
In terms of the quality of the sagas themselves, I personally feel there are some strong sagas with a couple of weaker ones. However, as a collector of sagas, I appreciate translations of any saga, regardless of popularity or appeal.
February 22, 2023
This was a fun read. I quite like the idea of it a Chivalric saga, the only difference being there is a lot more of a wider European influence in them, mainly from France and England. While there was some elements of romance, these stories reminded me of some early Irish myths that I read where the characters straddle the line between the real world and the mythical world, except the sagas were a lot more down to earth than the elaborate Irish myths. Anyway, these were a lot of fun and I still stand by my comment that Arrow-Odd is a discount Egil Skallagrimsson. I think my favourite out of these seven has to be Bosi and Herraud, mainly because of the saucy euphemisms that were used, I've never read anything like it!
June 19, 2025
For the real history/viking nerds. Bit lackluster compared to some of the other Norse sagas. Would recommend starting with some of the better known Icelandic family saga's. Highlight of the book were the cheesy Bosi 'sexscenes'. Some truly cringy writing but funny none the less.
April 23, 2020
3 out of 5 stars.
June 9, 2013
For those who like Viking sagas, this is a great addition to your library. It is especially for those who are not too into the family sagas of Iceland, but are more into adventure stories where great heroes become entangled with twisted ugly villains, get marvelous treasures from dwarves, and fight giants along with, in some cases, really big birds!!!
Norse mythology lovers who are looking for something new will love it. Of course some of the story motifs can get a little repetitive and tedious, but it's a small flaw.
Norse mythology lovers who are looking for something new will love it. Of course some of the story motifs can get a little repetitive and tedious, but it's a small flaw.
January 23, 2016
This is very easy to read, unlike a lot of translated classics. I highly recommend it. It is interesting as to what is classified as a romance, as the first story of the the seven wouldn't be deemed to the modern standards of romantic. However, after getting to know the definition of romance in this context, this is very different to the way we look at romance - in terms of love and gestures, the book becomes increasingly interesting.
February 27, 2012
Average read. Just enough to be mildly interesting and entertaining.
The stories read like Cliffs Notes. They were written in a very condensed and summarized fashion.
As a side note, I found the title to be misleading. I didn't find the stories to be heavily involved in the ways of romance. They were mostly adventure based themes.
The stories read like Cliffs Notes. They were written in a very condensed and summarized fashion.
As a side note, I found the title to be misleading. I didn't find the stories to be heavily involved in the ways of romance. They were mostly adventure based themes.
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May 26, 2013King Gauti is still the bossest of bosses, Arrow-Odd is still a jerk, and everyone has a daughter named Ingibjorg.
But seriously, King Gauti. Amazing.
Definitely worth the read if you're interested in Norse myth and legend.
But seriously, King Gauti. Amazing.
Definitely worth the read if you're interested in Norse myth and legend.
December 3, 2013
This book isn't really my style. Maybe because it's kind of remind me of Lord of the Rings. But overall, I enjoyed it a lot.
The stories are good and very adventurous. But one of my problem is the names of characters on this book, very unusual and it distracts me.
I enjoyed it. :)
The stories are good and very adventurous. But one of my problem is the names of characters on this book, very unusual and it distracts me.
I enjoyed it. :)
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July 21, 2024Arrow-odd* (legendary saga)-2 Versions? latter part 13th (closer to mid)
King Gautrek; end of 13th
Halfdan Eysteinsson; beginning 14th
Bosi and Herraud; c. 1300
Egil and Asmund; 14th c. 1300
Thorstein Mansion-Might; first half of 14th
Helgi Thorisson; manuscript c. 1390
King Gautrek; end of 13th
Halfdan Eysteinsson; beginning 14th
Bosi and Herraud; c. 1300
Egil and Asmund; 14th c. 1300
Thorstein Mansion-Might; first half of 14th
Helgi Thorisson; manuscript c. 1390
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November 5, 2008All the pieces of other novels, fantasy books, art, etc., fit now so much better - I see where they came from . . . .
January 11, 2010
A really fun collection of medieval Norse fantasies (hence "romances," not "sagas" (which are meant to be historical). Inspirational reading for me.
July 23, 2016
I read this for research only, so the rating refers to its usefulness.
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