Викингски сказания: исландски предания за прочути викинги

by Jennie Hall, Джени Хол, Стефан Георгиев (Translator)

Джени Хол (1875–1921) е американски автор на исторически книги за деца и юноши, които се радват на голяма популярност и до днес. Най-известната от тях – „Викингски сказания“ – има над 150 издания на различни езици. Тя обхваща периода от време между управлението на крал Халфдан в Норвегия до откриването на Северна Америка от Лейф Ериксон, като проследява живота и приключенията на прочути викинги като крал Харалд и Ерик Червения. Разказаните истории са базирани на исландските саги и са представени по семпъл, но същевременно жив и увлекателен начин, което ги прави подходящи за читатели на всяка възраст.

Исландия е малка страна. Хората я откриха и се заселиха в нея преди повече от хиляда години. През топлия сезон те ловяха риба и морски птици, събираха пера, отглеждаха овце и косяха сено. Но зимите бяха дълги, тъмни и студени. Мъжете, жените и децата си стояха по домовете, където чепкаха вълна, предяха, тъчаха и шиеха около огньовете. Сенки пърхаха в тъмните ъгли. Димът се виеше покрай гредите на високите тавани. Децата се настаняваха на пръстения под досами пламъците, а възрастните – на дълги тесни скамейки малко по-назад. Ръцете се занимаваха с вълната. Работата даваше възможност на главите да мислят и на устите да говорят. Но на хората им доскуча от приказки за ежедневието. Бащите се вторачваха в децата си и си казваха:

„Те не научават почти нищо. Какво ще ги направи храбри и мъдри? Какво ще ги накара да заобичат родината си и старата Норвегия?“

Така че, докато семействата работеха на червената светлина на огъня, бащите разказваха за норвежки крале, за дълги пътувания до чудни земи, за велики битки. Историите се разпространиха из цяла Исландия и хората ги запаметиха и заобичаха. Някои мъже можеха да пеят и да свирят на арфа. Те съумяха да направят историите още по-интересни. Талантливите мъже бяха наречени скалдове, а песните им – саги.

Genres: History, Mythology, Classics, Historical, Childrens, Short Stories, School

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

1875-1921

Renowned historical writer of the late nineteenth century, Hall chiefly wrote spellbinding travel memoirs. Her works are known for their vibrant narratives and vivid descriptions.

Reviews

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are fan of vikings fighting dragons and sailing ships to settle far off land, you'll enjoy these stories greatly.

And if you are a fan of the Vikings series, you'll find the truth of each story to be hilarious in comparison to what the series led us to believe.

We see the story of King Harald and Giada who demanded Harald to unite all of Norway if he was to be worthy of marrying her. He vowed to do so and didn't cut his hair until he fulfilled his promise.


"What of that far island that Flóki found? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. There is good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf says that butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts where we may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland!"

"We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolf's." he said. "But Floki himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice that pushes upon the land, that no ship can live in that water in the winter, that great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle die there of hunger and cold, and did he not come back to Norway cursing Iceland?"

[Tuna Turan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tek bir ateşin etrafında toplanıp söylenen ve dinlenen o güzel masallar, Buz ülke, yeşil ülke, üzüm ülkesi; İzlanda ve Norveç topraklarını yuvaları bilen Vikingler, şimdi işte o güzel masallarda, minnetle ve hayranlıkla anılıyor.

Diğer bütün ülkelerin masal serilerini merak ettim. En kısa zamanda diğerlerini de okumaya başlayacağım.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my son for school and it’s so fun. Full of sea adventure and survival and royal courts and drama, but all pretty lightly told, as is appropriate for kids.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

K: "It was a good book."
E: "I'd give it four stars."
L: "I liked the stories. They were good stories."
K: "But there were dumb guys doing dumb things. I hoped it would be more about ladies."

[Elizabeth]

Just found an edition from 1931 for three dollars and had to buy it. Looks like fun!

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 4 out of 5]

We finished the first half through where Harald goes west over seas, as it’s scheduled on AO. We pick up the rest from other books, as it starts to mingle with British and American history. (That’s my guess as to why AO only schedules the first half?!) we’ll also read “Leif the Lucky” next term. I really like this book, and so did Calvin. It was Annie’s favourite of all her year 1 reads!

2025, read again with Knox.

[Doğan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Şu masal serisinde okuduğum en eli-yüzü düzgün kitap buydu.

[Young Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how and for what purpose the author created this book in 1902:
(Kindle Ed., p. 92)
The head of the history department who planned this course says it is "in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical knowledge."

The book is truly delightful compared to most of the other Viking history books.

(Kindle Ed., p. 79)
"Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her, if her father will permit it."

First of all it is like a fun storytelling. It tells the same history, but much easier to understand and way more fun to read than other chronological Viking history books.

(Kindle Ed., pp. 84-85)
In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid and Thorfinn. "A health to the first Winelander!" the men shouted and drank down their wine; for they had made some from Wineland grapes. "Will he be the father of a great country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. "You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope," she said. They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the yellow sand, and toddled among the grapevines, and climbed into the boats and learned to talk. The men called him the "Wineland king." "I never knew a baby before," one of the men said. "No," said another. "Swords are jealous. But when they are in their scabbards, we can do other things, even play with babies." "I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quiet land," another man said.

It’s soooo detailed like a real good storytelling, again, much better than the other Viking sagas in chronological formats.

Yet, it is still real history from the same records like other books.

(Kindle Ed., pp. 31-32)
"This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The sound of the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave for Norsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhalla that these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come and tie on his hell-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much on that hard road." So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said: "Now let us make the mound." Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over the dead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On one of these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died. After that was done King Harald said: "Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole all that he took from the foe." So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Harald divided it into piles. "This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory," he said. "This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, and these things go to the other men of the army." So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, and Thor looked down from Valhalla upon his full temple and was pleased.

This is one of the actual sources Dr. Seamus Heaney read for his delicate translating work "Beowulf." The view is from the perspective of those who lived the era, so the value of the story is priceless.

(Kindle Ed., p. 81)
At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. One day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said: "Something is troubling you, Eric. We have all noticed that you are not gay as you used to be. Tell me what is the matter."

These lines are exactly the same with those found in other Viking Sagas translated in English during the 19th century.

And lastly, you will close the book after meeting a great conclusion with awesome endnotes and abundant references.

It is definitely a five-star book, and I recommend this one to anybody who wants to enjoy the Viking stories within official history.

[Jwee Chiek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful short tales simple enough for children but for adults too. These tales are about Viking adventures exploring the world. They went as far as the US. Imagine them braving the Atlantic ocean on their magnificent viking ships. Their forays out of motherland Norway resulted in settlements in Ireland, Iceland and Greenland France. Quoting from the book: " The men, with the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy endurance, the faithfulness, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child´s fit companions."

An extremely well written book. The short sentences yet contiguous with the next have simplicity and straightforwardness as its style. Very refreshing indeed. A complete antithesis to the style of many English writers who pride themselves with long convoluted and entangled sentences meander endlessly until one easily loses the train of thought. Charles Dickens comes to mind as one such writers whose each sentence can be as long as a paragraph. No offence intended to all the fans of Charles Dickens.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. It was written in such a delightful way. And the Vikings are so cool that it was a joy to read about their adventures.

“The dragon runs.
Where will she steer?
Where swords will sing,
Where spears will bite,
Where I shall laugh.”

[Mert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puanım 3/5 (%60/100)

Genel olarak beğendim ama bu seriden daha önce okuduğum İrlanda Masalları veya Japon Masalları kadar etki bırakmadı (ki çok umutluydum bu kitap için). İskandinav mitolojisi en sevdiğim mitoloji ve beklediğim şey de İskandinav mitolojisinden bilindik öykülerdi. Fakat kitabın neredeyse tamamı Kral Harald'ın hayatını masal gibi bir şekilde anlatıyor. Bilmediğim bazı şeyler vardı o yüzden genel olarak hoşuma gitti ama çok beklentimi karşıladığını söyleyemem. Kitabın 2. kısmında da daha çok Leif'ten bahsediliyordu (yani Harald ve Norveç dışına çıkıyoruz). 2. kısım daha hoşuma gitti çünkü bazı şeyleri öğrenme şansım oldu. Genel olarak güzel bir kitap ama benim çok beklediğim gibi değildi. Serinin diğer kitaplarına da bakmak lazım.

[Димитър Йосифов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прекрасен разказ посветен на скандинавската митология, казвам скандинавска, защото в книжката не се засяга само историята на Исландия, но и на Норвегия, та дори и Съединените Американски Щати. Всичко е представено под формата на кратки разкази с главни герои славни викинги, които са толкова колоритни колкото не можете да си представите. Не точете зъби ако очаквате екшъни, тук ще прочетете по-скоро един романтичен прочит на северната историята в който героите се грижат за семействата си, прехраната и оцеляването в трудните и сурови условия.
Препоръчвам я на всички фенове на скндинавските митове и легенди.

[Rick Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fictionalized account covering the life of Norse king Harald Hairfair, the settling of Iceland and Greenland, and the story of Leif Ericsson. It was an okay account, but for the target audience, I'd rather recommend The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway. It covers much of the same material, is better written, and deals a bit more specifically with some of the events.

[Silvia]

Честно казано не знам каква оценка да дам на тази книга. Очаквах много повече от нея и историите поместени вътре. Разбира се, че легендите са се предавали устно и много по-късно са били записани, но авторт е можел да ги "шлифова малко". Бележките под линия и краткият речник отзад са любопитни. Поздравления и за корицата - определено хваща погледа.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently reading through this for the third time and enjoying the stories very much, even though I know what is coming. What a great picture of the life of the peoples of old Norway! My mind is full of rich pictures of what life must have been like!

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting enough to have 3 little girls asking for one more chapter each time we read

[Colin Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because of all the stories in it.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize that this is a classic piece of literature, but I was not that impressed with either its writing style nor the stories themselves.

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Concise, Vigorous Children’s Introduction to Vikings
(but listen to the LibriVox audiobook at your own peril)

Jennie Hall’s Viking Tales (1902) is an interesting, compact children’s book that depicts a few famous Norse Vikings, their achievements, and the Viking ethos and culture. Hall’s short introduction “What the Sagas Were” vividly introduces Iceland, skalds, sagas, and the first books recording the “stories of kings and battles and ship-sailing” that she has selected from among to retell in her book. The stories she covers in Part One: In Norway recount Harald Shock Hair (AKA Harald Hair Fair) growing up and unifying Norway under his rule; those in Part Two: West-Overseas relate Ingolf and Leif’s chafing under that rule and founding a colony on Iceland, Eric the Red being outlawed and finding Greenland and founding a colony there, Leif Ericson’s discovery of Wineland (Vineland), and Thorfinn’s attempt to found a colony in Wineland.

After the tales come a chapter of Descriptive Notes, including interesting information on Norse names, houses, feast halls, foster fathers and brothers, and a chapter of Suggestions for Teachers, including highlighting for young students how Vikings visited and or settled on a chain of islands going west to America and how they possessed three main values: courage through strange adventures, love of truth and hard endurance, and faithfulness to spoken words. The last part of the book is a list of source texts, most of which were published in the 19th century, like The Volsunga Saga (1870) translated by Eirikir Magnusson and William Morris.

In her stories and notes, then, Hall entertainingly captures the Viking love of exploring and fighting (“the frolic”) and going a-Viking (when they can take other men’s goods and make them thralls), and provides many details on Norwegian weddings, funerals, gods, sacrifices, Valhalla, sailing, etc. One of my favorites are the “hell-shoes” placed on the feet of men who die in battle so they may comfortably and successfully tread the hard road to Valhalla.

Here is a representative passage taken from the start of a tale told by the thrall Olaf to his master, Harald, when Harald was a young boy:

"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said:
'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold.
"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla.”

Notice the cheerful disregard for contemporary ethics or morals, the pride and pleasure in taking what belongs to other people, the enjoyment in “frolic.” (Olaf then recounts without the slightest regret how, when he tossed his spear in the air to see which direction it would point to when it landed, letting the gods decide which way he should go next, it pointed him right to the large fleet of Harald’s father, King Halfdan, who captured him, nearly executed him, and made him a thrall.)

Notice also how well Hall captures the Viking voice. Harald names his banner “War Lover” and goes to battle saying, "I am eager for the frolic!" In his party celebrating being made an exiled outlaw, Eric the Red says, "There is no friend like mead. It always cheers a man's heart." And when about half his men decide to join him in his impending adventures he shouts, "O you bloody birds of battle! . . . Ever hungry for new frolic! Our swords are sisters in blood, and we are brothers in adventure."

The Norsemen are also liable to break into song at intense moments, as when Eric’s son Leif travels from Greenland to Norway for the first time:

My eyes can see her at last,
The mother of mighty men,
The field of famous fights.
In the sky above I see
Fair Asgard's shining roofs,
The flying hair of Thor,
The wings of Odin's birds,
The road that heroes tread.
I am here in the land of the gods,
The land of mighty men."

It’s a man-centered world: “But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have died bravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and children and cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers at them, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit down and freeze.” That said, there is one promising female figure in the tales, Gyda, who is "fair and proud," a literate healer who sends the dime a dozen king Harald a “Saucy Message” saying she’ll only marry a man able to unify all of Norway under one rule.

This is a book for kids, Hall leaving out sex (there is no mention of rapine, of course, and although babies do appear a couple times, they come rather magically as if without natural human agency). But as the above excerpts reveal, she doesn’t sugar coat the violence or Viking ethos, expressing both their courageous thirst for adventure and their callous lack of regard for their victims. Kids and adults should like this book, but if you are an adult interested in Vikings, I’d really recommend The Long Ships (1941/45) by Frans G. Bengtsson.

Viking Tales is available for free on LibriVox, but the 18 chapters are read by 11 different people, mostly American men and women and an Australian, with different levels of sound quality and voice/manner appeal. It is jarring to hear a new reader start almost every new chapter. The best reader (whom I wished had read the whole thing) is Lars Rolander, who reads with perfect pace and clarity and a wonderfully appropriate Scandinavian accent. It was so painful listening to the worst reader, who luckily only reads the Descriptive Notes and Suggestions for Teachers after the stories, that when Rolander briefly returned to read the list of texts, his voice was manna for my ears and soul.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I love Vikings. They are wild. Their culture is similar enough to Anglo-Saxon/Jute to gain my ardent affection, and their worldview is so distinct that they are some of the most unbelievable historical "characters" my girls have ever encountered. While this book took a while to gain interest for us, we ended up absolutely loving it, laughing over some of the more crazy stunts they pulled and being amazed at their hardihood and intensity. Jennie Hall's book includes enough of their worldview to gain an understanding of a completely foreign culture and delivers a well-told overview of some of the more famous Viking stories, like Leif Erickson and King Harald. Though it tells Viking history, it definitely reads like a fictional book.

My husband Cap read this to us, about 5 pages at a time, at lunches. It was so fun to experience these wild stories as a family. This book also marks the first time my kids ever saw me absolutely lose it, unable to stop laughing and crying for about 5 minutes, and bursting back into snorts of laughter if I wasn't careful. (It was one of the Vikings' songs that got me.) Thanks for the great family memories, Jennie Hall!

[Melissa Swearingen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed these stories! Seemed to capture the Vikings spirit and life well without being gory. I like that it showed their warrior spirit, bravery, and and exploring adventures. It was definitely only the positive but still good.

[Zerrin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gerçekten çok kötüydü. Bu serinin diğer kitaplarını okumayı düşünmüyorum.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the first part for first grade with Ian. Huge hit, we all loved it.

[Luana Zattar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be difficult to read as a I'm not a native English speaker but it was actually quite easy. A good read for anyone who is interested in the Viking history.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourth (and final!) time through the first half, but I finally read the second part! Really enjoyed it. Wish I would’ve read it to my kids because the connections you make to Little Duke and Our Island Story are excellent.

[Wysteria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids love this book. We have read it more then three times now and my husband and I also immensely enjoy the sagas. Got it on LibriVox in audio version and it's quite fantastic.

[Kaj Samuelsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this was my first try on the old viking sagas in English. I have read the same stories in different versions, but this was actually the best so far, it gave a more in-depth view and seems more slanted towards the living conditions in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Wineland. It also gave the best description on the travels in Wineland. I have been looking for this but never found one telling the tale of what happened after Leif Ericsson discovered Wineland. Also there were an interesting note from the author as to who attacked the settlement and made them leave.

[Keti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow expected a little more from this book. The tales were short and entertaining, which was a big plus, but the description and the dialogue was a little bland. For children or young adults who have just started to be interested about the world of the Norsemen, this book is a good enough start, but for others who crave something more that just a simple story, I would advise you to keep looking. All things considered, it was not a bad book, it was a decent one, but for me it was not complex enough.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn between giving this three stars or four stars. It wasn't rousing reading, for the most part—though it was engaging—but in the end I decided that my desire for rip-roaring adventure was unrealistic and maybe a little unfair. This is a good introduction to Viking lore. There's a nice glossary describing the types of houses Vikings lived in, the weapons they used, and some of the gods they worshipped. There's also a bibliography at the end.

[Franklin Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stories about Vikings? Sign me up! After studying The Vikings with my son, I picked up this little volume and was pleasantly surprised.
The author does a good job of breathing life into these historical characters. The narrative, though split into separate stories, flows well and is easy to understand. The author explains her goals at the end and wraps it all up nicely.
Read this if you are interested in medieval history, American discovery, Vikings, and sailing adventures.