Icelanders in the Viking Age: The People of the Sagas

by William R. Short

The Sagas of Icelanders are enduring stories from Viking-age Iceland filled with love and romance, battles and feuds, tragedy and comedy. Yet these tales are little read today, even by lovers of literature. The culture and history of the people depicted in the Sagas are often unfamiliar to the modern reader, though the audience for whom the tales were intended would have had an intimate understanding of the material. This text introduces the modern reader to the daily lives and material culture of the Vikings. Topics covered include religion, housing, social customs, the settlement of disputes, and the early history of Iceland. Issues of dispute among scholars, such as the nature of settlement and the division of land, are addressed in the text.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval

283 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often sit and read a history book, but this one manages to be readable while still being well documented. I've been trying to read books from and about Iceland this year, but I have yet to pick up The Sagas of Icelanders. I feel like I should have read them simultaneously.

Once I got past the idea of using sagas (which feel like myth) as history, it was fascinating to have details woven into historical record to help explain or illuminate some of the facts. Puzzles like did people wear underwear, and were there really human sacrifices?

As someone who wildly embraces her Viking ancestry, I also appreciated the narrow focus of this book - the early settlements of Iceland up to around a little past the "Viking Age," which is usually marked at 1066.

Iceland is isolated enough and has gone through few enough changes in leadership that some things are remarkably the same, particularly the language. Most other European languages made major transitions between 1066 and now, while Icelandic is largely the same. I have a fire to study it at some point.

[Andrew Volpe]

Not only do I have a signed copy from the Author, I know him personally AND I contributed some illustrations and reconstructive drawings for this book!

[Lewis Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent source for anyone interested in Icelandic vikings. Not only does this book explain how Iceland was founded and how their government worked, but it also explains everything about their daily lives. Everything is included: diet, shelter, weapons, marriage, trade, transportation, art, religion, and even social structure and gender roles. Everything about their culture is included in this one book, giving a well rounded view in a writing style that's easy to follow. Pictures and illustrations are even included to help give a better mental view of this society. It's good for anyone looking for a source on Icelandic viking life for writing or just for a good read.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely useful reference work. It's only flaws are parts that are built on speculation (but they're openly acknowledged to be so, and Short states out-right that without new archeological evidence there can only be speculation) and rare areas where a little more than layman's knowledge is presumed. (For me, these were specifically the ship-building and house-building areas; I have no background in either of these construction fields, so certain terminology left me reaching for the dictionary.)

Very handy, very engagingly written, describes a wide swath of saga-age Icelandic life, and helpfully illustrated.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend Icelanders in the Viking Age for reading along with the Icelandic sagas as it reviews and explains the culture in the sagas and adds background to the events, the places, the real characters about which the sagas are written, and the society. Evidence for the facts is in the historical record of the sagas themselves, in the archaeological finds, and in the legal archive. The photographs of landscape and artifacts aid the imagination particularly about events at those locations; the reading recommendations are annotated in the text.

[Meredith Mansfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was research for a story I'm about to write. It was perfect for that. Couldn't have found a better source.

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars purely for the fascinating material covered. Riddled with typos, which makes me wonder about some of its veracity, but I'll be fact-checking it against another Viking-Age book on Iceland soon anyway. This book was definitely a labor of love, though; the author obviously adores his subject matter and does his best to be exhaustive. My favorite part was the beginning when he described how Iceland was settled. Such a strange process! It would make a good scifi novel one day, in the context of the colonization of a planet.

[Jamie Irish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too often history books only cover the major characters and events of an era. This book gives you detailed information on a very unique nation and time period—the Viking-age Icelanders. Drawing on both archaeological evidence as well as evidence from the Sagas of Icelanders and other literary sources, William Short gives the reader a very well-rounded and fascinating picture of daily life for medieval Icelanders.

[Bookwarrior · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring book. I got this thinking it was the sagas from Iceland, it turns out that this is not true of this book.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent summary with lots of citations. I appreciated the ideas for further reading at the end.

[Rbjumbob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a good text book very good
This not a story

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Indra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to more serious learning about the Saga Age and the sagas themselves. I would recommend having some background before reading this. For people who already know something about old Icelanders, read some sagas, then read this, then read or reread more sagas. You will enjoy it greatly. I didn't find the pacing stiff. I read it continuously and was never bored. It touches do many topics that I found many new interesting things.