"Comic Sagas and Tales" brings together the
finest comic stories from medieval Iceland. With
feuding families and moments of grotesque
violence, the sagas see such classic
mythological figures as murdered fathers,
disguised beggars, corrupt chieftains and
avenging sons do battle with axes, words and
cunning. The tales, meanwhile, follow heroes and
comical fools through dreams, voyages and
religious conversions in Iceland and beyond.
Shaped by Iceland's oral culture and their
conversion to Christianity, these stories are
works of ironic humour and stylistic innovation.
In the introduction to these new translations,
Vidar Hreinsson examines how the stories
satirised old-style sagas while exploiting their
classic themes of quests and revenge. This
edition also includes a map, glossary, index of
characters, suggested further reading and notes.