World Literature

This is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining of the legendary sagas, its anonymous writer having taken the plum pudding approach of throwing in everything he or she could think of; bawdy scenes vie with battles, black magic and monsters, and a ‘big fight at the end’ most modern fantasy films could only envy, followed by that most Shakespearean of conclusions, weddings all round.

The saga is also notable for its entertaining characters: in particular lustful, brawling Bosi, who despite his ugliness has a way with the ladies, and his miserly father Thvari are particularly well drawn, as well as the witch Busla. The voyages to Bjarmaland are paralleled in other stories such as The Saga of Sturlaug the Hardworking and The Saga of Arrow-Odd, while its grand scale battles with their shapeshifting combatants are familiar from The Saga of Hrolf the Ganger and The Saga of Hrolf Gautreksson. There are also several continuity links with other sagas, proving its place in the chronology of Norse legend, including a brief excursion to the famous Battle of Bravellir, fought between Harald Wartooth and Sigurd Hring, while the end of the saga provides an unexpected link with The Saga of Ragnar Shaggy-breeches.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09C6NPZ3M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thor’s Stone Press (August 8, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 8, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 323 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 87 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B0CLJ8Z7QF

The Saga of the Volsungs was written in thirteenth century Iceland, part of a vast collection of prose stories known as the sagas. In itself, it is the product of hundreds of years of oral storytelling, and the same stories appear in the poems of the Elder Edda, another work of medieval Iceland, and also in the medieval Austrian epic poem, the Nibelungenlied, where the central character is known as Sifrid rather than Sigurd. Characters in the saga are also alluded to in the Old English poem Beowulf and they appear in Viking Age sculpture both in Scandinavia itself and also the British Isles.The saga tells the story of a legendary family known as Volsungs, descended from the Norse god Odin, covering several generations, up until Sigurd, who slew Fafnir the Dragon and took the creature’s cursed treasure, resulting not only in his death but that of everyone who owns it after him. The story, in its various versions, became popular once more in the nineteenth century. It has inspired, directly or indirectly, writers such as William Morris and JRR Tolkien, filmmakers Fritz Lang and George Lucas, and composers and musicians from Richard Wagner, (whose Ring Cycle is the best known modern adaptation of the story), to Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction.*Now also includes The Tale of Norna-Gest.*

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BGRCK7W
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thor’s Stone Press; 2nd edition (February 15, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 15, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 718 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 124 pages

The Saga of Thorstein Vikingsson is a complex tale of adventure, spiced with sorcery, trollish opponents and dwarfish helpers, of curses and magical swords, of Viking raiding and romantic love matches. A long and somewhat rambling work of thrills, spills and adventures comparable to a 1930s movie serial, it acts as a prequel for the more renowned Saga of Fridthjof the Bold. It begins, like many such sagas, in a mythological landscape leavened with a scattering of euhemerisation to keep the priests happy, but rather than featuring gods like Odin the main characters in the first chapter are giants. From them comes a heroic stock whose adventures and feuds we follow through two generations.The saga is most notable both for its fairly realistic portrayal of vikings going about their business of plundering, warring, and fighting other vikings, and its detailed accounts of the occult beliefs of the pagan Northmen. Spells for breaking free of fetters, dream interpretation, guardian spirits, berserk frenzies, magical potions, curses, trolls and dwarves, magic swords and a talking ship, Ellidi, which also features in the Saga of Fridthjof, all this and more appear. The saga as a whole is comparable with one of the more extravagant chivalric romances popular on the Continent in the Middle Ages, or the heroic fantasy of modern bookshelves.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07QVH2W4P
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thor’s Stone Press (April 20, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 20, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 283 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 125 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B0CL6TS1NL

The Sagas of Ketil Trout and Grim Hairy-cheek are two of the Sagas of the Men of Hrafnista, stories written in medieval Iceland about the legendary Norwegian ancestors of contemporary families. Like the rest of the Legendary Sagas, they are fantastic in tone, featuring trolls and other monsters. The Saga of Grim Hairy-cheek is in many ways a sequel to The Saga of Ketil Trout, as Grim Hairy-cheek is the son of Ketil Trout. He receives his unattractive epithet in his father’s saga when his mother Hrafnhild catches sight of a hairy Lapp while conceiving him with Ketil. Ketil Trout’s own nickname derives from his modesty or naivety when referring to a dragon he slays.Ketil Trout is of a common type of hero in Norse saga, and indeed in international folklore; the ‘coalbiter’ or male Cinderella, who lazes by the hearth rather than taking part in domestic tasks until spurred on to adventure and heroic deeds, from which he receives ‘a name that will never die beneath the heavens.’ The despair of his father, considered a fool by other people on Hrafnista (modern Ramsta in Norway), he proves himself on a series of expeditions into the North where he slays dragons and fights trolls. Along the way he meets and marries Hrafnhild, daughter of Bruni, brother of the Lapp king Gusir. He slays Gusir, Bruni’s rival, and obtains the magical arrows Flaug, Hremsa and Fifa and Dragvendill ‘best of swords.’ With these accomplishments he goes on to prove himself a hero among his own people, but he is faithless in love, and bad blood exists between his people and those of his abandoned wife Hrafnhild. Grim Hairy-cheek inherits his father’s lands and weapons, but also, it seems, something of his lucklessness in love and propensity for cohabiting with trolls. His saga is rather shorter, and episodic in nature; its most memorable episode contains elements reminiscent of Arthurian romance (the Loathly Lady motif) and later Scandinavian folklore (similar trolls appear in East of the Moon, West of the Sun). Grim himself is the father of Odd the Traveller, or Arrow-Odd, whose much longer saga is a sequel to his own story. ‘And this story shall also be told.’

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00JKN5N00
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thor’s Stone Press (April 8, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 8, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 640 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 51 pages

The Norsemen of old Scandinavia were a tough and hardy people, best known today for their prowess in bloody combat and storytelling. Because they had no writing, the frightening reputation of warriors survives, but Norse mythology — all storytelling — is less known. This book documents the Norse myths that were sources of entertainment, comfort and explanations of the universe — from animals to the seasons to the afterlife.

Given that there are no surviving texts, the remaining myths have been changed through hundreds of years of oral tradition. Norse Mythology draws on Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, the two earliest and most faithful recordings of Norse myths. The chapters include:

An introduction to Norse history and culture — Vikings, long ships, and raiding Cyclical time: Runes, the creation of the Cosmos, First Gods Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms The Aesir Gods (Odin, Thor, Loki, Sif, Baldur, Idun) The Vanir Gods (Njord, Freyr, Freyja, The Mighty Thor) The Jotnar (Hela, Skadi, Skoll and Hati) Monsters and other creatures (Dwarves, light elves Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse, Kraken, trolls) Other myths (why is the sea salty?) Ragnarok and the Rebirth of the World.

Illustrated in color throughout and accompanied by maps and photos of archaeological treasures, this is a highly entertaining and informative read as the world of entertainment draws more stories from Norse mythology.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Firefly Books (September 1, 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0228105048
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0228105046
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.6 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 1 x 10.75 inches