Sturlunga Saga. (Textbook Binding)

~ Sturlunga Saga. (Author), Julia H. McGrew (Author), George R. Thomas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Icelandic (translation) --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding
• Publisher: Twayne Pub (January 1972)
• ISBN-10: 0805733647
• ISBN-13: 978-0805733648
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,673,051 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best Icelandic saga., April 6, 1999

By	Roger Burks (Riverside, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sturlunga Saga, Vol. 1 (Library of Scandinavian Literature) (Hardcover)

This volume is comprised mostly of the Islendinga Saga, which is very long and repetitive as compared to other Icelandic sagas. If you have already read all the other, more popular, sagas, then go right ahead and read this one. Not recommended for newcomers to saga literature, however. There is some very interesting detail about conflicts with a Christian bishop, but this can be gotten in a more succinct and readable form in volume 2 of this translation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Informative, but questionable as a reference thanks to poor editing, February 11, 2009

By	Webistrator "J. S." (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sturlunga Saga (Library of Scandinavian Literature Ser.) (Hardcover)

This appears to be part of what should be a two-volume compilation of the later Icelandic commonwealth sagas and history. Unfortunately the attempts to anglicize the patrynomics results in very confusing and sometimes totally incorrect family relationships.

The tendency to convert feminine descendant names such as Thurid Starrisdottir to "...Thurid Starri's daughter..." (Hvamm-Sturla Saga, ch.1) makes for confusing reading. And in chapter 3, "Einar...was married to Snorri's syster [sic] Sigrid Kalf's daughter..." is totally incorrect. The sister of Snorri (Kalfsson) could be misunderstood as the daughter of Sigrid Kalf when instead she was Sigrid Kalfsdottir.

This editorial oversight makes the already almost overwhelming interrelationships and extensive family ties that much more difficult, particularly for readers new to the Icelandic literature. I would advise anyone new to this body of writing to develop an understanding by first starting with the other sagas (The Sagas of Icelanders: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (World of the Sagas), The Vinland Sagas (Penguin Classics), etc.).