The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (11301265)

In The Sagas of Norwegian Kings (1130-1265), Theodore M. Andersson offers an orientation to the category of Icelandic sagas known as "kings' sagas," a genre of Old Norse-Icelandic prose literature less known than the somewhat later sagas of early Icelanders and their extended families. The kings'-saga genre culminated in three compendia that appeared prior to 1250: the manuscripts Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna and the compilation of sagas known as Heimskringla. These remarkable sagas are among the most readable of European chronicles. Theodore M. Andersson's book examines not only the evolution of the genre and its associated critical literature but also the genre's points of interaction with Icelandic family sagas.