The Icelandic Sagas are prose histories, describing life and events that took place in Iceland, during the 10th and 11th centuries. They are stories of families, adventures, feuding, deal-making, wars, great journeys, history, and myth. They are stories of the Norse and Celtic settlers and their descendants in Iceland during what is sometimes called the Saga Age.
For Asatruars and Heathens, there is indispensible knowledge to be gained here. These tales give us a window into the world of our heathen ancestors. What did they value? How did they resolve conflicts? How did they uphold their responsibilities to their famlies and their friends? How did they approach life and their places within the community? How did they view and honor their Gods and Ancestors?
The goal of the "The Saga Hoard" volumes is to present as much saga material as possible, in an clean readable format, at an affordable price. These first 2 volumes are part of a planned 3 volume set. All profits go into a fund to build a Hof and Hall here in the Heartland.
THE SAGA HOARD - VOLUME 1 - Nearly 800 Pages
Paperback - $26.95
Hardback - $34.95
Digital Download - $9.95
Volume 1 Contains:
- The Story of the Banded Men or Bandamanna Saga
- The Story of Burnt Njal or Njal's Saga
- Egil's Saga
- The Saga of Erik the Red
- The Saga of the Ere-Dwellers or Eyrbyggja Saga
- The Saga of Thrond of Gate or Færeyinga Saga
- The Saga of Gisli the Outlaw
- Grettir's Saga or The Saga of Grettir the Strong
THE SAGA HOARD - VOLUME 2 - Nearly 750 Pages
Paperback - $26.95
Hardback - $34.95
Digital Download - $9.95
Volume 2 Contains:
- The Saga of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Rafn the Skald or Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu
- The Story of Hen-Thorir or Hænsna-Þóris Saga
- The Story of Howard the Halt or Hávarðar Saga Ísfirðings
- The Saga of the Heath Slayings or Heiðarvíga Saga
- The Story of Hrafnkell, Frey's Priest or Hrafnkels Saga Freysgoða
- The Saga of Cormac the Skald or Kormáks Saga
- The Laxdale Saga or Laxdæla Saga
- The Story of Thórðr Hreða or Þórðar Saga Hreðu
- The Saga of Viga-Glum or Víga-Glúms Saga
- The Saga of Viglund the Fair or Víglundar Saga
- The Story of the Volsungs or Völsunga Saga
- The Story of Hogni and Hedinn
- The Story of Roi the Fool or Hróa þáttr Heimska
- The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son or Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar
- The Saga of Fridthjof the Bold or Tegnér’s Fridthjof’s Saga
- The Saga of the Greenlanders or Grænlendinga saga
- The Tale of Thorstein Staff-Smitten
- Introduction to the Orkneyingers' Saga
- The Orkneyingers' Saga or History of the Earls of Orkney
Mark Ludwig Stinson
Jotun's Bane Kindred
Temple of Our Heathen Gods
It sounds like a good piece of insight into how our ancestors dealt with daily life and the values/virtues they lived by. I think it's too often that this kind of thing is overlooked in light of other aspects of heathenry, such as the Aesir & Vanir and more commonplace subjects. It's good to have something to look at when thinking about disputes as well. I don't think we'll ever recreate what our ancestors had to every detail (and frankly, who the hell would want to?), but it's nice to have a broad view of all the things that made up our/their culture and world. Well done Mark. May your hof and hall stand strong.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think when people first begin with Heathenry, they do tend to focus in on it purely as a Religion. They want to know, "Who should I worship, how do I worship them, etc." This is after all a habit ingrained into them. Over time, they begin to see Heathenry as a world-view and way-of-life. It is then that they begin to change how they view and interact with the world and other people. The Sagas are a good way to read and learn something about how our Ancestors lives...and the qualities in a person they valued. Their expectations of what a man or woman should be at their best.
ReplyDeleteBut, it is important to not just "imitate" what we see in the Sagas. For they are stories...and some of the actions and characters in the Sagas are not meant to serve as some sort of Heathen ideal. The stories were written to be stories or recordings of history. But as such, the Sagas are tainted to some degree by the Christian mind-set of those who wrote them down, and not everything that happens in a Saga is meant to serve as an example of what is best.
going to have to get me those... man I got so many books to be reading, etc...
ReplyDeleteI know...and it never ends. You read 3 books, and in the meantime you've found 9 more you want to read. LOL.
ReplyDelete