Heimskringla; Lives/Saga of the Norse Kings

About the book

Beginning with the dim prehistory of the mythical gods and their descendants, Heimskringla recounts the history of the kings of Norway through the reign of Olaf Haraldsson, who became Norway's patron saint.

"Heimskringla consists of several sagas, often thought of as falling into three groups, giving the overall work the character of a triptych. The saga narrates the contests of the kings, the establishment of the kingdom of Norway, Norse expeditions to various European countries, ranging as far afield as Palestine in the saga of Sigurd the Crusader, where the Norwegian fleet is attacked by Arab Muslim pirates, referred to as Vikings. The stories are told with energy, giving a picture of human life in all its dimensions. The saga is a prose epic, relevant to the history of not only Scandinavia but the regions included in the wider medieval Scandinavian diaspora. The first part of the Heimskringla is rooted in Norse mythology; as the collection proceeds, fable and fact intermingle, but the accounts become increasingly historically reliable. The first section tells of the mythological prehistory of the Norwegian royal dynasty, the Ynglings traces the interweaving lineages of Freyr of the Vanir and Odin of the Æsir, described here as the most noble spirits of human kind recurring in cyclic patterns encompassing the nations of Europe and beyond (including Ethiopia) indicating a complex philosophical array of metempsychosis (i.e. reincarnation) and death-defiance (i.e. the story of Örvar Odd). The traces come from the east, with Asgard at it's source, the mother of cities for the legendary Asians which Snorri Sturlasson, knows as the Æsir. But something dramatically has emerged, distinguishing the coming from the succession of things chronological taking things bit by bit as before the war between the Vanir and Æsir was instigated. That Snorri identifies with Troja that fell. While afterwards Snorri locates Asgard along Tanakvisl, (Dniepr), a possible precursor to Kœnugard (Kiev). The subsequent sagas are (with few exceptions) devoted to individual rulers, starting with Halfdan the Black. A version of Óláfs saga helga, about the saint Olaf II of Norway, is the main and central part of the collection: Olaf's 15-year-long reign takes up about one third of the entire work. Thereafter, the saga of Harald Hardrada narrates Harald's expedition to the East, his brilliant exploits in Constantinople, Syria, and Sicily, his skaldic accomplishments, and his battles in England against Harold Godwinson, the son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, where he fell at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, only a few days before Harold fell at the Battle of Hastings. After presenting a series of other kinds, the saga ends with Magnus V of Norway" --

Description from Open Library.