A saga is a medieval prose narrative composed primarily in Iceland, with some examples from elsewhere in Scandinavia. The largest single category is the sagas of Icelanders, recounting Viking voyages, the settlement of Iceland and feuds between families, but saga subject matter also spans pre-Christian Norse mythology, the lives of saints, Scandinavian kings, contemporary Icelandic affairs, and chivalric romance adapted from or modeled on Continental sources. Sagas were written in the vernacular, Old Norse and its Icelandic descendants, at a time when most European history writing used Latin, and though composed in prose they often embed stanzas or whole poems in alliterative verse, giving them affinities with epic poetry.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable Example Defining TraitProse narrative composed in the vernacular Old Norse rather than the Latin used for medieval European history-writing 1 FAQs
Why does it matter that sagas were written in Old Norse and not Latin?
Sagas were written in the Old Norse vernacular while most European history-writing used Latin.
In medieval Europe the dominant language of history-writing was Latin. Sagas were instead composed in the vernacular, Old Norse and its later descendants, primarily Icelandic. That choice set them apart from most contemporary chronicles, even though they told histories of settlement, feuds between families and kings. Although sagas are prose, many embed stanzas or whole poems in alliterative verse, which gives them affinities with epic poetry.
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Source Njáls saga (Wikipedia)
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Source Saga (Wikipedia)Lead paragraphtier 2Quote, Lead paragraph
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
Sources
1. Saga (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Wikipedia article Saga, Etymology and meaning of saga section
Whereas the dominant language of history-writing in medieval Europe was Latin, sagas were composed in the vernacular: Old Norse and its later descendants, primarily Icelandic.
Wikipedia article Saga, Sagas of Icelanders and short tales of Icelanders section
Some well-known examples include Njáls saga, Laxdæla saga and Grettis saga.
Wikipedia article Saga, lead paragraph
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
In Group: Medieval and Classical Narrative Forms, Lead
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
View the Source Njáls saga (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Njals saga, Lead sectionQuote, Features Author: Njals saga, Lead section
Njáls saga (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈnjauls ˌsaːɣa] ), also Njála ([ˈnjauːla] ), or Brennu-Njáls saga ([ˈprɛnːʏ-ˌnjauls ˌsaːɣa] ) (Which can be translated as The Story of Burnt Njáll, or The Saga of Njáll the Burner), is a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 and 1020.
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