Stories and Ballads of the Far Past

Originally published in 1921, this book contains English translations of stories taken from the Fornaldar Sögur Northrlanda, or 'Stories of Ancient Times relating to the countries of the North', a collection of Old Norse Sagas edited by Rafn in 1829-30 and re-edited by Valdimar Ásmundarson in 1886-91. The stories contained in this collection deal almost exclusively with times anterior to Harold the Fairhaired (c. 860-930), and the colonisation of Iceland. Written texts for the stories as a rule come from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, though the actual manuscripts themselves are generally later. This English edition contains a generous introduction and explanatory notes, making it accessible to the general reader. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in Old Norse literature.