The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America (Penguin Classics)

I read this in a slim little Penguin Classics edition which brings together The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red's Saga (both together are about 50 pages long), together with some good introductory material and lots of informative appendices. Because it's so well-contextualised, I think this would be a very good edition to use in an undergrad classroom—the maps in particular are really excellent, though some of the introductory material is perhaps slightly out of date/not as certain as they present it. (I'm not sure that Olaif the White has ever been definitely identified with Amblaíb Cunung of Dublin? I need to dig out my notes from undergrad.) Kunz' translation is also mostly pretty good, though there were times where I wished she'd intervened in the text a little more, for the sake of clarity—there was one point in particular, where two Thorsteins and their wives both die, and then someone comes back from the dead and... something. I read it three times and I'm still not entirely sure what was going on. Those quibbles aside, however, this is a good edition to use. ( )

A comprehensive introduction to the two Vinland Sagas: the Graenlenginga Saga and Erik's Saga, as well as updated archelogical information. Well organized. Well presented. ( )

This is the Penguin Classics version of the Vinland Sagas, which includes a very interesting introduction as well as both Graenlendinga Saga & Eirik's Saga.

The introduction describes the Vikings' exploration and settlement of the islands of the North Atlantic, showing just how feasible it was that they could have reached America once they had settled the west coast of Greenland. This is followed by a discussion of why the Icelanders became such prolific saga writers and about the differences between the Greenland Saga and Eirik's Saga, both of which concern the same events.

The sagas themselves are very interesting and the Skraelings encountered by the Greenlanders certainly sound like Native Americans. There are also some interesting supernatural encounters, outbreaks of disease and a lot of trading voyages, to Norway and Iceland as well as Vinland. The differences between the stories mostly concern who went on which voyage and which order things happened.

And finally, there is a very useful index of names in the back to help with all those confusing thornames. ( )

I've only just started reading the introduction, but already I feel this should be required reading for elementary or middle school history classes. (It would be great to have it tied to an English or social studies class on the Norse myths.)Update: Having finished reading the introduction and both sagas, I feel even more strongly that this work needs to be far better known. Our children are still taught, by and large, that Columbus discovered America. Even discounting the fact that this continent was already home to many peoples, the Viking explorers visited and established colonies on the mainland (however short-lived) long before Columbus' search for a westward route to India.This translation was very smooth, the writing very clear. The people are sketched quickly, but vividly. I enjoyed this work. ( )

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