Elfwyn's saga

This is a visually beautiful book but only loosely Icelandic. (The heroine doesn't even get an Icelandic name.) The stark nature of the Icelandic landscape is softened by trees in the illustrations, and the stark but charming prose of the Icelandic Sagas turns into a fable - and by the standards of medieval Icelandic prose, a rather ornately embroidered fable that leaves out important details (whose son was Anlaf? how did he come to marry Gudrun? why was he emigrating to Iceland? how many ships did he take? ... apparently in the 10th century Icelanders needed to know all that before they could get interested in a story) - in the author's telling.

I like cut paper illustrations, but was disappointed that this was not an actual folktale or even a retelling of one. The heroine's blindness makes her more perceptive than everyone else. The Author's Note is worth reading.

A story of Elfwyn, the daughter of a Viking settler, who is born blind because of a curse. Since she is blind she does not fall under the spell of an evil crystal, and is able to break the crystal to save her village. When the crystal breaks, legend has it that the shards of the crystal are what formed the Aurora Borealis (the northern lights).

Personal Response:
My favorite aspect of this picture book is the unique illustration style in the form of layered paper. I think it would be fun to do a library craft to recreate this effect.

Curricular Connections:
I would include this story in a story time about legends from around the world/scandinavian sagas/heroes from around the world.