Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway

by Snorri Sturluson

Written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson sometime around 1230 AD, the "Heimskringla" is one of the best known of all sagas. It is in actuality a collection of sagas concerning the various rulers of Norway, from about A.D. 850 to the year A.D. 1177. While scholars and historians continue to debate the historical accuracy of Sturluson's work, the "Heimskringla" is still considered an important original source for information on the Viking Age, a period which Sturluson covers almost in its ... Read More

Written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson sometime around 1230 AD, the "Heimskringla" is one of the best known of all sagas. It is in actuality a collection of sagas concerning the various rulers of Norway, from about A.D. 850 to the year A.D. 1177. While scholars and historians continue to debate the historical accuracy of Sturluson's work, the "Heimskringla" is still considered an important original source for information on the Viking Age, a period which Sturluson covers almost in its entirety. Contained within this work are the following individual sagas: Halfdan the Black Saga, Harald Harfager's Saga, Hakon the Good's Saga, Saga of King Harald Grafeld and of Earl Hakon Son of Sigurd, King Olaf Trygvason's Saga, Saga of Olaf Haraldson (St. Olaf), Saga of Magnus the Good, Saga of Harald Hardrade, Saga of Olaf Kyrre, Magnus Barefoot's Saga, Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf, Saga of Magnus the Blind and of Harald Gille, Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald, Saga of Hakon Herdebreid ("Hakon the Broad-Shouldered"), and Magnus Erlingson's Saga. Read Less