Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

s, also known as

saga king A mythological king is an archetype in mythology. A king is considered a "mythological king" if he is included and described in the culture's mythology. Unlike a fictional king, aspects of their lives may have been real and legendary, or that t ...

s. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, primarily in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, but with some written in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

.Kongesagaer på norsk (Heimskringla.no)
/ref> Kings' sagas frequently contain episodic stories known in scholarship as '' þættir'', such as the '' Íslendingaþættir'' (about Icelanders), ''

Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa ''Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa'' (''The Tale of Styrbjörn the Swedish Champion'') is a short story, a ''þáttr'' on the Swedish claimant and Jomsviking Styrbjörn the Strong preserved in the ''Flatey Book'' (GKS 1005 fol 342-344, ca 1387-1395 ...

'', '' Hróa þáttr heimska'', and '' Eymundar þáttr hrings'' (about people from elsewhere).

List of Kings' sagas

Including works in Latin, and in approximate order of composition (though many dates could be off by decades) *A Latin work by

Sæmundr fróði Sæmundr Sigfússon, better known as Sæmundr fróði (''Sæmundr the Learned''; 1056–1133), was an Icelandic priest and scholar. Biography Sæmundr is known to have studied abroad. Previously it has generally been held that he studied in Fra ...

, c. 1120, lost. *The older version of ''

Íslendingabók ''Íslendingabók'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: , ''Book of Icelanders''; ) is a historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally ex ...

'' by

Ari fróði Ari Þorgilsson (1067–1148 AD; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; also anglicized Ari Thorgilsson) was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He was the author of ''Íslendingabók'', which details the histories of the various families ...

, c. 1125, lost. *''

Hryggjarstykki ''Hryggjarstykki'' ( ; ) is a lost kings' saga written in Old Norse in the mid-twelfth century and dealing with near-contemporary events. The author was Eiríkr Oddsson, an Icelander about whom little is known. The work is cited by Snorri Sturluson ...

'' by Eiríkr Oddsson, c. 1150, lost. *''

Historia Norvegiæ Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics * ...

'', c. 1170. *''Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium '' by

Theodoricus monachus Theodoric the Monk ( la, Theodoricus monachus; also ''Tjodrik munk''; in Old Norse his name was most likely ''Þórir'') was a 12th-century Norwegian Benedictine monk, perhaps at the Nidarholm Abbey. He may be identical with either Bishop Tore of ...

, c. 1180. *''

Skjöldunga saga The ''Skjöldunga saga'' (or, in another standardised Old Norse spelling, ''Skjǫldunga saga'') was an Old Norse legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Scyl ...

'', c. 1180, badly preserved. *'' Oldest Saga of St. Olaf'', c. 1190, mostly lost. *''

Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum ''Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum'' ( Icelandic for "''Summary of the Norwegian Kings' Sagas''"), often shortened to ''Ágrip'', is a history of the kings of Norway. Written in Old Norse, it is, along with the ''Historia Norvegiæ'', one of the N ...

'', c. 1190. *A Latin ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' by

Oddr Snorrason Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a 12th-century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyraklaustur monastery (''Þingeyrarklaustur''). The monastery was founded in 1133 and was the first in Iceland. Work ...

, c. 1190, survives in translation. *A Latin ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' by

Gunnlaugr Leifsson Gunnlaugr Leifsson (died 1218 or 1219) was an Icelandic scholar, author and poet. He was a Benedictine monk at the Þingeyraklaustur monastery (Icelandic ''Þingeyrarklaustur'') in the north of Iceland. Many sources (including ''Þorvalds þáttur ...

, c. 1195, lost. *''

Sverris saga ''Sverris saga'' is one of the Kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway (r. 1177–1202) and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of more ...

'', by

Karl Jónsson Karl Jónsson (1135–1213) was an Icelandic writer, poet and clergyman. Biography Karl Jónsson was abbot of the Thingeyrar monastery (Icelandic: ''Þingeyrarklaustur)'' dating from 1169 until 1181. In 1185. he traveled to Norway where he att ...

, c. 1205. *''

Legendary Saga of St. Olaf ''The Legendary Saga of St. Olaf'' or ''Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar'' is one of the kings' sagas, a 13th-century biography of the 11th-century Saint Olaf II of Norway. It is based heavily on the largely lost ''Oldest Saga of St. Olaf''. T ...

'', c. 1210. *''

Morkinskinna ''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275. The name ''Morkinskinn ...

'', c. 1220 but before ''Fagrskinna''. *''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian k ...

'', c. 1220. *''Óláfs saga helga'' by Styrmir Kárason, c. 1220, mostly lost. *''

Böglunga sögur The Bagler Sagas (Old Norse ''Böglunga sögur'') are kings' sagas relating to events which occurred between 1202–17 and are a primary source of Norwegian history during this period. There are two versions, one shorter and one longer, which are ...

'', c. 1225. *''

Separate Saga of St. Olaf ''The Separate (or Independent) Saga of St. Olaf'' ''(Olav den helliges saga'') is one of the kings' sagas. It was written about King Olaf II of Norway (''Olaf Haraldsson''), later Saint Olaf (''Olav den Hellige''), patron saint of Norway. His ...

'', by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

, c. 1225. *''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

'' by

, c. 1230. *''

Knýtlinga saga ''Knýtlinga saga'' (''The Saga of Cnut's Descendants'') is an Icelandic kings' saga written in the 1250s, which deals with the kings who ruled Denmark since the early 10th century.Ármann Jakobsson, "Royal biography", p. 397-8 There are good rea ...

'', probably by Ólafr Þórðarson, c. 1260. *''

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style ...

'', by

Sturla Þórðarson Sturla Þórðarson ( ; ; 29 July 1214–30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century. Biography The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga. Sturla was th ...

, c. 1265. *'' Magnúss saga lagabœtis'', by

, c. 1280, only fragments survive. *'' Hulda-Hrokkinskinna'', c. 1280. *''

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta'' or ''The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason'' is generically a hybrid of different types of sagas and compiled from various sources in the fourteenth century, but is most akin to one of the kings' sagas. It ...

'', ca 1300.

Sometimes counted among the Kings' sagas

*''

Jómsvíkinga saga The ''Jómsvíkinga saga'' ("''Saga of the Jomsvikings''") is a medieval Icelandic saga composed by an anonymous author. The saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other. There ...

'' *'' Orkneyinga saga'' *''

Færeyinga saga The Færeyinga saga (), the saga of the Faroe Islands, is the story of how the Faroe Islanders were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway. Summary It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The author is unknown and the original ...

'' *''

Brjáns saga ''Brjáns saga'' (also ''Brjánssaga'') is a hypothetical early specimen of Old Norse literature. According to the hypothesis, certain episodes in ''Njáls saga'' and ''Þorsteins saga Síðu-Hallssonar'' drew on this lost saga. There is no ext ...

Editions and translations

In Norwegian * Storm, Gustav; Bugge, Alexander (ed. & tr.) ''Norges Kongesagaer'' (Christiania: I. M. Stenersen's Publishing, 191

* Peter Andreas Munch, Munch, Peter Andreas; Þórðarson, Sturla ''Norges Konge-Sagaer Fra De Aeldste Tider Indtil Anden Halvdeel Af De 13 De Århundrede Efter Christi'' Fødsel (Nabu Press. 2010 )

References

Other sources

* Ciklamini, Marlene ''Snorri Sturluson'' (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978) * Hermannsson, Halldó ''Bibliography of the sagas of the kings of Norway and related sagas and tales'' (BiblioBazaar. 2009) * Jakobsson, Ármann; McTurk, Rory (ed.) ''A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture'' (Blackwell Publishing, 2004) * Thorsson, Örnólfur (ed.) ''The Sagas of the Icelanders: A Selection'' (Penguin Putnam. 2000) * Whaley, Diana ''Heimskringla: An Introduction'' (Viking Society for Northern Research Text, 1991) * Wolf, Kirsten ''The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic Prose'' (University of Toronto Press. 2013)

External links

Old Norse Sagas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings' Sagas