HeimskringlaHeimskringla (Icelandic pronunciation:) is the best known of the Old Norwegian kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of Heimskringla is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic knight, poet and historian, Snorri Sturluson (1178/79–1241) c. 1230. The title Heimskringla was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (kringla heimsins, "the circle of the world").
YnglingThe Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem Ynglingatal. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old English: Scylfingas, Old Norse: Skilfingar) in Beowulf.
FreyrThe Rällinge statuette from Södermanland, Sweden, believed to depict Freyr, Viking AgeIn Norse mythology, Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord, Master') is a god associated with kingship, peace, fertility, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house.
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson (Old Norse:; Icelandic:; 1179 – 23 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, knight, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing.
Þjóðólfr of HvinirÞjóðólfr ór Hvini (Old Norse pronunciation:; anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that he was from the region of Hvinir (Kvinesdal). Two skaldic poems, Haustlǫng (Autumn-long) and Ynglingatal (Enumeration of the Ynglingar), are generally attributed to him.
Samuel Laing (travel writer)Samuel Laing (1780–1868) from Papdale in Orkney was a Scottish travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia and northern Germany and published descriptions of these countries. Laing was the first translator of Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson. He unsuccessfully contested the Orkney and Shetland parliamentary constituency in 1832 against incumbent MP George Traill.
IcelandersIcelanders (Icelandic: Íslendingar) are an ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland. They speak Icelandic, a North Germanic language. Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 CE when the Alþingi (parliament) met for the first time. Iceland came under the reign of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish kings but regained full sovereignty from the Danish monarchy on 1 December 1918, when the Kingdom of Iceland was established.YnglingatalYnglingatal or Ynglinga tal (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the Ynglinga saga, the first saga of Snorri's Heimskringla. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet for Harald Fairhair (r. 872–930), is traditionally credited with its authorship. Snorri quotes frequently from this poem and cites it as one of the sources of the saga. The composition of the poem is dated to the 9th century.
SkaldA skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; Icelandic:, meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally composed to honor kings, but were sometimes ex tempore. They include both extended works and single verses (lausavísur).
Old NorseNorth Germanic languageOld Norse was a North Germanic language spoken in Scandinavia and in Norse settlements during the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages (approximately the 8th–14th centuries).
BeowulfBeowulf ( ; Old English: Bēowulf [ˈbeːowuɫf]) is an Old English poem, an epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines, contained in the Nowell Codex. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between AD 975 and 1025.
Kings' sagasKings' sagas (Icelandic: konungasögur, Nynorsk: kongesoger, -sogor, Bokmål: kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, primarily in Iceland, but with some written in Norway.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.