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VIKING SAGA
Translated By Mark Coakley70,000 wordsCopyright 2009: "Free, non-commercial use only."*www.scribd.com/markcoakley"Halfdan Black" on Facebook email:
markcoakley(AT)bell(DOT)net
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Translator's NoteWritten in Old Norse by an unknown Icelandic author in the 14th century,
VikingSaga
describes events that supposedly occurred many centuries earlier, starting in the year 792. Although many of the events described in
Viking Saga
are mentioned in other Norse sagas (i.e. Snorri Sturulson's
Lives of the Kings of Norway
) or have beenconfirmed by archaeology, there persists an academic debate as to how much, if any, of
Viking Saga
is historical fact. The debate began in 1837, when Professor Bethel of Oxford first translated
Viking Saga
into English, making it accessible to a world-wideaudience for the first time. In the opinion of this translator,
Viking Saga
accuratelyreflects Norway's earliest history, though certain elements (i.e. scenes dealing withmagic and the supernatural) are probably fictional. Regardless, most readers are lessinterested in its historical precision than its old-fashioned literary value. In that respect, there is simply no debate.
Viking Saga
is an astonishing and
great
work of art, crammed with exciting scenes and descriptions of lyrical beauty, along with flashes of authentic folk-wisdom and exquisite comedy. Although not as famous as the so-called "classic" sagas (such as
Njal's Saga,
Egil's Saga
and
The Saga of the Volsungs),Viking Saga
is an outstanding example of medieval story-telling. It is my personal favourite, and deserves a much wider audience. I am honoured to translate this work for contemporary readers; the last Englishtranslation was made back in 1933, by Professor Winsome of the University of Los Angeles. Now it is time to introduce Halfdan the Black and his world to a new generation. I would like to thank the publishers, and my secretary, and of course my family, for their patience during the lengthy process of translation.Mark H. CoakleyUniversity of Toronto, 2010
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Sections
« prev | next »- 1: PARENTAGE
- 2: HALFDAN INTRODUCED
- 3: A FULL BLADDER
- 4: THE HALL
- 5: RUNNING AWAY
- 6: ALCUIN WRITES TO TETTA *
- 7: A FATEFUL MEETING
- 8: TETTA WRITES TO ALCUIN *
- 9: GOADING
- 10: ALCUIN WRITES TO TETTA *
- 11: THE NEXT MOVE
- 12: TETTA WRITES TO ALCUIN *
- 13: THE BATTLE OF THE BEACON
- 14: ALCUIN WRITES TO TETTA *
- 15: AFTER THE BATTLE
- 16: TETTA WRITES TO ALCUIN *
- 17: WAITING FOR SPRING
- 18: A SURPRISE
- 19: THE BATTLE OF THE FROZEN RIVER
- 20: INTERVIEW WITH THE BISHOP *
- 21: A HIDDEN FOE
- 22: YNGVILD COMES TO SOGN
- 23: WEST ACROSS THE WATER
- 24: ODIN GUIDES THE SHIPS 200
- 25: THE KILLING OF HAKI
- 26: TETTA WRITES TO ALCUIN *
- 27: VENN'S REVENGE
- 28: A SAD HOMECOMING
- 29: ELECTION
- 30: TO JERUSALEM
- 31: CAREER-CHANGE
- 32: DUEL!
- 33: SAGA'S END
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