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Title: Heimskringla : History of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson, Lee M. Hollander ISBN: 0-292-73061-6 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: National history of Regional importance
Comment: This book starts in the age of the Roman empire. Odin, a king from the mountains of Caucasus in the south-eastern corner of Europe went forth to settle in Europes northernmost parts, as he thought (correctly) that this region would be spared of Roman rule. Other historic sources tell us that people had settled Scandinavia for more than 10 000 years at this point, but the Saga claims that Odin's heirs came to dominate Northern culture and politics from this point on, and seing Odin as the highest of a number of Gods.
The book shortly describes how the heirs of Odin created united Kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden, while Norway remained a region of quest for the Swedish kings as well as for the local Kings of Norway.
From this point on the book is exclusively concerned with the history of the Kings of Norway. The most important features of the book is how King Harald Fairhair came to unite Norway under his rule some time in the 9th century, how his sons broke the Kingdom apart through their desputes over power, how the danish king accessed power in Norway as a result of these disputes, how a regional Norwegian Lord played the Danish King into defeat, consequently seizing power as the sole ruler of Norway.
Then how Olaf Tryggvason, an exiled hair of Harald Hairfair, returns from England, seizes power, and forces Christianity upon the people by means of threats and occational torture. Half of the book concerns how Olaf the second, St'Olaf, fights exiled forces who resisted Christianity, attacking the country from abroad. The last part of the book enters the subject of the medieaval civilization of christian Norway.
In the centuries following this book. Norwegian civilization would diminish. Partly because of the heaviest black death toll of any European country, 2/3 of the population. Partly because of a climatic change to the colder. Norway came under Danish, then Swedish rule and did'nt regain independence until 1905. Since Norway today is so disconnected from its distant past, it is crucial to be reminded of its historic role in order to understand the history of the region as a whole.
Rating: 4
Summary: Long Live Hakon the Good!
Comment: I have never read a more hilarious piece of academic literature. The Norse Kings are so funny... you wouldn't believe how many of them died in drunken accidents. But that's not the book's focus. As a college junior, I found this book to be a great reference for my History and English papers and have included it in my necessary-reference-books collection. Sturluson is great! A very entertaining read.
Word Ninja
Rating: 5
Summary: Mandatory reading for medievalists
Comment: Snorri, an often unscrupulous (and very successful) politician who lived in the real world, was also a very learned man. He was arguably the greatest historian of medieval Europe, and in his methods he has often been compared to Thucydides. "Heimskringla" means "the world is round" -- appropriate for a people who considered the entire world their arena -- and is the overall title given to his collection of earlier sagas, rationalized and pruned of recognizable nonsense, which is still the basis of history in the North. Snorri's style is simplicity itself and because "history" until very recently concerned itself with the actions of great men, he spends considerable time detailing the interrelationships among the many leaders of Scandinavia -- and especially of Harald "Fairhair," who conquered and united the many domains of those leaders. (Why "Fairhair"? Read the saga.) The roots of William the Conqueror are here, as well as those of Canute and St. Olaf. This simply-illustrated edition noted above runs to nearly 900 pages and is generally regarded as the best, but any will do. This is history, literature, genealogy, and mythology, and should be read by anyone with a serious interest in medieval history.
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Title: Edda (Everyman Paperback Classics) by Snorri Sturluson, Anthony Faulkes ISBN: 0460876163 Publisher: Everymans Library List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Saga of the Jom'svikings by Lee M. Hollander ISBN: 0292776233 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1988 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes, Books I-IX : I. English Text; II. Commentary by Hilda Ellis Davidson, Peter Fisher ISBN: 0859915026 Publisher: Ds Brewer Pub. Date: 01 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (Penguin Classics) by Jesse L. Byock ISBN: 0140447385 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Poetic Edda : Second Edition, Revised by Lee M. Hollander ISBN: 0292764995 Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1986 List Price(USD): $13.45 |
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