A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's greatest literary treasures--as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured further west--to Greenland and, ultimately, the coast of North America itself.

The 10 Sagas and seven shorter tales in this volume include the celebrated "Vinland Sagas," which recount Leif Eiriksson's pioneering voyage to the New World and contain the oldest descriptions of the North American continent.

Contents:

• Egil's Saga
• The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal
• The Saga of the People of Laxardal
• Bolli Bollason's Tale
• The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi
• The Saga of the Confederates
• Gisli Sursson's Saga
• The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue
• The Saga of Ref the Sly
• The Saga of the Greenlanders
• Eirik the Red's Saga
• The Tale of Thorstein Staff-Struck
• The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II
• The Tale of Sarcastic Halli
• The Tale of Thorstein Shiver
• The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords
• The tale of the Story-wise Icelander