Even in the early heroic lays and in the skaldic poetry the Norwegians and the Ice landers had shown an interest in the history of their people. But the most adequate expres sion for this we find in the prose literature, of which the best productions are the famous sagas, a name applied both to history and fic tion. The skald who composed the historical drapa and the writer of the saga had much in common, and the two were sometimes united in one person. The skald visited foreign countries and brought back with him, as did other travelers, the wealth of material for the prose tradition. From a more primitive be ginning this tradition gradually developed, probably under the influence of the Irish saga developed in a similar way, into a well rounded and complete narrative of a certain fixed form, so that the writer who gave it its final shape in many cases only arranged the material for the purpose he had in mind. Another similarity with the Irish saga we find in the numerous quotations of skaldic verses to strengthen and confirm the reliability of the narrative. Most of the sagas treat of conditions on Iceland and of the history of the kings of Norway. In some sagas are found also remarkable experiences among other peoples with whom the Icelanders came in contact. It is especially in this his torical field that the Norwegian-Icelandic litera ture reached its highest point and produced masterpieces that may both as to contents and form be called classical. The Icelandic sagas had their beginning about 1120 and continued down to the close of the 14th century. The first half of the 13th century may be considered the golden age of the sagas. Also in this literary production is seen a development into maturity, a growth and decay. But on the whole, the majority of the sagas show distinct character istics of a very high value. The description in the so-called historical sagas is wholly impar tial, and even in the few cases when we know who the author is he keeps entirely in the background. Often quotations from skalds and other authorities are found, the time of the happenings is carefully stated, and accurate descriptions of the historical places are given, the family connections, the personal appearance and the character of men and women are de scribed in almost complete detail. Especially are the descriptions of character, although ex pressed in few words, admirable. The style of the saga shows its origin from oral tradition. It is simple and natural, without any long periods, and the frequent use of dialogue re minds one of the speech of every-day. The dramatic style in connection with the artistic arrangement of the subject gives the Icelandic• saga a high rank in comparison with any other literature. The historical sagas treat of Ice land as a whole and embrace also the family sagas, whose trustworthiness is considered by modern scholars often very doubtful; the sagas of the kings of Norway; the sagas treating of other countries. An Frodi Thorgilsson (1067-1148) is the pioneer among historians. His 'Islendingabok) ( 'Book of the Icelanders') gives an account of the early settlement down to 1118. He also began the production of the
('Landtaking Book') which was continued by several others, among them Sturla Thordsson. This unique work tells of the original settlers and their families and con tains the names of 3,000 persons and 1,400 plates. To the general history of Iceland be longs also
on the introduction of Christianity, to which may be added several sagas of the bishops and collections of legends.
The family sagas discuss, with few excep tions, persons and events from the first settle ment of the island to approximately 1030. Ow ing to the fact that in this period Iceland was occupied by the early settlers and that the new faith was introduced and to other causes, the many remarkable events furnished a wealth of material for the oral tradition to build on. These sagas are properly grouped according to the localities they describe. Of the lar .e num ber only the most prominent may be men .tioned. To the South belongs
Saga,' the most celebrated and best of these sagas. In the West we find
Saga,' also one of the best, telling us about the skald and warrior Egil Skallagrimsson. A continuation, in a way, of this saga is Gunnaug Ormstunga's Saga, short but very beautiful. Hoensa-Thori's Saga contains important contributions to the history of the Icelandic constitution. Eyrbyggia-Saga gives valuable information about customs and manners at the time the new land was oc cupied and tells about the heathen superstition. Laxdoela-Saga, remarkable for its excellent de lineation of character and its vivid style. Gisle Sursson's Saga is a well told story of a man who was outlawed and gives information of the foster-brotherhood of the early days.
broedrasaga-) tells of Thorgeir Havarsson and Thormod Kolbrimarskild. To the North Dis trict belongs Kormak's Saga telling about his adventurous life and containing a number of love-songs. Hallfred's Saga tells about the fates of the above mentioned H. Vandnedaskald. Vatusdoela Saga gives fine descriptions of per sons and conditions at the time Christianity was introduced. Gretti's Saga contains many ex aggerations and fables in telling about the out law Gretti the Strong. Viga-Glum's Saga is one of the oldest and best and throws much light on the culture of early times. In the North Hrafnkell's Saga gives much valuable information about the worship of the gods, the administration of law and political institu tions. The history of Norway occupied the at tention of Icelandic writers at an early date. Ari Frodi was the pioneer also in this field. Soon others followed his example, some writing a, complete sketch of all of Norway's history, while others confined themselves to the history of one or 'several kings, especially Olaf Tryg gvesson and Saint Olaf. For a short time the Latin language was used. The Norwegian monk Tjodrek wrote his (Historia Norvegim' about 1179, and the Icelandic monks Odd and Gunn laug wrote in Latin about Olaf Tryggvesson, but this work is now only preserved in an Ice landic translation.
of Noregs konun gasogum) is the oldest history of Norway that has been preserved, written in the vernacular, briefly telling about the times from Half dan the Swarthy to Sigurd the Crusader. Agrip is written in Norwegian, but has been pre served in an Icelandic manuscript. Of Ice landic origin is
((Rottenslcin)), a collection of sagas about Norwegian kings from 1035 to 1157, and
((Magni ficent
a history of Norway from Half dan the Swarthy to 1177. Among the skaldic poems found in this work is
about King Erik Bloodyaxe. All the above mentioned historical works were pre liminary to, and used as sources of, the greatest and most celebrated of historical works in all the old Scandinavian literature, Snorre Stur lason's
It begins with the story of the royal family of the Ynglings, descended from the gods, and tells the history of Norway down to 1177. The saga of King Sverre (1177-1202) had already been written by one of his contemporaries, the Icelandic abbot Karl Jonsson. The so-called great saga of Saint Olaf is probably an elaboration of Snorre himself of the Olaf's saga in his Heimskringla. Continuations of Snorre's work are, besides the Sverre's saga, the saga about Sverre's three successors and the Saga of King Hakon Hakonsson, whose author was Sturla Thordsson. Of the saga of King Magnus Lagaboter (Law-mender) by the same author, we possess only a fragment. This was the last original Icelandic production on the history of Norway. From the close of the 13th century and through the 14th century there are a num ber of rather uncritical collections of historical sagas. Among these may be mentioned the
(1370•80), containing not only sagas of Norwegian kings, but also sagas of the Orkneys and Faroes and other minor narratives. The sagas of Erik the Red and Thorfinn Karl sevne tell about the Norwegian discovery of Greenland and Vinland (America). Much in formation about the early history of Denmark is found in the
Saga) and es pecially the
Saga.' Contributions to the history of Sweden are found in several minor narratives, while Eymund's Saga gives information about Russia. Another class of sagas is the mythic-heroic
in which the imagination of the writer has full play. A prominent place in this group has the Volsunga Saga, a narrative with many romantic embellishments, based on the heroic poems in the Elder Edda and others that have been lost. Connected with this saga is the Saga of Dietrich of Bern, compiled from Ger man sources in Bergen, Norway, about 1250. The sagas of Hervor and Half and His Heroes contain many fragments of old poems. Hrolf Krake's Saga and Ragnar Lodbrok's Saga, es pecially valuable for the study of Danish tradi tions, give romantic descriptions of the viking age. The beautiful Fridthjof's Saga has fur nished material for Tegner's famous poem. This with the saga of Orvar-Odd and others deals with Norway. It becomes difficult to draw the line between these heroic-mythic sagas and the folk-tales to which the transition was easy. To the latter belong the stories of Bard Snmfellsass, Gautrelc, Sorle the Strong, and many others. As early as in the 13th century the taste for romances and romantic full of strange adventures and sentiments 11 stories had spread to the North from foreign countries. We know that at the suggestion of the Norwegian king Hakon Hakonsson and his successors, stories of this kind were translated. There are more than 100 more or less free translations from Latin, English, Ger man and especially French. Some of the translations made in Norway are by Icelanders.