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The Saga of the People of Weapon's Fjord (Vápnfirðinga Saga) is a masterpiece of saga telling. It recounts blood feud in Iceland during the Viking Age and takes the reader deep into struggles for power and honor in Iceland's East Fjords. Two young chieftains begin as inseparable friends. As they mature, they slide into bitter competition for regional dominance. The contest continues into the next generation and spreads across Iceland's northern and eastern regions. As one learns, honor and friendship have many interpretations but revenge is mostly expected.
This new bilingual edition offers all the tools necessary to read a major Icelandic saga in both English and the original Old Norse. Each Old Norse saga chapter has its own specific vocabulary, so that the reader is freed from dependence on separate dictionaries. Notes and discussions explain language, geography, law, and society. An extensive series of maps, freshly drawn for this edition, provide an accurate picture of the landscape. After completing the Saga of the People of Weapon's Fjord, you will be equipped to read any of Iceland's longer sagas. For more about sagas, Old Norse language, runes, and the Viking Age visit our website: www.oldnorse.org
About the author
Jesse Byock is distinguished professor of Old Norse and Medieval Scandinavian Studies at UCLA and professor at UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard and specializes in the languages, archaeology, sagas and history of the Viking World. In Iceland, Dr. Byock directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project (MAP) and teaches at the University of Iceland (Háskóli Íslands) in the Department of History and the Programs of Medieval Icelandic and Viking Studies.
