Learn about the Icelandic Sagas, the characteristic literary genre of Medieval Iceland comprising roughly 40 texts.

The Medieval Icelandic Sagas is an introductory course on the single most characteristic literary genre of Medieval Iceland. Mainly written in the 13th century, the Icelandic Sagas are comprised of roughly 40 texts of varying length.

In this course, you will learn about three Sagas, written at different times, with the aim of giving an overview of the writing period and the genre as a whole. These are Eyrbyggja Saga, Njáls Saga and Grettis Saga. We will explore the landscape and archaeology of Iceland to see how they can add to our understanding of the Sagas as well as take an in-depth look at the most memorable characters from the Sagas.

Participants will have opportunities to engage with an online community of Icelandic and international scholars, learners and others to explore topics relating to Icelandic and Nordic Medieval history beyond the course curriculum.

• What you'll learn
• The history of Saga research since the 19th century.
• The fundamentals of Old Norse textual criticism.
• The benefits of exploring landscape and archaeological finds when reading the Sagas.
• Some of the most important character archetypes that reoccur in the Sagas.
• The interplay of Norse mythology and Christianity in the Sagas.
• Aspects of the supernatural in the Sagas.

Take this course for free on edx.org