Laxdæla saga (), also Laxdœla saga (Old Norse pronunciation ), Laxdoela saga, Laxdaela saga or The Saga of the People of Laxárdalr, is one of the Icelanders' sagas. Written in the 13th century, it tells of people in the Breiðafjörður area of Iceland from the late 9th century to the early 11th century. The saga particularly focuses on a love triangle between Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir, Kjartan Ólafsson and Bolli Þorleiksson. Kjartan and Bolli grow up together as close friends but the love they both have for Guðrún causes enmity between them. Second only to Njáls saga in the number of medieval manuscripts preserved, Laxdæla saga remains popular and appreciated for its poetic beauty and pathos. Authorship and sources As is the case with the other Icelanders' sagas, the author of Laxdæla saga is unknown. Since the saga has often been regarded as an unusually feminine saga, it has been speculated that it was composed by a woman. The author's extensive knowledge of locations and conditions in the Breiðafjörður area show that the author must have lived in Western Iceland. Internal evidence shows that the saga must have been composed sometime in the period 1230–1260. On several occasions, Laxdæla saga explicitly cites what appear to be written sources. It twice refers to the writings of Ari Þorgilsson, once to a lost Þorgils saga Höllusonar and once to a Njarðvíkinga saga, perhaps an alternative title for Gunnars þáttr Þiðrandabana. The author may also have been familiar with other written sources, but his or her main sources were probably oral traditions, which he or she shaped according to his or her taste. Preservation Laxdæla saga is preserved in numerous manuscripts. The oldest manuscript to contain the saga in its entirety is Möðruvallabók dating to the mid-14th century. There are also five vellum fragments, the oldest dating to ca. 1250, and numerous young paper manuscripts, some of which are valuable for textual criticism of the saga. Scholars have divided the manuscripts into two groups: the Y group, which includes Möðruvallabók; and the Z group, which includes the oldest fragment. The greatest divergence between the groups is that the Y group contains ten additional chapters. These chapters were not written by the original author and are regarded by scholars as a separate work, Bolla þáttr Bollasonar. Another difference is that the theft of Kjartan's sword is narrated in two different ways. Most other differences between the