Title: A Unique Saga
Product review: The sagas were written down in Iceland as a sort of middle-ground between history and historical novel (in this way, it is not that different from the classical histories we have from, say, Rome). Although this particular saga is unusual in translation in that it occurs outside Iceland, it is part of a larger body of such works which occurred in Iceland in its day.A number of important things distinguish this saga:1) Violence. The Orkneys lacked democratic legal institutions found elsewhere in the Norse world and essentially amounted to a purely feudal system. Hence there were none of the checks on violence that occurred in Iceland, Norway, or Sweden.2) Christianity. The Orkneyinga saga occurs after the conversion of Norway, and it is distinctly Christian (almost proto-Calvanist) in its outlook.3) Location. It is the only saga to my knowledge which is set in Orkney, Shetland, and North Scotland for the most part.Hence I think that this is an important saga to recommend all saga-lovers.
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