#sverris saga

[foolishmortal]

First James Fitzjames and now the Sverris Saga well guy. Archeology fandom is eating well this year

[lilithsaintcrow]

"The notion that the bones in the well belonged to the individual referenced in the Sverris Saga was first suggested when the remains were first discovered, but genetic testing didn’t exist in 1938."

[talesofpassingtime]

But yet so many fell that it was difficult to count them, and many bodies of the dead were not found until the spring.

— The Saga of King Sverri

[covenawhite66]

Sverris Saga is an 800-year-old 182-verse sag text. In onep art describes a battle where a battle in 1197 where an unidentified man was thrown into a well.

[notasapleasure]

And at the very same time that he took on himself the charge of his company he had to bear the burdens of those who served him; for in his troop that he had accepted, and whose lot he had bound to his own, there was not a man besides himself able to form a plan.

Sverris saga, transl. Sephton.

[thorraborinn]

What sagas would you recommend someone read first?

It depends on the person and why they're reading. To some extent, having a well-done, recent translation by a professional is as much of a reason to favor one saga over another as anything else. None of the translations you can find on, say, https://sagadb.org/, are going to be very conducive to you "reading the sagas." If you're looking for free translations online, you'd be better off using the much more limited selection at vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/.

The sagas are usually classified into one of several "genres." Usually when people say "the sagas" they mean the Icelandic family sagas (Íslendinga sögur 'sagas of the Icelanders'). That includes Egils saga, Njáls saga, Eyrbyggja saga and others that take place primarily in Iceland from the earliest settlement through to the 1100's or so. They're great but be warned that they're sometimes very boring because they involve long descriptions of events at different Alþings, and it can be hard to keep track of the people in them because they're all named Þórsomething. But many people find that there is a certain relatability to many of the people in them, who have very normal human needs and faults, in addition to the extremely weird culturally-specific needs and faults. Of these, Egils saga is widely regarded as the best, though it is kind of long and people have trouble starting it (it has a whole arc that takes place in the generation before Egill and although it's good a lot of people are like "when do we get to the guy who raises a scorn-pole and weaponizes ballistic puke?").

There are also the "contemporary sagas" which are about things that take place in Iceland (much like the Icelandic family sagas) but which document things much more recent and generally within living memory of the events described. If you're just getting started, don't bother with these for now. It's stuff about, for example, Snorri and his family.

Another grouping of sagas that are consequential for heathens is the kings' sagas. Heimskringla is something you should at least be aware of although I'm not recommending you actually pound it out. It's a whole series of sagas detailing the history of the kings of Norway. Ynglinga saga is the first part of it, and is the one where the gods are ancient great humans that were later mistaken as gods. A lot of stuff from this saga has entered the common store of ideas about the gods that heathens (and scholars) have despite it taking place in a Euhemerized description and it's good to read if for no other reason than you'll know that that's where it comes from. The sagas immediately following it in Heimskringla are also good reading. Some of the other kings' sagas, like Sverris saga, were written within living memory of the events described.

The "Legendary sagas" are ones like Vǫlsunga saga, Heiðreks saga, Hrólfs saga kraka that take place in ancient times (i.e. they describe events that were to the medieval Icelanders as distant as the medieval Icelanders are to us). These are the ones with, like, dragons and stuff. For comparison, Beowulf would be placed here if it were Icelandic. Of these, Heiðreks saga is pretty good, and there's a translation by Christopher Tolkien at vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/. One should probably eventually read Vǫlsunga saga but my kindred just did a big long group reading of it that reminded me of how batshit it is, and you probably shouldn't start with it, especially not if you don't have people you can ask questions like "why is she sad that he's dead, wasn't she just trying to kill him?" Göngu-Hrólfs saga is usually classified here and is great even though it's very late and probably really something more akin to a vernacular romance saga (although it's not like the authors were necessarily thinking in terms of genres that map to how modern people classify these things). The innuendo-filled Bósa saga ok Herrauðs with three sex scenes is one of the legendary sagas.

The romance sagas are almost universally extremely bad (it's a lot of translations and weak imitations of romance literature like Arthurian stories from elsewhere in Europe; recently it's become considered more appropriate to consider them to have their own value for understanding the people who wrote and received them but I hold to the traditional view that they are bad and they suck), and if you're asking me, I assume you're not interested in bishops' and saints' sagas. There's also lots of translations of histories from elsewhere, like Alexanders saga, Gyðinga saga ('History of the Jews'), Rómverja saga ('History of the Romans'), etc but again, this isn't what you're interested in right now, and I'm including it for completions' sake and also because some of it is actually good.

In addition to the saga there's also the þáttr which is usually translated 'tale' and is basically a very short saga. Some of these are quite interesting and you'll usually find them packaged along with bigger sagas. For example, Vǫlsa þáttr is part of Ólafs saga helga (the saga of St. Olav).

If this doesn't help narrow it down, and you just need a recommended course of action, I would say that if you're planning on buying a physical book, look for the collection The Sagas of the Icelanders edited by Jane Smiley. It's a big collection of up-to-date translations by professional academics, very easy to read, and has a lot of choice selections including Egils saga and also the ones where Norse people go to North America. It's pretty easy to find, I've seen it in Barnes and Noble, and you can also check your library.

[medievalistsnet]

"Call to mind what overdrinking means, what it produces, and what it destroys."

One of its gripping moments recounts a speech Sverre delivered in 1186, addressing his followers on the dangers of overdrinking—a timeless warning wrapped in medieval drama.

[talesofpassingtime]

You are not even like them; they have been victorious to-day, and you have been chased. Go after those yeomen now and smite them in the rear; more valiant fellows than you are have put them to flight.

— The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

If youth be coward, not with years does courage come.

— The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

Make a last effort, throw the basket after the bread, and act as if you were fresh.

The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

You are not even like them; they have been victorious to-day, and you have been chased. Go after those yeomen now and smite them in the rear; more valiant fellows than you are have put them to flight.

The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

“Many a man kisses the hand that he would fain see lopped.”

The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

‘A hungry louse bites hard.’

The Saga of King Sverri

[talesofpassingtime]

And now happened what constantly happens when fear seizes men in battle and they flee; seldom are the fugitives inclined to face the enemy a second time, however valiant their resistance at first.

The Saga of King Sverri