What saga teaches us most about life in Viking age Iceland?
That’s easy. It is The Saga of Weapon’s Fjord (Vápnfirðinga saga) A wonderful (if I dare use that word) story of blood feud in Iceland’s east fjords. It is a tale of honor and deceit, greed and generosity, that slowly unfolds withing the context of the functioning Viking Age society. I wrote a chapter called “Friendship, Blood Feud and Power.” about it in Viking Age Iceland. The saga is about two young chieftains who grow up as inseparable friends, but then begin to quarrel over power. One increasingly becomes a man without moderation, and the saga is a study in what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in early Icelandic society. The story takes the reader deep into the world of medieval Iceland. We’re all familiar with the term Viking, but are we misconceived in our picture of Vikings as being blood-thirsty and violent? Oh don’t worry, they were that too. But the world of Viking Age Iceland was the world of the Vikings at home. And Iceland is somewhat different from, say, Norway,
