Scandinavian Studies 435.
The Icelandic Sagas. (Wolf)
(3-4 credits) 

The course is designed to give students an understanding of saga literature as a genere and of the cultural history of Iceland in the Viking era and the Middle Ages based on the interplay between pagan codes of honor and Christian ethics. It opens with a survey of the history of Iceland from its discovery until the end of the Icelandic Commonwealth (1262). A number of sagas, including the Vinland sagas, Hrafnkel's saga, Egil's saga, Gisli's saga, the Saga of the People of Laxardale, and Njal's saga, are then read and analyzed. Main points of discussion include the heroic ideal, codes of honor, concepts of fate, jurisprudence, and the role of women.

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