Review: The Vinland Sagas – Keneva Kunz, Gisli Sigurdsson

My version: Paperback
Genre: Non Fiction, History, Vikings
Publisher: Penguin Classics
First published: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-140-44776-7
Pages: 89 (plus introduction)
Bought

From the cover:
“They were tossed about at sea all summer and did not know where they were.”
The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red’s Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Written down in the early thirteenth century, the sagas recount the Icelandic settlement of Greenland by Eirik the Red, the chance discovery by seafaring adventurers of a mysterious new land , and Eirik’s son Leif the Lucky’s perilous voyages to explore it. Rocked by storms, stricken by disease and plagued by navigational mishaps, some survived the North Atlantic to pass down this compelling tale of the first Europeans to talk with, trade with and wage war on Native Americans.
Keneva Kunz’s meticulous yet highly accessible translation is accompanied by and introduction by Gisli Sigurdsson, which discusses the historical reliability of the two sagas and the geographical placing of Vinland, and builds up a picture of the explorers’ likely sea routes to the new world. This edition also contains maps, a family tree and an index of characters, a chronology and suggestions for further reading.

Absolutely excellent read. Only short, but full of information and will add meaning and context and understanding if you have in the past wondered about the Sagas that mention North America and their relationship to reality, or intend doing so in the future. I can’t recomment it highly enough. A super companion to other books I’ve read in a similar vein.