Norse saga
Scandinavian heroic narrative
A Norse saga is a medieval Icelandic prose narrative recounting the deeds of legendary heroes, kings, or family dynasties from Scandinavia.
The sagas blend history with myth, chronicling feuds, voyages, and battles in a terse, understated style: the saga of the Volsungs.
By extension, any long, eventful story may be called a saga: the saga of their divorce.
- kenningsCompound poetic substitutions
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- OdinChief Norse deity
- Viking AgeScandinavian maritime expansion era
- ThorGermanic thunder deity
Harald Hardrada · Leif Erikson · oral tradition · moral ambiguity · dramatic irony · Loki · medieval literature · heroic tale · sworn oath · alliteration · Valkyries · Nordic heritage · rune stones · pagan rituals · winter nights · Vinland · mead hall · family honor
- myth & legendquest, hero journey, dragon slaying, treasure hunt, epic voyage
- epic talesepic, legend, myth, tale, story
- epicsIliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, epic poem, Beowulf
- heroic epicsBeowulf, Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Gilgamesh
- epic poetryIliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Paradise Lost, Beowulf
Norse sagaGreek myth
Ancient Aegean folklore
Greek epic · Roman mythology · Egyptian mythology · Chinese mythology · Japanese mythology
Norse sagahaiku
Japanese seventeen-syllable verse
epigram · tweet · lyric poetry · sonnet · flash fiction