Eddas and Sagas
In this book you will find comprehensive information of Icelandic literature form the earliest times to the Reformation, still accessible to modern Icelanders as living literature.

The early poetry and the sagas were a unique literary achievement in the European middle ages and they represent Scandinavia's most important contribution to world literature as a whole.

The author, Dr Jónas Kristjánsson, recently retired as Professor and Director of the Árni Magnússon Institute of the University of Iceland.  He has few rivals in eminence as a scholar in the field of Old Icelandic studies. This English version of his work was undertaken by Peter Poote, sometime Professor of Scandinavian Studies at University College London.

First edition 1988. This edition 1997 443 pages. Paperback.
 

The saying of the Vikings - Havamal
Hávamál is the words of wisdom which sets out a set of guidelines for wise living and survival.  Havamal gave spiritual nourishment to the vikings on their long journeys over the rough sea to discover new lands.

These sayings give a clear picture of their viewpoints and attitudes towards life in the Viking age. Hávamál tells you how to treat your guests and how to behave.  Havamal advises about the art of living, friendship, money, happiness, eating, travelling, and even positive thinking.

Hávamál tells you how to use power, tells you about the nature of secrecy, explains foresight and agility, extravagance and moderation. And more.... Hávamál has often been compared to the old Chinese book of Tao (The Way), which could be called the Wisdom of the East. In the same manner the Hávamál is well described as The Wisdom of the North.

Available Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Sweedish, Dutch, Spanish, Japaneese, Russian & Chinese.
 

The Viking discovery of America
A thousand years ago, a Nordic seafarer, carried off course on the North Atlantic, caught a chance glimpse of land in the far west.

The story of the Nordic discovery of America, named "Vínland" by the Vikings, around year 1000 AD has been preserved for a millennium in medieval Icelandic manuscripts. How Icelandic Vikings  discovered the New World a thousand years ago.

In her informative and accessible book, Anna Yates tells the story of the Norsemen in America, how they found a new continent and why they did not stay. Based on original historical sources, the work brings together various other knowledge and findings. Anna Yates (b. 1955) is a journalist and translator of mixed English and Icelandic descent. A graduate in history from the University of Bristol and in Icelandic for foreign students from the University of Iceland, she has lived and worked in Iceland since 1984. 88 pp Hardback, 21,5x15 cm, b/w photos