Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway

This volume includes the first complete translation of a thirteenth-century vernacular history of Norway from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. An immediate source for the "Heimskringla" of Snorri Sturluson, it is a central text in the Old Norse genre of Kings' sagas. It includes extensive citation of skaldic verses, some of them preserved nowhere else. This translation preserves many of the metrical features of this complex verse form, which are explained in the commentary along with aspects of historical and cultural interest arising from the text. The introduction places the text within the Kings' saga tradition and examines the particular concerns of its anonymous author. The volume will be of use to historians and those interested in Old Norse literary history.