Update 05/08/2018: this post and the links in it have been updated in a new post. The Storify links listed below are no longer active, so if you came here looking for Old Norse-Icelandic romances, please visit my updated post instead!

Earlier this month I began a project over on Twitter, to tweet about a different medieval Icelandic romance every day for the month of September. Today’s the 15th, so I’ve made it half way! I thought it would be a nice idea to introduce people to the texts I’ve been working with for my research, especially considering that the majority of them are not available in English translation (meaning very few people have ever heard of them).

When I say ‘medieval Icelandic romance’, I mean texts written in Iceland, which were not translated or solely based on other European stories. Of course, Arthurian literature and other romances were translated into Old Norse during the Middle Ages; we have Old Norse versions of Chrétien de Troyes (e.g. Parcevals saga, Erex saga, Ívents saga), Tristrams saga, Marie de France’s lais, and others.

But we also have a great number of stories about knights and ladies, quests for brides and fame, magical objects and supernatural beings, with settings stretching from England and France to Syria and India – all of which are original Icelandic compositions from the 14th and 15th centuries.

You can follow me sharing these tales on Twitter with the hashtag #riddarasaga (=‘knights’ saga’/‘chivalric saga’), but you can also catch up with the links below where I’ve archived each day’s tweets. Each linked tweet archive also includes a relevant manuscript image.

A Brief Introduction

Day 1: Clári saga

Day 2: Nikulás saga leikara

Day 3: Sigrgarðs saga frækna

Day 4: Dínus saga drambláta

Day 5: Nítíða saga

Day 6: Viktors saga ok Blávus

Day 7: Valdimars saga

Day 8: Ectors saga

Day 9: Sigurðar saga fóts

Day 10: Sigurðar saga turnara

Day 11: Dámusta saga

Day 12: Drauma-Jóns saga

Day 13: Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns

Day 14: Sigrgarðs saga ok Valbrands

Day 15: Adonias saga

Day 16: Hrings saga ok Tryggva

Day 17: Vilhjálms saga sjóðs

Day 18: Samsons saga fagra

Day 19: Vilmundar saga viðutan

Day 20: Rémundar saga keisarasonar

Day 21: Sálus saga ok Nikanors

Day 22: Kirialax saga

Day 23: Sigurðar saga þögla

Day 24: Ála flekks saga

Day 25: Gibbons saga

Day 26: Bærings saga

Day 27: Mírmanns saga

Day 28: Jóns saga leikara

Day 29: Konráðs saga keisarasonar

Day 30: Þjalar-Jóns saga