Saga Stories #1: Þingvellir

Meet Dr Matthew Harold Roby, a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Iceland, who will be the host of a new video series entitled ‘Saga Stories’. In this series, Matthew will be taking you to beautiful places throughout Iceland and telling you stories from the medieval Icelandic sagas that are set there. In the first episode, he’ll tell you three different tales that are set in one of the most important locations in medieval Iceland: Þingvellir, the historical location of the Icelandic national parliament.

The first is the story of Iceland’s (mostly) peaceful Christianisation, which is told in numerous sources, including Njáls saga and Kristni saga. The second is the story of Ölkofri’s unlikely legal victory against six powerful chieftains from Ölkofra saga. And the third and final story is the account of the marriage negotiations between Þorgerðr Egilsdóttir and Óláfr pái from Laxdæla saga.

We hope you enjoy the video, and stay tuned for more “Saga Stories” coming soon.

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