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Early Kings of Norway |
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“The Icelanders, in their long winter, had a great habit of writing; and were, and still are, excellent in penmanship. It is to this fact, that any little history there is of the Norse Kings and their old tragedies, crimes and heroisms, is almost all due. The Icelanders, it seems, not only made beautiful letters on their paper or parchment, but were laudably observant and desirous of accuracy; and have left us such a collection of narratives (Sagas, literally “Says”) as, for quantity and quality, is unexampled among rude nations. Snorro Sturleson’s History of the Norse Kings is built out of these old Sagas; and has in it a great deal of poetic fire,. . . and deserves to be reckoned among the great history-books of the world. It is from these sources that the following rough notes of the early Norway Kings are hastily thrown together.” (Excerpted from Thomas Carlyle’s preface by Karen Merline) by Thomas Carlyle
Transcriber's Note: The text has been taken from volume 19 of the
"Sterling Edition" of Carlyle's complete works. All footnotes have been
collected as endnotes. The pound (currency) symbol has been replaced by
the word "pounds". The Icelanders, in their long winter, had a great habit of writing; and
were, and still are, excellent in penmanship, says Dahlmann. It is to
this fact, that any little history there is of the Norse Kings and their
old tragedies, crimes and heroisms, is almost all due. The Icelanders,
it seems, not only made beautiful letters on their paper or parchment,
but were laudably observant and desirous of accuracy; and have left
us such a collection of narratives ( Sagas , literally "Says") as,
for quantity and quality, is unexampled among rude nations. Snorro
Sturleson's History of the Norse Kings is built out of these old
Sagas; and has in it a great deal of poetic fire, not a little faithful
sagacity applied in sifting and adjusting these old Sagas; and, in a
word, deserves, were it once well edited, furnished with accurate
maps, chronological summaries, &c... Continue reading book >>
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Genres for this book |
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Biography |
History |
Myths/Legends |
Non-fiction |
Links related to this book |
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Wikipedia – List of Norwegian monarchs |
Wikipedia – Thomas carlyle |
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Review this book (Rated: 4 Stars - 1 vote) |
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