Ebook: Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars þáttr. Orms þáttr

First published 1967. Reprinted with minor additions 1978. New edition with corrections and further additions 2011.

This, the fourth volume to be published in our Text Series, comprises two remarkable Icelandic tales. The first, "Hreiðars þáttr", is in an ancient narrative form. It is one of the oldest Icelandic short stories preserved and its archaic style adds greatly to its interest. The story also gives an insight into medieval humour, very different from that of today.

The second tale, "Orms þáttr", differs greatly in age and type from "Hreiðars þáttr". It is a late composition and reveals a taste that grew in Iceland in the late Middle Ages, a taste for stories of adventure, magic and feats of strength.

The spelling of both texts has been normalised. In the first case, since the text is archaic, an archaic spelling is adopted. In the second, the spelling used by the editor approaches that of Modern Icelandic.