From runic inscriptions to sagas, this book introduces readers to the colourful world of Old Norse-Icelandic literature.

• An introduction to the colourful world of Old Norse-Icelandic literature.
• Covers mythology and family sagas, as well as less well-known areas, such as oral story-telling, Eddaic verse and skaldic verse.
• An introduction helps readers to appreciate the language and culture of the first settlers in Iceland.
• Looks at the reception of Old-Norse-Icelandic literature over the ages, as views of the vikings have changed.
• Shows how a whole range of authors from Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney have been influenced by Old Norse-Icelandic literature.

Heather O'Donoghue is Reader in Old Norse at Oxford University. She is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement.