Scenes from the Northern Sagas. 127 



Most interesting of all were the Social Sagas, or romances, 

 which pictured the loves and law suits, the feastings and funerals, 

 the warrings and wayfarings and mighty deeds of the men of 

 N'orway and Iceland. Of these the "Saga of Burnt Njal " was 

 held the finest, and after it came "The Laxdale Saga" and 

 those of " Gisli the Outlaw,'" " Grettir the Strong," and " Egil, 

 the Son of Skallagrim." 



Like other periods of great literary activity, the outburst 

 of letters in Iceland fell in a stirring age. It followed upon the 

 turmoil caused by the advent of Harald Hairfair and the .still 

 greater upheaval caused by the advent of Christianity. 



Harald, after ten strenuous years of constant warfare, by 

 the decisive battle of Hafursfirth (circa. 872) carried out his 

 vow to consolidate the petty kingships and earldoms of Norway 

 into one kingdom, and, as a result, there followed the well- 

 known emigrations to Normandy, Orkney and Shetland, the 

 Hebrides, the Faroes, parts of America and Greenland, and 

 Iceland. 



In the Hebrides, the emigrants were followed up by Harald, 

 who imposed upon them a Norse domination, which lasted 

 politically for four centuries, ecclesiastically for five, of which 

 the traces in blood and manners, folk-lore, topography, and 

 personal nomenclature continue until the present day. 



The lecturer described a number of the incidents which 

 occurred in the course of King Olaf Tryggvason's- forcible and 

 masterful introduction of Christianity to Norway (995 to 1000 

 A.D.), and then proceeded to deal with the Social Sagas. 



The life of our Icelandic kinsmen was lived in a free 

 democratic commonwealth, with the aristocratic sentiment very 

 widely diffused. But there was no trace of either idle grandeur 

 on the part of the master or of base servility on the part of the 

 men. The latter were independent yeomen. Their voices were 

 heard in council. In short, the social life of Iceland was that 

 sort of family life in which the participants were all grown-up 

 stalwart sons and daughters, whose rights were duly respected, 

 whose quarrels were family affairs and whose collective word 

 was law. 



The dwellings, the amusements, the Parliament at Thing- 

 valla, the sea-farings, and song-makings of our Icelandic kins- 

 folk were touched upon and special reference was made to two of 



