Category=JBGB
Category=VXQM
Elves
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_mind-body-spirit
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
fjords
forthcoming
heathen beliefs
Icelandic Sagas
Icelandic society
magic
ravens
rites
runes
supernatural happenings
volcanoes
witches
Product details
- ISBN 9781836392569
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Reaktion Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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This unique and enchanting book opens the door to a captivating world of Icelandic folk legends. Its six chapters are each based on a different setting: farm, wilderness, darkness, church, ocean and shore. It provides translated tales from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of legends of hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters and even polar bears, exploring themes of love, revenge and conflict. The book highlights the tension between Christianity and paganism, past and present, nature and humanity, and divides within society. Drawing from a wide variety of Icelandic sources, this book makes these colourful, entertaining, lively folk legends available to non-Icelandic speakers, many for the first time.
Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir teaches folkloristics at the University of Iceland and has published widely in the field of Icelandic folk legends.
