Heimskringla

collection of kings' sagas, written by Snorri Sturluson

Heimskringla is the best known of the old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1179 – 1242) ca. 1230. The name Heimskringla was first used in the 17th century, it comes from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (kringla heimsins - the circle of the world).

A page of the Eggertson copy of Heimskringla

Heimskringla is a collection of tales about the Norwegian kings, beginning with the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglingas, followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from Harald Fairhair of the 9th century up to 1177.

Bibliography

change
  • Monsen, Erling (1990), "Introduction to the Translation of Snorre's History of the Norse Kings", Heimskringla or the Lives of the Norse Kings: Edited with notes by Erling Monsen and translated into English with the assistance of A.H. Smith, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., ISBN 0-486-26366-5. A reprint of the 1932 Cambridge edition by W. Heffer.

Other websites

change