Fornaldarsögur, also known as fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda or legendary sagas, are Icelandic medieval sagas that share a variety of common features. The fornaldarsögur were mostly written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and some even somewhat later, but several of them are based on ancient poetry and oral tales, and retell the pre-history of the Nordic countries, kings, chieftains, and heroes. One of the characteristics of these sagas is the Nordic setting and, at the same time, a Nordic worldview. In many cases, protagonists appear in more than one story (i.e. they have an internal context) and some of them are identical to earlier figures from genealogies and other historical data. Other things that characterize the fornaldarsögur are common themes and motifs (a signification system), stylistic similarities, and a wide-ranging audience. Generally, they are meant to...

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Citation: Guðmundsdóttir, Aðalheiður. "Fornaldarsögur (Legendary Sagas)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19701, accessed 17 December 2025.]