Sturlunga saga

Icelandic saga

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July 14, 2026

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The Sturlunga saga is a collection of Icelandic historical sagas written primarily in the 13th century. It focuses on the turbulent period of the Icelandic Commonwealth, roughly from 1200 to 1264, detailing the intense personal and political feuds that marked its decline.1

The term "saga" in medieval Icelandic literature broadly refers to any prose narrative, including hagiography, historiography, and secular fiction. However, in a stricter sense, it denotes imaginative reconstructions of the past, categorized into kings' sagas, legendary sagas, and sagas of Icelanders. The Sturlunga saga itself is a compilation of these historical accounts, with the \u00cdslendinga saga by Sturla \u00de\u00f3r\u00f0arson being a key component. These sagas offer detailed, often dramatic, portrayals of the power struggles and conflicts of the era.12

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saga
Native historical accounts
…secular histories, known collectively as Sturlunga saga, the most important of which is the Íslendinga saga (“The Icelanders’ Saga”) of Sturla Þórðarson, who describes in memorable detail the bitter personal and political feuds that marked the final episode in the history of the Icelandic commonwealth (c. 1200–64).
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…secular histories, known collectively as Sturlunga saga, the most important of which is the Íslendinga saga (“The Icelanders’ Saga”) of Sturla Þórðarson, who describes in memorable detail the bitter personal and political feuds that marked the final episode in the history of the Icelandic commonwealth (c. 1200–64).
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