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The Sagas of the Icelanders
The Sagas of the Icelanders | Jane Smilely
In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the worlds great literary treasures as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.
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review
Burpito
Pickpick

800 pages of Thorgil Thorgilsson pirating around, forming blood feuds, exchanging giant rings and gilded swords, and "discovering" Canada. Did you know Vikings named it Greenland as a marketing tactic? So more Norsemen would want to move to that desolate place and keep them company.

Loved it

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quietlycuriouskate
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Pickpick

This has been my bedtime reading since January! Aside from my getting all the Thorkels and Thorsteins in a hopeless muddle, it made for easier reading than I might have expected. It gives a great view of early Icelandic culture, of course, but also these are enjoyable tales of vivid men and women working through the challenges and opportunities that their character, family history/circumstances, and fate have handed them.

GingerAntics This sounds interesting. 5y
Suet624 I‘ve not heard of this. Sounds so interesting! 5y
42 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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xicanti
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I FINALLY FINISHED THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS! Medal, please.

I experimented with gimlets as I read, since it seemed appropriate to have a sailors‘ drink while I read about vikings. I‘ve learned I like Raymond Chandler‘s gimlet recipe best (equal parts gin & lime cordial ftw) and also that one shouldn‘t drink two gimlets before supper unless one has trained up to it. #gimletsandsagas

BookishMe 👏🏽👏🏽 5y
Lindy 🥇 🎖😁 5y
xicanti @BookishMe @Lindy thank you, thank you. 5y
56 likes3 comments
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xicanti
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It‘s the return of #beerandsagas—now with tasty, cheese-smeared baguette!

I dove back into the book this week after a little break, and tonight‘s reading took me through the penultimate Saga. Just one to go, plus six short Tales!

NB: “The Saga of the Greenlanders” features a chapter where a guy named Thorstein hangs out with a guy named Thorstein. Gotta love those Thorpeople.

60 likes1 stack add
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xicanti
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Listen, I know I JUST quoted a paragraph about some Thorkels, but I‘ve gotta share this one too because it‘s FULL OF THORPEOPLE GOING TO THORSNES. Look at all them Thors!

AlaMich 🤣🤣 5y
40 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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Sagas pro tip: at least a third of the old-timely Icelanders were named Thor[something], and at least half the Thor[something]s were named Thorkel*.

This makes the Sagas extremely easy to follow^.

* I haven‘t actually run the numbers, but this feels legit
^ this is a lie. I no longer even try to keep track of which Thorkel is which. Ditto which Egil is which. They might all be the same Egil. I doubt they‘re all the same Thorkel.

BookNAround 😂😂😂 5y
39 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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I‘ve wanted to try mead since I was 12 years old, and now a local apiary has made my dream come true! It‘s good. Paler than I expected, with a surprisingly nice sweetness. I don‘t like sweet beer, but apparently I can make exceptions.

It felt appropriate to drink a glass while I read more of THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS. Somehow, the shorter sagas are less engaging than the longer ones that opened the volume. I‘ve stalled out again.

Nikki_E Mead is more of a wine then beer. It‘s definitely good stuff! 5y
47 likes1 stack add1 comment
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xicanti
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My enormous bedside book stack is a bit smaller now! Last week, I:

• Finished THE GENTLEMAN‘S GUIDE TO GETTING LUCKY, GIANT DAYS Vol 11, HONEY HUNT Vol 6, THE CARRYING, HEARTS ON HOLD, and NDN COPING MECHANISMS (last two not pictured).

• Formally abandoned THE QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

• Made good progress through the Sagas and Colette. #bookreport

Centique Wow that‘s awesome! 5y
xicanti @Centique almost everything I finished was really short, but it felt good to get some stuff off my library pile! 5y
Centique @xicanti so many pages when you add them together though! 🙌🙌 5y
49 likes3 comments
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Kav138
Mehso-so

Interesting but I think that it‘s appeal would be limited. Read January 2020

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xicanti
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It was #teaandsagas tonight instead of #beerandsagas. I‘ve slowed down a lot with this reading project, but I‘m hoping I can pick up the pace again now I‘m far enough into the book that it‘s pick-upable. It‘s hard, dealing with very thick books when your fingers don‘t have much of a reach. I hope you large-handed people appreciate the comparative ease of your reading lives.

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xicanti
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This has been one of those weird days when I‘ve only managed to snatch scraps of reading time, but I‘m finally able to sit down with the Sagas! I‘m close enough to the end of “The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal” that I‘ll probably push through and finish it tonight.

Also, I‘ve decided #beerandsagas is a thing. Because vikings like beer, y‘know?

Daisey Seems an appropriate hashtag! 5y
50 likes1 comment
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quietlycuriouskate
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From Jesuits in space (The Sparrow) to Vikings in longboats... I'm all in! If I'm not back in a few days, someone please come and find me.

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xicanti
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Sagas progress. I finished with Egil yesterday and made a good start on the People of Vatsndal. They‘re cheekier so far, which is fun.

I‘m pleased this is going faster than I thought it would, but it‘s been all too easy to get wrapped up in it and ignore other things. Like, it took me three days to read Butler‘s PATTERNMASTER, even though it‘s short and her prose is so clear it practically reads itself.

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xicanti
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Sunday night beer and Sagas. I won‘t finish “Egil‘s Saga” tonight, but my daily chunk should get me close enough that I‘ll be done with him tomorrow.

Minimalgrl That beer 🍺 looks so good ...🥰 5y
xicanti @Minimalgrl it was an Old Fezziwig from the Sam Adams holiday range. Quite tasty. 5y
51 likes2 comments
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xicanti
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I drank a lovely Friday afternoon beer while I drafted a scene and read a few more chapters of THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS. I‘m now 40 chapters in, and if I can keep reading 20 chapters a day I should finish in late January or early February. (The longest chapters are, like, three pages. Most are way shorter.)

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xicanti
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Last year I read THE TALE OF GENJI, chapter by chapter across January and February. This year I want to do the same with THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS.

I don‘t know how I‘ll break it up yet, since each Saga is a long piece with lots of very short chapters, but I read the 60-page intro today and I‘m excited.

(I‘m also taken with the glossy pattern on the matte cover, so I deliberately got some glare into the picture.)

brilliantglow I own this same edition it is beautiful 5y
readordierachel That's a neat effect! What's the total page count? 5y
xicanti @brilliantglow I just wanna stare at it all the time. 5y
xicanti @readordierachel 782 pages, plus 60 pages of intro numbered with Roman numerals. It‘s too thick for me to easily hold, so I‘ve gotta read it at my desk. 5y
50 likes4 comments
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quietlycuriouskate
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Happy New Year, dear Littens!
Thank you for your company last year (thereby helping me stay sane): I wish you all stacks of bookish love in 2020. 📚
I've decided not to do any reading challenges this year, but I do want to prioritise my owned books TBR, amongst which are the three mighty tomes pictured!

youneverarrived Happy New Year 😘 really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on A Little Life. 5y
cajunsyd A Little Life is incredible!! 5y
Amiable Prioritizing owned books is a worthy goal! I need to focus on that as well. 5y
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quirkyreader Something you might be interested in goodreads is the MountTBR. With that you focus on books you already own. 5y
batsy Happy new year! I'm hoping to get to Ducks in the early part of 2020, as well 🤞🏽 5y
Reggie Happy New Year!!! Oof, that A Little Life, take care of yourself during that. 5y
48 likes6 comments
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ravenlee
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#7days7covers day 6, a day late

Yesterday the hubby bullied me into going back to the urgent care, after an afternoon of shortness of breath and light-headedness. Turns out my cold became acute upper respiratory infection became early bronchitis. New meds and hoping to feel better soon.

I think there‘s nobody left to tag!

Megabooks Feel better soon! 5y
cobwebmoth I hope you're feeling better soon! 5y
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick Hoping you have a speedy recovery! 5y
ravenlee Thanks for the well wishes @Megabooks @cobwebmoth @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick I think I‘m on the upswing now! 5y
28 likes4 comments
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Mitch
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This is what I love about my city - you think you know it well, then you turn down a street you‘ve never walked before and you see this!

LauraJ Perfect place to do all of your holiday shopping! 6y
AlaMich 🤣🤣 They sell Vikings? 6y
LeahBergen Oh my God! I would so go in there! 😂 6y
CouronneDhiver Amazing! 😆 6y
88 likes4 comments
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JMEdwards
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Have picked my July read. Prepping for a trip to Iceland! So excited!

I don't have #TBR piles I have to be finished piles #TBF... Which books should I definitely finish in August?

#MakeMeReadIt @TheReadingMermaid #LitsyHappenings

BeansPage I'm reading this now. Pretty good. 6y
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TheBookKeepers This was a decent nonfiction read and not too long to get through 6y
La_Cori it's on my radar (not on my TBR yet), so i vote for 6y
hes7 Children of Blood and Bone!! 6y
rachelk I think since it‘s the Tonight Show (first ever) summer book club pick you have to go with 6y
shellleigh33 This looks good (edited) 6y
BarbaraJean Gotta finish that epic series! 6y
Reviewsbylola Uncle Toms Cabin 6y
77 likes37 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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Pickpick

I DID IT! I couldn't read this all in one go, I had to read it a saga at a time, which might be the best way to read it. A lot of the narrative was quite 'this bloke killed that bloke & then this bloke killed that bloke etc' - the Icelanders in these stories are tough, stubborn & quite often ridiculously violent. But also poets. The female characters, while almost never the main protagonist, are really interesting. A slog but definitely worth it.

Cinfhen Wooohooo 🎈🎈🎈🎈 7y
TrishB Yay 🎉🎉 7y
batsy 🎉🎉🎉👏🏽 7y
rockpools Completely missed that you'd finished this one! But I'm guessing you're still celebrating? 🍾🎉🍷🔨🗡🐴🎉 7y
27 likes4 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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Fuck off. The women aren't the ones going round punching horses.

rockpools 'Forgot', yeah, right. I reckon Thord was one of the ones doing the 'often reminding'. 7y
arlenefinnigan @RachelO also, maybe if the lazy get hadn't been sleeping while she was working, she wouldn't have forgot..... 7y
rockpools @arlenefinnigan A valid point! 7y
25 likes3 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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No reading in the garden at work today. Happy #WorldBookDay, everyone. Stay indoors. Put the fire on. Read books.

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arlenefinnigan
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What it feels like at home right now Vs where we'll be this time next week ❄☀

Lindy Malta! How exciting. 😁 7y
arlenefinnigan @Lindy can't wait. It's -15C and not safe to leave the house because of blizzards in Oldham tonight. Definitely ready for Mediterranean sunshine 😊 7y
Lindy @arlenefinnigan My favourite thing in Malta is the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, but there are so many great temple ruins. And the blue ocean too. 7y
batsy 😂 Have a great trip 🌅 7y
36 likes5 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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Had a pint waiting for him when he finished work. He is a lucky man. (Yes I did to sit here reading his book and drinking wine while he worked on a Sunday. And?) #BooksAndBooze

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arlenefinnigan
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#OversizedBook #riotgrams
I was aiming to finish this in February but I fear I will once again fail.

TrishB I thought the post was going to be that you‘d finished 😁 7y
arlenefinnigan @TrishB that'll be quite the celebratory post 😉 7y
TrishB It will 😁🎉 7y
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arlenefinnigan @TrishB Oldham's match has been called off. Unexpected free afternoon. Fire up the coffee machine, I am reading the crap out of this. 7y
arlenefinnigan @TrishB and by 'fire up the coffee machine' I mean 'let's go to the pub' 7y
TrishB Woohoo 👍🏻 best of luck! 7y
38 likes6 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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SO HELP ME GOD I WILL FINISH THIS BOOK, IN THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT #BooksAndBooze

Bookish.SAM This has been on my TBR list for years! But it‘s been a challenge to actually find it. Not at the library... nor my usually bookstore haunts. Best of luck to you to get through 😊 (edited) 7y
arlenefinnigan @Bookish.SAM ta! The book's my husband's, it's something of a prized possession. Don't think it was cheap! 7y
Velvetfur Lovely photo, I love how you've got the same colour scheme throughout the pic 😊 7y
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arlenefinnigan @Velvetfur have I?! That's a happy accident 😊 7y
minkyb I believe in you! 7y
arlenefinnigan @minkyb thank you. that means a lot. 😊 7y
28 likes6 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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First time I came across the term #berserker was in this. 2018 WILL be the year I finish this. #NuYear @cinfhen @TrishB

Cinfhen Good luck !!!! I didn't know #berserker is an actual word 🙄🙈😜 7y
TrishB Good luck with that! 7y
arlenefinnigan @Cinfhen I was gonna take a photo of the definition in the glossary but annoyingly it's over 2 pages. 7y
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arlenefinnigan @TrishB ta. This is my Everest. 7y
rockpools This IS the year! 💪🏻🏔🍀 7y
27 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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#chunky #DecDays @cinfhen
I was hoping that 2017 was going to be the year that I finally finished this but it turns out you cannot buy a house and finish this book in the same year. Maybe 2018.

rockpools Buying a house definitely wins! But next year... 🚣🏼⚔️🍷🌊❄️ 7y
Cinfhen Listen to @RachelO she knows!!! That book is a definite #chunky🙌🏻 7y
Cinfhen @RachelO knows all about this one!!! It's a long term commitment read 😜❤️ 7y
25 likes3 comments
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rockpools
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Pickpick

11 months and 3 bookmarks later, I've finished Sagas! The book's looking a tad well-loved now!

Chunks of it were much funnier than I expected, and I loved learning about the way of life in Medieval Iceland - so many unexpected details! They're sagas, so there's a little(!!!) death, destruction and revenge killing. And clever, riddley, word-play poems. But also porridge, ghosts, exploration, procrastination & romance. Well worth the effort!

TrishB Well done 👍 I don't think I could maintain interest for 11 months 😱 7y
rockpools @TrishB Thanks! I think you probably have more effective reading habits than me - it wouldn't have taken you that long!! 7y
rabbitprincess I started this but couldn't keep up the momentum. Have to try again! 7y
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rockpools @rabbitprincess It's difficult to keep momentum- especially when you hit the more-meh ones. In the end I bookmarked the start and end of each saga as I was reading it, so I could see I was actually making progress. 7y
batsy Wow, well done! 👏👏 It is a fascinating subject; someday I hope to get to it 🙌 7y
Crystalblu Looks like something that would be great to read a little bit at a time 7y
LeahBergen Yay!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 7y
rockpools @LeahBergen 😘Thanks for your encouragement along the way! You were right (of course) - just blitzing through did help in the end. 7y
rockpools @Crystalblu It is! Quite a fun read, though I did get stuck a few times - and the sagas are all quite different from each other. 7y
rockpools Thanks @batsy! Yes, do give it a go sometime 👍 7y
57 likes4 stack adds10 comments
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rockpools
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Bizarre Viking revenge killings #698

"It was then Eirik lent Thorgest bedstead boards"

quietlycuriouskate Well it's making me consider my nice IKEA mattress in a new light! 7y
rockpools @River_Voice You can't be too careful who you lend your bed to! 7y
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Leniverse That's a strange translation. I think it was originally a "benkestokk" which is a bench where you can lift up the seat and there's storage space inside. Another great "benkestokk" story is about a Norwegian family who in 1399 hid the King inside one so that he escaped his enemies. The family was given land and title in reward and adopted the family name Benkestokk. ?The name disappeared in the 18th C. Lack of male heirs. 7y
Leniverse But either way, Eirik the Red was quick to take offence! 😂 7y
TrishB Love your graphic! 7y
rockpools @Leniverse It certainly seemed to escalate quickly! Thanks for the Benkestokk info - I'm not sure if it makes much more sense, but it certainly sounds more loanable than 'bedstead boards!' - I'm imagining it like an English settle? But I couldn't come up with any settle-related stories... And as for the Norwegian king story - so many tragic endings 😭!! 7y
rockpools @umbrellagirl Thank you! I hadn't heard of that one - I'll be stacking it. 7y
rockpools @TrishB 😂😂Emojis are a little lacking in the Viking department... 7y
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rockpools
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Finally getting through these 🤞- I've finished 3 sagas this weekend.

My favourite turned out to be Gisli Sursson's Saga. When I stopped trying to work out who did what to who (& why. Still no idea.), and started reading it as cat-&-mouse & cartoon violence, it was quite fun!

rockpools And the women are kick-ass! You wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them, whether they're wielding clubs (& still getting grief from hubs), handing out porridge-based sarcasm, or 'rowing so hard that sweat rose from her like steam'. Quite daft! 7y
Cinfhen Woohoo 🎉🎉🎉🎉 7y
LeahBergen You must be so close to being done! 👍🏻 7y
Cathythoughts Sounds good & strong 7y
37 likes4 comments
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rockpools
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Gisli needs to say #PinchMe every time he closes his eyes, because actually sleeping seems to be a very bad idea. Good Dream-Woman and Evil Dream-Woman are giving him no end of grief!

(Other than that, I have to admit to having No Idea what's going on in this particular saga 😕. Much sneaking round spearing each other and head-chopping-off-ness.)

#TuneIntoNovember

Cinfhen You're still committed to this #CHUNKSTER #BigBookMonitor #Impressive @minkyb (edited) 7y
rockpools @Cinfhen Ha! Thank you. I definitely need a chunkster cheerleader /#bigbookmonitor for this one. But it will be finished by Christmas. #still6weekstogo #OMGisthatall??? 🙀 7y
33 likes2 comments
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rockpools
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#📚🔜

And that's what I'll keep telling myself! #emojinov @RealLifeReading

LeahBergen How close are you to finishing now? 7y
rockpools @LeahBergen 259 pages to go! It's not even that much ... 🤷🏻‍♀️. 7y
LeahBergen Plow on through! 😆 7y
41 likes3 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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arlenefinnigan
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Kimzey Beautiful cover! Going on my wish list! 7y
rockpools Dare I ask how it's going? I've stalled again. 7y
arlenefinnigan @RachelO I'm not picking it up until I've completed my Read Harder challenge and hit my 60 books target. 7y
36 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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arlenefinnigan
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#BigBooks #riotgrams
The never ending story
@bookriot

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rockpools
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A sunny #LitsyPartyOfOne on the balcony, with Sagas & a mint tea.

I'm on the saga of the People of Laxardal, and I'm liking this one the most so far - it's that bit more domestic, with that bit less blood and bravado. Instead, today, we've had romance, magic, spurned wives, home furnishings, murder (obvs!), hauntings, revenge, livestock management and religious conversion. You know, day-to-day stuff!

And Egil makes a brief appearance!

Leniverse One of my favourite saga moments ever is when a woman gets rid of her husband after some offence by sewing him a divorce-shirt. I had to google it. Men could divorce a wife who wore trousers in public, women could divorce a man who publicly wore a shirt that exposed his nipples. 😂 7y
rockpools @Leniverse Yes! That one! I read that bit this morning (so much had happened since)! I also loved that the guy who suggested it had conveniently not noticed that his wife was riding around in leggings & a cod-piece! 7y
Leniverse 😂 I read these almost 20 years ago, for my final year Norwegian project (A-level equivalent). Funny what sticks in mind. Divorce shirts, feeding the wounded onion soup and smelling their wounds, and in Iceland it is legal to steal surplus hay if the owner won't sell it and your livestock is starving. 7y
rockpools @Leniverse 😂 You've obviously remembered the really useful things! Next time we're time-travelling through Iceland, we'll be calling on you as a lawyer/farmer/doctor - you never know when you're going to need this stuff! 7y
Leniverse 👍🏻😄 7y
41 likes5 comments
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Bibliogeekery
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I loved this coffee shop/cultural centre/library in remote Iceland. Books are big here! 📚😍

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rockpools
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It's not that I've given up... It's just that I've stalled quite horribly and am a good 250 pages behind where I wanted to be at this point in August.

Still planning on finishing it before Christmas though...

#nevergiveup #totallyunrealisticplans #augustgrrrl @Cinfhen

LeahBergen I can never put a book down for too many days or I find it so hard to get back into the rhythm of it. 😬 7y
rockpools @LeahBergen I definitely have that problem! Maybe that's where I'm going wrong with this one - should just blitz through it! 7y
LeahBergen Blitzing is the best method for me. 😆 7y
37 likes4 comments
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Bibliogeekery
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Gorgeous shelf of books at the new Airbnb! 😍 Wish I could read Icelandic! 📚

cariashley Are you in Iceland?? I'm going next month! Just booked a couple airbnbs in Reykjavik! 7y
Bibliogeekery @cariashley I am!! Check out my feed - I've been positively spamming Litsy with Iceland pictures! Hope you have an amazing time!! 7y
cariashley @Bibliogeekery haha I'm doing that right now! SO awesome and getting me so excited!! 7y
72 likes3 comments
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Bibliogeekery
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One of the Saga books at my Airbnb. Wish I could read Icelandic! 😍📚

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Bibliogeekery
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Check out this mural of a viking reading the Sagas with a quotation from one of them. Iceland 😍

63 likes1 stack add
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Bibliogeekery
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Bookshelf at the Airbnb. Lots of titles in lots of languages! 📚

JazzFeathers 😍 7y
93 likes1 comment
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arlenefinnigan
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#ReadingHabits #JubilantJuly
There's always at least 3 books on the go (print, audio,ebook). Currently 5.
@RealLifeReading

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RealBooks4ever
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18 likes2 stack adds
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arlenefinnigan
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#saga #JubilantJuly
The never ending story.
@RealLifeReading

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rockpools
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My morning reading started with chapter 5 of the #LOTRchapteraday 🗡📯(I know it's not a gold ring, but it was the closest I could find!)

Then on to Sagas, and I've *finally* finished The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal - that one was a bit of a slog! Next up we're on to Laxardal, which I'm looking forward to. The intro suggests it might have been written by a woman author, and the focus seems to be much more on the women. 🤞

#24in48