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ICELANDIC LEGENDS

Collected by Jón Arnason and translated by G E J Powell and Eríkur Magnússon, originally published in 1864 and reprinted in facsimile by Llanerch Publishers, Felinfach, Lampeter, Dyfed, SA48 8PJ at £8.95. 262pp. ISBN: 1-897853-71-8.

This is a splendid collection of some 60 or so mostly unknown Icelandic folk tales and legends collected from ordinary Icelandic farmers and peasants in the mid-19th century. The stories are divided into sections covering elves, trolls, water monsters, ghosts and goblins and miscellaneous tales, many of which concern the struggle between paganism and Christianity. Together they give an excellent insight into the more homely and ordinary side of Icelandic traditional culture and folk beliefs about the other realms and their inhabitants and the nature of their inter-relationships, which balance the better-known epic works of the sagas.

Especially recommended for anyone interested in northern (particularly Icelandic) stuff - and storytellers in search of material.