Literature

Icelandic literature is defined as literature written in Iceland or by Icelanders. It is best known for the medieval sagas written beginning in the 13th century. Because Icelandic and Old Norse are nearly identical, and because Icelandic works comprise the majority of Old Norse literature, Old Norse literature is frequently mistakenly considered a subset of Icelandic literature. However, works by Norwegians are included in the standard reader Sýnisbók íslenzkra bókmennta til miðrar átjándu aldar, compiled by Sigurður Nordal on the basis that the languages were similar. It can be seen as one of Unique Cultural Characteristics In Iceland.

Much of Iceland's history has been recorded in the Icelandic sagas and Edda. The most famous of these are Njáls saga, which describes an epic blood feud, as well as Graenlendinga saga and Eiriks saga, which describe the discovery and settlement of Greenland and Vinland (now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador). Other notable and popular sagas include Egils saga, Laxdæla saga, Grettis saga, Gísla saga, and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu.

Many great authors have come from Iceland, including Halldór Laxness, Guðmundur Kamban, Tómas Guðmundsson, Davíð Stefánsson, Jón Thoroddsen, Steinn Steinarr, Guðmundur G. Hagalín, Þórbergur Þórðarson, and Jóhannes úr Kötlum. Letters From Iceland (1937) was written by W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice to describe their travels through Iceland.