I picked this up at the library in preparation for an upcoming trip to Iceland, and this made the book particularly enjoyable as a blend of travel guide, history lesson, and mythology. Since we've been planning the trip, I already had a basic understanding of Iceland's geography, and that was helpful - surprisingly, the book does not include a map.

The narrative wanders around Iceland in a more-or-less counter-clockwise fashion, starting in the southwest (Reykjavik), which is the same route we're planning. Roberts explains the history and heritage of the island primarily through the Sagas, which provide a strange mix of sober history and obvious myth. The heroes may not have actually wrestled with ghosts and she-trolls, but their existence is certain, at least in some cases. You can still visit the graves of some of these tenth-century legends (and I hope to see one or two in June!).

The book also provides a wealth of interesting tidbits, such as this one: Iceland is the only place in the world whose first human inhabitants were literate - it has no prehistory.

I might have to look into some of the Sagas now!

A meaty introduction to Iceland that draws on Sagas and travelers' tales to illuminate the nation's landscape and history. It ends with a real bang!

Gorgeous photography interwoven with wonderful re-tellings and excerpts of the sags. I loved reading about the history and learning about it's real connection to place. I would love to see an updated version.

3.5 stars. A look at Iceland through the lens of the Icelandic sagas with splendid photographs. I expected a modern travel memoir, à la Lonely Planet; instead it intertwines the sagas with the geography of the island.

This book and another recent read, Call the Nurse — set in the Scottish Hebrides — remark that these island cultures retain much medieval influence. I know that Iceland works to keep the culture pure. An acquaintance of mine recently married an Icelander and had a baby. They could only name the child from an approved list of Icelandic names.

This book is great for those who squirrel random facts away for a rainy day.

• Reykjavik from the Old Norse is translated Bay of Smoke (from steaming hot springs)
• In Iceland twenty times as many books are published per capita as in the United States.
• Geysir, a periodically spouting hot spring in southwestern Iceland, has become the generic name for all waterspouts.
• Icelandic is so close to Old Norse that schoolchildren can read medieval classics with ease.
• Puffin hunting, a dangerous and occasionally deadly sport, is done with a net on a long pole. The hunter crouches on a steep slope, swinging the net when puffins fly close. If you lose your balance, you fall to the sea.
• Egg gathering on the cliff faces is another wild and crazy sport. It involves a stake in the ground, a rope, swinging down the cliff with an apron to hold the eggs.
• Icelandic women are considered among the most beautiful on earth.
• Christianity became the state religion in 1000 A.D.; however, 92% of Icelanders never read the Bible.

Now that we see such high-def imagery all the time, the photos in this book seemed a little old and grainy. But it was a light trek into the sagas. I also tried to read the actual sagas themselves - I was more successful with this book.

A book comparing Iceland's dramatic landscape with the stories told in its sagas, with lots
of photographs capturing that stark but compelling beauty. Some of the statistics are a
bit out of date, but it's a good introduction to Iceland.

It's not very useful as a travel guide, and lacks enough story to be a really good travel memoir. But I think my interest in Iceland stems from the trip these two took; there was an article by the authors in Outside magazine about how wonderful Iceland is that I read at about the same time the book came out. And the photos are beautiful. I think this book is best as a coffee table book.

Good read if you are going to Iceland, otherwise a little tedious.

This little book is a great introduction to a mysterious European country: Iceland. I think Iceland is an elusive country for a lot of people, maybe even one that most people don't think often think about. It is a country that I long to visit and I think that my husband and I will get to go at the end of April.

Iceland was founded by Vikings but is now a modern, if tiny, European country. For all its modernism, Roberts makes the claim that their historical legacies (largely made up of medieval saga literature, their unique pure bread horses and sheepdogs, and the entire landscape)loom large in Icelanders' self-identity. The book is full of beautiful (if a little grainy) photos of an awesome landscape. Waterfalls, green hills, lava caves, etc. make up this magical, mythical, but very real land. Icelanders to this day believe in trolls and elves, or at the very least, don't deny the possibility of their existence.

Roberts does a nice job discussing the different sagas, most written in the 13th century. There are a lot of them and they are riddled with violence, history, curses, the idea that Fate controls the lives of everyone. But they make up the core of cultural memory: even with their literary techniques and imagination, these sagas show the indomitable spirit of the early Icelanders and how they differentiated themselves from other Norse peoples by forging a country out of inhospitable conditions.

Wonderful photos combined with history and The Sagas of the Icelanders. Iceland has a rich and fascinating history.