A fragment of Vatnsdæla saga is preserved in a late-14th or early-15th-century manuscript (AM 445 b 4to).[3] Complete versions of the text are preserved in later paper manuscripts including AM 559 4to, written between 1686 and 1688, and AM 942 4to, written between 1700 and 1782.[4][5] These texts likely originate from a 14th-century source, while the saga may have originally been written in the late 13th century.[6]
Synopsis
Vatnsdæla Saga is essentially a family chronicle. It relates to residents of Vatnsdalur, a valley that runs south from Húnaflói, a large bay in the north of Iceland. The principal protagonist is a man named Ingimundr Þorsteinsson who fought for King Harald Fairhair of Norway at the Battle of Hafrsfjord winning his friendship and an amulet. At the instigation of a sorceress, he moved to Iceland to settle at Vatnsdalur in Húnaþing.
^Pulsiano, Phillip, ed. (1993). Medieval Scandinavia: an encyclopedia. Garland reference library of the humanities Garland encyclopedias of the Middle Ages. New York, NY: Garland. ISBN978-0-8240-4787-0.
Other sources
Jane Smiley (2001) The Sagas of the Icelanders (Penguin Classics) ISBN978-0141000039
