In the beginning, the gods walked the earth. When Odin left the old homeland beside the River Don and led his people north into the fjords of Scandinavia, he carried with him the wisdom of the runes, the arts of war and magic, and the seed of a line of kings who would rule the North for generations. The Saga of the Ynglings traces that royal line from Odin and the Vanir gods through the Swedish and Norwegian dynasties to Halfdan the Black, father of the first king of a united Norway. Written in the thirteenth century by Snorri Sturluson, this is one of the great works of world literature: a shimmering frontier between mythology and history, where kings die by prophecy and mead-vats, where wives avenge betrayals, and where gods pass into the human realm. This new edition renders Snorri's storied text in clear, present-day English while keeping its old, northern spirit intact. Part of The World Scriptures Library.