The Orkneyinga saga, written around 1230 AD, is a historical epic that takes place north of the United Kingdom on the Orkney Islands. Even though the setting is Orkney, the saga has had a profound impact towards countries around it years after it was written, specifically Iceland because it was written there. Sigurd Towrie refers to the Orkneyinga Saga and claims “An important source for understanding the history of Norse Earldom of Orkney lies in the Icelandic sagas.” The epic is essentially a narrative of conflict between jarls (rulers in Orkney but from Norway), and vikings, or sea-pirates seeking escape from Norway. The purpose of this multimedia item is to give the viewer a visual on what these species of humans looked like. This image paints a picture in the viewers head of what it looked like for Norwegian King Harald Harfagri to deal with viking traitor’s from Norway. It is evident by the way they are dressed that this battle was not a walk in a park. They used weapons, ships, and fought on horse: a magnificent battle for its time period. This was all possible because vikings were seen as rebellious, powerful people similar to how they are shown in this image. A quote from the text states, “…when Hallad came west, he sat down in Hrossey, but Vikings went about the isles and over in Caithness;  they slew and robbed men."

The importance of this saga lies within its ability to represent the impact of the spread of culture between peoples. Within the saga, the spread of Norwegian culture into Orkney is highlighted. Years later these events took place, this saga was written in Iceland where the spread of Orkney culture into Iceland is highlighted. Lastly, these ideas have spread into our modern culture because even though it was written in Iceland many years ago, we are still reading and learning about it today.

Anonymous. "Orkneyinga Saga." Sacred Texts. Evinity Publishing INC, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.