saga

Prose narrative written down in the 11th–13th centuries in Norway and Iceland. The sagas range from family chronicles, such as the Landnamabok of Ari (1067–1148), to legendary and anonymous works such as Njal's Saga (c. 1280). The term ‘saga’ is generally applied to any long (often heroic) story.

Other sagas include the Heimskringla (c. 1220–35) of Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson celebrating Norwegian kings, the Sturlunga of Sturla Thordsson (1214–1284), and the legendary and anonymous Laxdaela Saga (c. 1250) and Grettla Saga. ‘Family saga’ is often used of a novel whose protagonists span two or more generations.