SOURCE: Schach, Paul. “Major Sagas about Icelanders.” In Icelandic Sagas, pp. 97-130. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984.

In the following essay, Schach offers a brief overview of the subject, story, and artistry of the Laxdaela Saga.

Laxdæla Saga

Like Egils saga, the “story of the people of the Laxárdal” begins at the time when Harald Fairhair is extending his dominion over the whole of Norway, and the picture of the king is similar in both sagas. The introduction is equally long in both works, although considerably more intricate in Laxdæla. Greed for money and power, which motivated most of Egil's deeds and misdeeds, is also a major theme in this work. Otherwise the two stories are very dissimilar. Laxdæla relates the story of a family, the descendants of Ketil flatnef, for several generations. Whereas Snorri derived much of his information from skaldic poetry and konungasögur...