From runic inscriptions to sagas, this book introduces readers to the colourful world of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. There is an introduction to the colourful world of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. This book covers mythology and family sagas, as well as less well-known areas, such as oral story-telling, Eddaic verse and skaldic verse. It provides an introduction that helps readers to appreciate the language and culture of the first settlers in Iceland. It looks at the reception of Old-Norse-Icelandic literature over the ages, as views of the vikings have changed. It shows how a whole range of authors from Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney have been influenced by Old Norse-Icelandic literature.