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70 OTTEODUCTION.
temporary ; but his mildness and affability were in
pleasing contrast witli the daring and blood-stained
Egil. His whole life appears under the influence
of one feeling— ^his love to SteingerSa. But this
love was unfortunate through his own fault ; and
SteingerSa became affianced to another. Kormak
travels in the vain hope of repose, meets with va-
rious adventures in a sea-roving life, and continues
to write verses in praise of SteingerSa to the day of
his death.
8. Yatnsdgela-saga begins in the ninth century,
before the colonization of Ireland, and relates the
fortunes of a Norwegian family which settled in
Vatnsdal, in Northern Iceland. It contains many
mythological allusions, and the God Freyr plays a
prominent role in it.
The FostbrseSra-saga relates the story of two fos-
ter-brothers of the eleventh century, and contains
verses written by one of them ; the Ljosvetninga-
saga relates occurrences of the latter part of the
tenth and the first half of the eleventh century.
Its chief personages, Thorgeir Go8i, GuSmund the
Mighty, and their sons, are elsewhere known and
celebrated. It contains important information con-
and the Saga of
cerning the institutions of Iceland ;
Gisli Sursson has some interesting features of hea-
then rites and ceremonies. Passing by many others
attributed to this century, some of which contain
valuable contributions to the history of heathendom
in Iceland, we will notice a few of the most promi-
nent Sagas of the thirteenth century.
1. Eyrbyggja-saga, the history of Hrolf, a priest of