Fagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning fair leather, i.e., fair parchment. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed in fire but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved. An immediate source for the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson, Fagrskinna is a central text in the genre of kings' sagas. It contains a vernacular history of Norway from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, including extensive citation of skaldic verses, some of them preserved nowhere else. It has a heavy emphasis on battles, such as the Battle of Hjörungavágr and the Battle of Svolder. The book is often thought to have been written in Norway, either by an Icelander or a Norwegian.

References

• Finlay, Alison (editor and translator) (2004). Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-13172-8

External links

• 1847 edition
• Finnur Jónsson's 1902-08 edition at septentrionalia.net
• Extract