The Viking Vacation.(Brief Article)

It took the skins of 113 calves to record "Flateyjarbok," the thickest of Iceland's ancient sagas. The 14th-century manuscript and scores of others like it tell the stories of the ancient Norse cultures in the barren landscape better than any history book could. These tales feature blood feuds, Viking excess, lost love, heroism and brutal killings. Taken together, the sagas provide a stunning history, sprinkled with mythology, of a nation that began in the 900s when Norwegian Vikings arrived with slaves from the British Isles. Since Icelandic language hasn't changed much, it is possible for schoolchildren to read the sagas today.

Now tourists can enjoy them firsthand, too. Taking one of the many "saga tours," through companies such as Isafold Travel, it's not hard to get into the mythical, pagan spirit--especially as you drive through some of the world's most stunning scenery. The craggy coast of western Iceland, with its beautiful fjords and bays teaming with islands, is the setting for "the Saga of the People of Laxardalur" tour. In this ancient tale, a man leaves his lover and sets out for Norway with his best friend, promising to be back in three years. But his friend returns alone and informs the woman that her fiance has stayed behind and married someone else. When the hero returns, the betrayer slays him, sparking a blood feud, revenge and agony for everyone involved-- except those lucky enough to visit the scene of the crime centuries later.

The tour visits the verdant valley where the heroine grew up, stopping at the moss-covered hills near her farm where magic elves are said to reside. Then it's on to the site where her returning lover was ...