e death of Morris when the fifth volume had been completed.
By the last decade of the nineteenth century Icelandic had become one of
the languages that an ordinary scholar might boast, and in consequence
the list of translations began to lengthen very fast. Several English
publishers with scholarly instincts were attracted to this field, and
so the reading public may get at the sagas that were so long the
exclusive possession of learned professors. _The Northern Library_,
published by David Nutt, of London, already contains four volumes and
more are promised: _The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason,_ by J. Sephton,
appeared in 1895; _The Tale of Thrond of Gate_ (_Faereyinga Saga_), by F.
York Powell, in 1896; _Hamlet in Iceland_ (_Ambales Saga_), by Israel
Gollancz, in 1898; _The Saga of King Sverri of Norway_ (_Sverris Saga_),
by J. Sephton, in 1899. If we cannot give to these the praise of being
great literature though translations, we can at least foresee that this
process of turning all the readable sagas into English will quicken
adaptations and increase the stock of allusions in modern writings.

An example of the publishers' feeling that the reading public will find
an interest in the saga itself, is the translation of _Laxdaela Saga_ by
Muriel A.C. Press (London, 1899, J.M. Dent & Co.). William Morris made
this saga known to readers of English poetry by his magnificent "Lovers
of Gudrun." Mrs. Press lets us see the story in its original form.
Perhaps this translation will appeal as widely as any to those who read,
and we may note the differences between this form of writing and that to
which the modern times are accustomed.

This saga is a story, but it is not like the work of fiction, nor like
the sketch of history which appeals to our interest to-day. It has not
the unity of purpose which marks the novel, nor the broad outlook over
events which characterizes the history. Plotting is abundant, but plot
in the technical sense there is none. Events are recorded in
chronological order, but there is no march of those events to a
_denouement_. While it would be wrong to say that there is no one hero
in a saga, it would be more correct to say that that hero's name is
legion. From generation to generation a saga-history wends its way, each
period dominated by a great hero. The annals of a family edited for
purposes of oral recitation, or the life of the principal member of that
family with an introduction dealing with the g