Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
This Cold Heaven
by Gretel Ehrlich
In This Cold Heaven Gretel Ehrlich combines the story of her travels with history and cultural anthropology to reveal a Greenland that few of us could otherwise imagine.
Unikkaaqtuat: An Introduction to Inuit Myths and Legends
by Neil Christopher (Editor)
This definitive collection of Inuit legends is thoughtfully introduced and carefully annotated to provide the historical and cultural context in which to understand this rich oral tradition.
The Ice At The End of the World
by Jon Gertner
In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth's last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory.
Independent People, An Epic
by Halldor Laxness
Rich in local color, this great mock-epic by the Icelandic Nobel Prize-winner features the indelible Bjartur of Summerhouses, a hard-headed, independent-minded sheep farmer.
The Northmen, The Viking Saga
by John Haywood
Viking historian John Haywood delves into the Vikings’ age of expansion (793 CE -1241 CE). His magisterial chronicle answers myriad questions about the Vikings, their technology, their society and why it went into decline.
Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings
by John Haywood
The history of the Vikings told through a series of innovative maps and excellent photographs. This book traces the routes of the ninth-century Viking merchants and explorers throughout Europe and onto the New World.
The Blue Fox: A Novel
by Sjon
Winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize, Sjón is a celebrated Icelandic poet and novelist. Set in 1883 in Iceland, follow the priest, Skugga-Baldur, on his hunt for the enigmatic blue fox.
The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology
by Snorri Sturluson
Written in Iceland a century after the close of the Viking Age, The Prose Edda is the source of most of what we know of Norse mythology.
North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland
by Evan Sung (Photographer), Jody Eddy, Gunnar Gislason
Catering to a rising interest in Nordic cuisine, this cookbook celebrates Iceland’s food alongside its haunting landscapes, portrayed in starkly beautiful, full-color photos.
Nordic Runes: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Viking Oracle
by Paul Rhys Mountfort
A comprehensive and practical guide to the ancient oracle based on the runic alphabet of the Norse. Nordic runes are a potent and profoundly transformative magic system that gives contemporary readers access to the ancient wisdom tradition of Northern European cultures.
Insight Guide Iceland
by Insight Guides
This guide emphasizes culture and history, with wonderful photographs, maps and essays from experts.
A Viking Voyage
by W. Hodding Carter
An unforgettable adventure story that will take you to the heart of some of the most magnificent, unspoiled territory on earth, and even deeper, to the heart of a journey like no other.
Iceland: Land of the Sagas
by Jon Krakauer, David Roberts
Circumnavigating Iceland in summer and winter, Krakauer and Roberts encounter tales of monks and Vikings, outlaws and adventurers, trolls and witches. While touring and photographing, they discover the myths and legends of Iceland's stirring history.
Letters from Iceland
by W.H. Auden
Written with fellow poet Louis MacNiece, this quirky, under-appreciated masterpiece captures the spirit of Iceland, its people and landscapes.
The History of Iceland
by Gunnar Karlsson
Gunnar Karlsson, Icelands premier historian, chronicles the age of the Sagas, consulting them to describe an era without a monarch or central authority.
Song of the Vikings, Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths
by Nancy Marie Brown
Brown brings to life not just the great Norse tales of medieval Iceland but also the life and times of the worldly Icelandic chieftain, known as the "Homer of the North."
Beyond the Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas
by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
Beyond the Northands explores this world through the stories that the Vikings told about themselves in their sagas.
The Greenlanders
by Jane Smiley
Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Jane Smiley’s The Greenlanders is an enthralling novel in the epic tradition of the old Norse sagas.
Ring of Seasons, Iceland, Its Culture and History
by Terry G. Lacy
A longtime resident of Reykjavik, Lacy weaves tales of family life, anecdote, lore and history into this illuminating personal portrait of Iceland.
The Snow People
by Marie Herbert
Spirited, enthusiastic and sympathetic, Marie Herbert tells the fascinating story of two years of Arctic adventure: in doing so she has written an important anthropological account of a vanishing way of life.
