Saga-Book

Saga-Book is the Society’s annual periodical, and one of the world’s leading publications in the field of medieval Northern studies. A new issue comes out every autumn. Back issues (two years or more older than the current issue) are available in PDF below.

The current editors are Alison Finlay, Gareth Lloyd Evans, John McKinnell, Elizabeth Ashman Rowe and Brittany Schorn. Reviews are edited by Gareth Lloyd Evans and Jessica Hancock.

Submissions for publication in Saga-Book are welcomed. Please see the Information for Contributors below for details.

Volumes are published in October. Members of the Society receive a copy as a benefit of their membership. Institutional subscriptions are welcome at the rate of £25 per annum. Back issues are available: contact vsnr@ucl.ac.uk for details.

The Saga-Book Archive

Every issue of Saga-Book, the earliest published in 1895, is made available two years after publication:

Instructions for Contributors

Saga-Book is published annually in the autumn. Submissions are welcomed from scholars, whether members of the Viking Society or not, on topics related to the history, literature, language and archaeology of Scandinavia in the Middle Ages. Articles offered will be assessed by all the editorial team, and where appropriate submitted to referees of international standing external to the Society. Contributions that are accepted will normally be printed within two years.

1. Any contribution should be submitted in electronic form in a Word or RTF file, as an email attachment or link. In the case of a file including graphics or special characters, a pdf version or a hard copy should also be submitted. The contribution should be written in a conventional font (a Times or sans-serif style), double-spaced and with pages numbered. So that the contribution can be reviewed anonymously, the author’s name should appear only in the accompanying email or letter and not in the text file or in its title. Contributions should be prepared in accordance with the MHRA Style Book (fifth edition, 1996) with the exceptions noted below.

2. Footnotes should be kept to a minimum. Whenever possible the material should be incorporated in the text instead, if necessary in parentheses. Footnotes should also be presented in double spacing, and arranged in one continuous numbered sequence indicated by superior Arabic numerals. Endnotes should not be used.

3. References should be incorporated in the text unless they relate specifically to subject matter dealt with in a note. A strictly corresponding bibliographical list should be included at the end of the article. The accuracy of both the references and the list is the author’s responsibility.

4. References should be given in the form illustrated by the following examples:

Other death omens of ill-luck are shared by Scandinavian, Orcadian and Gaelic tradition (cf. Almqvist 1974-76, 24, 29-30, 32-33).

Anne Holtsmark (1939, 78) and others have already drawn attention to this fact.

Ninth-century Irish brooches have recently been the subject of two studies by the present author (1972; 1973-74), and the bossed penannular brooches have been fully catalogued by O. S. Johansen (1973).

This is clear from the following sentence: iðraðist Bolli þegar verksins ok lýsti vígi á hendi sér (Laxdœla saga 1934, 154).

It is stated quite plainly in Flateyjarbók (1860-68, I 419):

There is every reason to think that this interpretation is correct (cf. Heilagra manna søgur, II 107-08).

The terms op. cit.ed. cit.loc. cit.ibid. should not be used. Avoid, too, the use of f. and ff.; give precise page references.

5. The bibliographical list should be in strictly alphabetical order by the surname(s) (except in the case of Icelanders with patronymics) of the author(s) or editor(s), or, where the authorship is unknown, by the title of the work or some suitable abbreviation. Neither the name of the publisher nor the place of publication is required; nor, generally, is the name of a series. The list should normally not be divided into Primary and Secondary sources.

6. Foreign words or phrases cited in the paper should be italicised and any gloss enclosed in single quotation marks, e.g. Sýrdœlir ‘men from Surnadal’. Longer quotations should be enclosed in single quotation marks, with quotations within quotations enclosed in double quotation marks. Quotations of more than three lines, quotations in prose of more than one paragraph, whatever their length (two lines of dialogue, for example), and all verse quotations, should be indented. Such quotations should not be enclosed in quotation marks, and they should not be italicised.

Submissions should be emailed to Alison Finlay at our main email address: vsnr@ucl.ac.uk

Should you need to write to the editorial team, please address any post to:

The Editors, Saga-Book
The Viking Society for Northern Research
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT