Saga of Vilmundur the Outsider

An edition and translation of a late-medieval Icelandic romance saga, preserving a version of the Cinderella story.

Vilmundar saga viðutan is an entertaining romance composed in the late Middle Ages in Iceland, where it remained popular for another five centuries. It tells of the adventures of Vilmundur, the rustic son of a farmer, whose rise through society is characterised by a combination of unrefined social etiquette and raw athletic prowess. Influenced by narratives of both indigenous and foreign origin, the saga is a good example of the eclecticism that characterises medieval Icelands indigenous romances. It also holds a place of folkloric significance, as it is currently the earliest known variant of the Cinderella folktale (ATU 510A) which contains a cinder-name. Discussion of all this and other points of literary, textual and folkloric interest can be found in the introduction of this volume, which precedes a facing-page text and English translation of the saga.