Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241) was an Icelandic descendant of the poet and hero from Egil's Saga, Egill Skallgrimsson. He was the best-known writer of the saga, author of the PROSE EDDA, which was written as a textbook for young poets who wished to praise kings, and HEIMSKRINGLA, a history of the kings of Norway, the most important prose collection in Old Norse literature.
Jesse Bycock is Professor of Icelandic and Old Norse Literature at the University of California and has published widely on Medieval Iceland. For Penguin, he is the author of Viking Age Iceland (2001).