Routes of Narration: Domestic Travel in the Íslendingasögur

01/07/2026 to 30/06/2028

This project reconstructs and visualizes the domestic travel network of medieval Iceland as conceptualized in the Íslendingasögur to produce the first major study on local, regional, and national journeys in the sagas. To achieve this, an interdisciplinary methodology combining narratological approaches, a central database of Travel in the Íslendingasögur (TRAILS), and geographic information system (GIS) software techniques are applied to the saga corpus. Ultimately, the project investigates how descriptions of movement in the sagas influence narrative pacing and structure, construct Icelandic identities, and shape perceptions of belonging in the landscape.