Sagas of the Icelanders invites you to step into the lives of Icelandic settlers in the 9th century. Don’t picture raiding Vikings right away, but rather ordinary people seeking to build a life on a harsh land with the promise of freedom. No more chieftains, no kings, not yet Christian priests to dictate conduct: life in the community is governed primarily by honor, and a family without honor has no place in society.
The game also mechanically recognizes the difference between genders as portrayed in the Icelandic sagas it draws from: men are the main actors, bound by an informal code of honor and expectations of masculinity, while women drive them to action through advice, threats, or charms. Daily life becomes a constant struggle between practical needs, honorable aspirations, unattainable desires, family ties, obligations of vengeance, and the destiny woven by the Norns. In short, a distillation of the very elements that make us follow modern TV dramas—issues of norms and gender that remain strikingly relevant today.
