Sinijärv recommends books on medieval Livonia and an Icelandic saga
Friday 2nd October 2026 on 13:45 in
Estonia
National Library cultural adviser Karl Martin Sinijärv has recommended two books, on medieval Livonia and an Icelandic saga, in a feature published by ERR.
Sources of Medieval Livonia: Texts, Images, Objects, compiled by Marek Tamm, is nearly 1,000 pages long. Sinijärv praises its approach of presenting the past through stories, images and objects, and calls it a rich account linking people across time.
His other choice is The Saga of Ali Fleki: An Icelandic Fairy-Tale Saga by Urmas Sutrop. Sinijärv writes that the saga can be read as a substantial fairy tale, while Sutrop’s discussion of it opens up a much broader history in accessible language.
Sinijärv says ancient stories bring depth to the present and sees the book as an opportunity for readers in Estonia to get to know stories from the far north.