saga

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɑːɡə/ (UK); /ˈsɑɡə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Norse saga (“saga, story, narrative”),^[2][3][4] cognate with Old English sagu (“a saying”), the source of saw in old saw.^[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medieval Icelandic or Norwegian prose narrative: 1709, an antiquarians' revival, in Barnhart, the OED and Etymonline.^[2][7][3] Hardly anyone in Britain had paid attention to the sagas before then.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A narrative with the characteristics of the Icelandic sagas, any story of heroic deeds, is from 1857, in Longfellow.^[2][7] In loose use it came to mean a long, involved story,^[3][5] and a series of novels about a family.^[8]

Timeline

• 1709 – a Norse saga.^[2][7]
• 1845 – a legend (after German Sage).^[7]
• 1857 – any heroic or long story.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A medieval prose narrative from Iceland or Norway about heroes, families and kings.
2. A long story of heroic deeds or adventure.
3. A long, eventful or complicated story: the saga of the new stadium.
4. A series of novels about a family over several generations.

Related words

• saw
• say
• edda

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins