More valuable than the poetry is the prose of this literature, especially the _Sagas_. The saga is a prose epic, characteristic of the Norse countries. It records the life of a hero, told according to fixed rules. As we have said, the sagas were based upon careers run in Iceland's stormy time. They are both mythical and historical. In the mythical group are, among others, the _Völsunga Saga_, the _Hervarar Saga_, _Friðthjófs Saga_ and _Ragnar Loðbróks Saga_. In the historical group, the flowering time of which was 1200-1270, we find, for example, _Egils Saga_, _Eyrbyggja Saga_, _Laxdæla Saga_, _Grettis Saga_, _Njáls Saga_. A branch of the historic sagas is the Kings' Sagas, in which we find _Heimskringla_, the _Saga of Olaf Tryggvason_, the _Flatey Book_, and others. This sketch does not pretend to indicate the quantity of Old Norse literature. An idea of that is obtained by considering the fact that eleven columns of the ninth edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_ are devoted to recording the works of that body of writings. II. THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF LATIN. THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771). In the eighteenth century, Old Norse literature was the lore of antiquarians. That it is not so to-day among English readers is due to a line of writers, first of whom was Thomas Gray. In the thin volume of his poetry, two pieces bear the sub-title: "An Ode. From the Norse Tongue." These are "The Fatal Sisters," and "The Descent of Odin," both written in 1761, though not published until 1768. These poems are among the latest that Gray gave to the world, and are interesting aside from our present purpose because they mark the limit of Gray's progress toward Romanticism.