saga
saga — noun
1. a type of medieval prose tale from Iceland and Norway that recounts the deeds of
a type of medieval prose tale from Iceland and Norway that recounts the deeds of heroes and the histories of early families, originally composed in Old Norse and preserved mainly from the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries
Jabari read the Saga of the Volsungs for his literature class last semester.
proper noun reference: the Saga of the Volsungs
The medieval library held an original manuscript of a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga.
Many of the old sagas describe the conflicts between rival families who settled in Iceland.
Théo compared three different translations of Njáls saga for his research paper.
A new English version of the oldest Icelandic saga came out last spring.
- epic
similar in being a long narrative of heroic deeds, but epics are usually in verse form, while sagas are prose
- legend
a traditional story that may be less detailed and historically grounded than a saga
- myth
a story about gods or supernatural beings, whereas sagas focus on human families and historical events
文法句型
the + Saga + of + [name]
a + Saga + about + [topic]
用法筆記
Commonly capitalised when referring to a specific known work (e.g. Egil's Saga, Laxdæla Saga). The word itself comes from Old Norse, and this sense is still closely tied to its original cultural context.
常見錯誤
2. a very long and detailed account of events that unfold over many years, often fo
a very long and detailed account of events that unfold over many years, often following a family, a group, or a community through several generations
Heather wrote a family saga tracing her ancestors from Ireland to Boston over four centuries.
a family saga + that-clause for scope
The novel is a sprawling saga of three generations of a Korean shipping dynasty.
Camila's favourite book is the multigenerational saga set in a small village in Mexico.
The reporter spent a year writing a saga about a tech company's rise and fall.
- chronicle
more formal and historically focused; a chronicle records events in time order without the same narrative drama
- epic
suggests grand scale and heroic qualities, but often in verse; can overlap with saga in modern usage
- sweeping narrative
a descriptive phrase rather than a single word, emphasising wide scope across time
- anecdote
a short, personal, and often amusing story — the opposite in scope and length
文法句型
a + saga + of + [noun phrase]
the + [possessive] + saga
用法筆記
In this sense the word carries a positive or neutral tone — it emphasises length and detail without implying anything negative. Unlike sense 3, this sense is about the telling of a story, not about a difficult experience.
常見錯誤
3. a long and complicated series of connected events, especially ones that cause fr
a long and complicated series of connected events, especially ones that cause frustration, worry, or trouble, and seem to take an unnecessarily long time to resolve
João's saga with the insurance company dragged on for eight months after the storm.
collocation: saga with [organisation]
The whole saga of getting the building permit took over a year and countless forms.
Layla told us the saga of her lost luggage, which involved three different countries.
After the visa saga finally ended, Sirin could begin her new job in Tokyo.
A simple refund request turned into a customer-service saga lasting six weeks.
- ordeal
focuses on the suffering aspect rather than the length; a saga involves successive problems over time
- saga (informal)
the word itself in this informal use is its own synonym category
- drama
suggests emotional intensity but can be shorter; a saga implies cumulative length
- breeze
informal; describes something that was surprisingly easy and quick
文法句型
a + whole + saga
a + long + saga
the + [possessive] + saga
用法筆記
Usually appears informally in conversation or journalism. Frequently pairs with possessive determiners (my saga, their visa saga) and carries a tone of exasperation or complaint. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about a frustrating experience, not a narrated story.