Abstract
The former two thirds of the thirteenth century were a dramatic period in the history of Iceland, called the Age of the Sturlungs after the most influential aristocratic family of these decades. It was a time of bloodshed and of significant social and political change, but also of flourishing culture and literature.
The Icelanders' definition of their identity also underwent some change in this period, but it also retained substantial elements of continuity. All these aspects of the Age of the Sturlungs are reflected in the so-called "contemporary sagas", written only a few decades after the events took place.
The texts therefore offer an immediate insight into the opinions and values that were dominant among the leaders of the political and cultural life at the time. The book contains the first ever translations of the contemporary sagas into the Czech language, accompanied by a cultural-historical introduction and a study focused on the relationship between historical events, cultural memory, and narrative sources.