Egil's Saga

Egil's Saga covers five generations of Egil's family, starting with his grandfather in Norway, who seems to be a werewolf, and ending with Egil's grandchildren starting murderous fueds in Iceland. In between we have the family falling in and out of favor with the man who makes himself King of Norway, massacres of Finns, Viking raids in Denmark and the British Isles, massacres of Norwegians, Egil committing his first murder at the age of eight (precocious, even in the sagas), massacres of Danes, Egil serving as a mercenary with the English against the Scots, massacres of Scots, the family emigrating to Iceland, three or four coup d'etat in Norway, Egil's poetry (vainglorious, but curiously strong in translation), Egil retiring with his wealth to the life of a domineering, conniving, aggressive poetry-spouting rich farmer in Iceland, and enough retail murders to add up to another wholesale massacre.