This volume is published as part of the series The Spread of Printing, a history of printing outside Continental Europe and Great Britain. The print edition is available as a set of eleven volumes (9789063000257).

In Iceland, people do not compose verse just to comfort themselves; they worship poetry and believe in it. In poetry is a power which rules men's lives and health, governs wind and sea. This book contains an account of the various types of Icelandic folk-story, their origins and sources, the folk-beliefs they represent, and their meanings.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.