The saga follows several generations of a family originating in Norway and settling in the north of Iceland until the arrival of Christianity in the late tenth century.
[6] Vatnsdæla Saga is essentially a family chronicle.
It relates to residents of Vatnsdalur, a valley that runs south from Húnaflói, a large bay in the north of Iceland.
The principal protagonist is a man named Ingimundr Þorsteinsson who fought for King Harald Fairhair of Norway at the Battle of Hafrsfjord winning his friendship and an amulet.
At the instigation of a sorceress, he moved to Iceland to settle at Vatnsdalur in Húnaþing.