I. saga
plural of sagum
II. sa·ga ˈsägə, ˈsȧgə sometimes ˈsagə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Old Norse, story, legend, history, saga — more at saw
1.
a. : a prose narrative sometimes of legendary content but typically dealing with prominent figures and events of the heroic age in Norway and Iceland especially as recorded in Icelandic manuscripts of the late 12th and 13th centuries
b. : the saga as a literary genre
2. : any of various historical or fictional narratives: as
a. : a modern retelling usually in verse or highly stylized prose of the events of the Icelandic sagas or of similar subjects
I have called it a novel but in fact it is a prose saga of the wanderings of the Vikings — M.R.Ridley
b. : an episodic story centering about a usually heroic figure of earlier ages with factual or fictional details drawn from various sources
one of the old knightly sagas
c. : a series of legends that embodies in detail the especially oral history of a people
the great saga of the patriarchs — A.P.Davies
d. : a long detailed narrative usually without psychological or historical depth (as of a particular occupation, area, historical event, period, or person)
a saga of the Indian Territory at the turn of the nineteenth century — Current Biography
that saga of the farm which has occupied so many American novelists — Times Literary Supplement
the great saga of the winning of the West
the saga of the colonel who piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb — John McCarten
e. also saga novel : roman-fleuve
3. : an occupation, life, series of events, or location suitable as a subject for a saga
saga of the cattle industry — American Guide Series: Texas
Synonyms: see myth