"Do the sagas really relfect what was happening in tenth and eleventh century Iceland, or are they just a twelfth century view of what was happening- mybe romanticised for an audience."

Interesting question, Londinius. And one that I am not sure can be answered satisfactorily. My own thought is that some of the sagas are probably very historically accurate, drawing upon oral tradition and maybe even previously written material. Of course, I also suspect that even in the historically accurate sagas there is some artistic licence, a bit of romanticising what actually happened, to keep the audience entertained. Too, there does seem to have been several different types of sagas. There are the historical sagas, such as Egil, where they purport to tell the life of a man who actually lived and that appear to be historically accurate. Then there are sagas that are little more than romantic fiction. Friðbjófs Saga is a prime example of this.

Anyhow, do the sagas reflect what was happening in tenth and eleventh century Iceland or are they romaticised for an audience? I think a little bit of both in most cases!