Viking sagas were originally told orally by skalds. Skalds were Vikings who memorized and recited Viking literature for many years. These stories were passed down orally from generation to generation until political turmoil began to appear in Iceland. Christianity also started spread to Iceland around the 13th to 14th century during this time. The Viking's turmoil eventually turned into an identity crisis for the Vikings. When the Christian church men who traveled to Iceland, they taught them how to write and soon the Viking stories that were once only told orally, were scribed down. It is thought that their identity crisis might have influenced them to write their sagas down to save the last remnants of their heritage. Because so many people who helped transcribe Viking sagas down had certain attitudes towards faith, bias in Viking stories is very likely to be found in them. 

One of the most famous Icelandic saga authors is Snorri Sturluson.

Viking sagas preserved Viking history, culture, and heritage. It also made the Viking civilization stronger as it helped solidify their traditions through their stories. Mentioned before, skalds were the storytellers of Viking sagas, however, along with this, they were also teachers. The tales the skalds told included Viking history, writing, and folklore. These important topics were told to the younger generations of Vikings, allowing the children to learn about their own history. Viking virtues also were underlaid in their stories, teaching the children certain values among their culture.  There are two varieties of Viking sagas, which are skaldic and eddaic. Skaldics were written by skalds and were usually centered around a king to praise them. Eddaics were written anonymously and could be written about anything.