Saga

 WORD OF THE DAY

saga / noun / SAH-guh

Definition
1: a prose narrative recorded in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries of historic or legendary figures and events of the heroic age of Norway and Iceland
2: a modern heroic narrative resembling the Icelandic saga
3a: a long detailed account
3b: a dramatic and often complicated story or series of events

Examples
"Hill said that the key to the show’s look and tone is always influenced by 'The Godfather.' The show is simply a version of the Corleone family saga that continually undermines its heroes’ attempts at maintaining power, keeping their enemies close, and their dinner rolls closer."
— Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 20 June 2022

The insulin saga epitomizes the challenges facing U.S. healthcare regarding access, equity, pricing, and rebates.
— Joshua Cohen, Forbes, 2 July 2022

Did You Know?
Saga was originally used to describe Icelandic prose narratives composed in the 12th and 13th centuries.
The word first appeared in English in that sense during the 18th century; by the middle of the 19th century we were employing saga in a somewhat looser fashion, in reference to modern stories involving heroic deeds that bore some resemblance to the Icelandic tales of yore.
By the 20th century saga had come to be applied to other written works, typically a novel or series of novels, especially those that took place over a significant period of time.
Today the word may also be used to describe a long and drawn-out story that is either written or spoken (as in “my neighbor told me the saga of his divorce again”).
Saga comes from an Old Norse word of the same spelling.
It does not have any connection with the adjective sagacious (“possessing quick intellectual perceptions”), which comes from the Latin sagax (“sagacious”).