Ágrip is often compared with the two other Norwegian synoptic histories from the same period, Historia Norvegiae and the work of Theodoricus monachus. It broke ground by being the first one written in the vernacular. Ágrip is also the first of the kings' sagas to quote skaldic poetry in the text. The narrative is brief, and much less detailed than the narratives of the later kings' sagas, such as Fagrskinna and Heimskringla. The story is noticeably more detailed in descriptions of events and locations in the Trøndelag region and the city of Nidaros. Together with linguistic factors, this has been seen as an indication that the work was composed in Nidaros.