The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue

I enjoyed this saga a lot, not only because of it's love story, but also because of the bravery and devotion shown by Gunnlaug. I thought it was really interesting that they had prophetic dreams both at the beginning of the saga and at the end to tell of the deaths of the two sons. In the beginning, I was horrified to read that Helga's father wanted her abandoned and killed right after she was born and was releived that her mother would not be so cruel to her. I felt that Gunnlaug, after traveling and reciting poetry to wealthy kings, became worthy of marrying Helga, especially since she was in love with him as well. Even though I knew the ending, I was hoping that Gunnlaug and Helga would run away together and "live happily ever after," but that was not the way of the icelanders. I did not like Hrafn because of his tricks and disrespectful ways, at first when he asked to marry Helga knowing Gunnlaug's prior proposal, then again when he should've lost the first duel due to his sword breaking but argued his way out of it, and last at the end during the final duel when he betrayed Gunnlaug's trust and essentially killed him after Gunnlaug was going to spare his life and bring him water. This saga was very tragic, but entertaining as well. It reminded me of the feeling I felt from Romeo and Juliet. I think a better ending would have been for Hrafn to give up Helga to Gunnlaug since they were clearly in love with eachother and Helga had no desire for Hrafn himself. One last thing, I thought it honorable that Thorstein would first consult Illugi before considering Hrafn to marry Helga since they had a previous arrangement, and I thought that he was more than fair by waiting for so long for Gunnlaug to return.

Entry 1: Six Tales Pgs. 678-724

I found the reading for the six short tales fairly easy and very interesting. In the first tale I enjoyed seeing how Bjarni dealt with the killings of his workers and in the end Thorstein was to live with him at Hof. Since there was no law enforced, Thorstein's lack of punishment wasn't even questioned by anyone else. In the tale of Halldor Snorrason II, I noticed that there were many facts from history mentioned, like "the hostilities between Norway and Denmark" and stating that "those now living in Iceland were Norwegian." Also in the Tale of the Sarcastic Halli it mentions a great famine in Iceland. In this tale I thought it was quite intriguing to hear about all of the tricks that Halli pulled on the King and others to gain riches. The Tale of Thorstein Shiver showed that they believed in creatures like ghosts or demons and how the demon was outsmarted by Thorstein and King Olaf. In the Tale of Audun from the West Fjords I noticed great determination in Audun and in the end it paid off when King Svein and King Harald rewarded him with gifts. In the last tale of the Story-wise Icelander, it again showed kindness of a king to and Icelandic man. I enjoyed all of the tales, but I did not really understand what the Yule was.

1st Blog

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