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.