Sagas

Monday, January 28, 2008

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.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home