The Saga of the Confederates

This saga was really interesting and I enjoyed the manipulation that Odd's father, Ofeig, used on the chieftains. It was surprising that Odd left home so young, but it was nice to see his independence, which led him towards an extremely successful life. Something that stood out to me was that at the Althing, the chieftans were going to side against Odd when clearly his side was not of wrong doing. It seemed that the Icelandic people were all for justice, but it was clear that they were not seeking justice in Odd's case. It then became up to Ofeig to use his clever manipulation for justice to come about in this case. In the end I was glad to see Ofeig stand up for his son and to see their family bond become stronger.

It was clear that Odd's wealth, not only Ofeig's contribution, was one of the main reason's Odd came out on top in the end. Although there were many chieftans against him, Odd's wealth became a necessity as a bargaining tool to use with a couple of the chieftans. Also, because of Odd's wealth, the greedy chieftans had motive to counter back against him in hopes that they would receive a portion of this wealth. I think that justice was a strong theme in this saga as well as motivational wealth. Another theme might be family ties, since although Odd and Ofeig did not get along for much of their lives, in the end their family bond drew them together and Ofeig aided Odd with essential help.

The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi

I enjoyed this saga because of it's stated simplicity and theme of revenge. It was interesting that even though Hrafnkel warned Einar not to ride his horse or Hrafnkel would kill him, he still rode it and was killed. I don't agree that killing Einar was the right thing to do, but then he was fairly warned. Hrafnkel told Einar the old saying, "he who gives warning is not at fault." Still, Einar's father sought revenge on Hrafnkel for this slaughter.

I think this saga taught a lesson to take the advice you are given. Einar did not take Hrafnkel's advice and was killed. Then, Sam, after avenging Einar's death, was given the advice to kill Hrafnkel and Sam would be better off. But after Sam spares his life, Hrafnkel builds up his farm and alliances and procedes to seek revenge by killing Sam's brother, Eyvind. It is obvious that had Sam, or first Einar, taken the advice given to him, there would not have been misfortune towards their family from Hrafnkel. Also, Eyvind's death could have been avoided still had he taken the advice of his servant boy to ride ahead after seeing Hrafnkel and his men coming after them.

I felt that both Sam and Hrafnkel had some luck on their side, with Hrafnkel coming out on top in the end. Sam luckily received the help of the chieftains, the Thjostarssons, when trying and succeeding to prosecute Hrafnkel. His luck ended when he did not take their advice. Hrafnkel was lucky to come upon the fertile valley where he made his farm that became successful. He was lucky again after he was forced to move out of his farm, but then bought a cheap one that became even more succesful than the first.

Havamal (Hovamol) - Poetic Edda

I enjoyed Havamal's morals that "taught" the audience. However, some verses were boring and repetitive:

"I rede thee, Loddfafnir! and hear thou my rede,
--Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:"

Overall each had it's own lesson to learn, so they weren't too bad. I also found it interesting that the phrase translated "the speech of Hor" means "Hovamol," which clarified the meaning of the title and the poem for me. It also seemed weird that a lot of the verses were meddled with and added on to by editors over and over again. A verse that stood out to me was:

84. A man shall trust not the oath of a maid,
Nor the word a woman speaks;
For their hearts on a whirling wheel were fashioned,
And fickle their breasts were formed.

This verse stood out to me, not in a good way though! It just showed me how men do not trust or think highly of women. It seemed to me to say that women were made so fast and sloppy and were made to be deceitful to men and for these reasons men cannot trust them.

Gisli Sursson's Saga

This was a tragic saga and I felt for Gisli after all that he had been through. Thankfully, he had an intelligent and loyal wife. In the beginning I thought that all of the different characters were confusing to get straight, but it became clearer towards the end. Fate played an enormous role in this saga, like many others. When Thorgrim, Gisli, Thorkel, and Vestein were going to swear an oath to avenge eachother as if they were blood brothers, they did not go through with it and Gisli said, "I suspect fate will take its course now." And it did. It began with the wives of the brothers Thorkel and Gisli, who both admitted to liking at some point Thorgrim and Vestein. Thorkel overheard, left the farm he shared with Gisli, and their closeness was never the same. As it continued, jealousy and fate played their part as Thorkel kills Vestein and Gisli then kills Thorgrim. Later, Thorkel and Gisli are eventually killed for their murders. Their fate from the moment of the blood oath was death and abandonment of eachother. I also found it interesting that Gisli had dreams that prophesized how he and his brother would die. In the end, Gisli was shown to be very courageous and upright character, honored by all in his day. You could see how others liked him by how so many people were willing to care for him and hide him will he was outlawed. I enjoyed the poems that Gisli recited throughout the saga as well.