Favorite Character: Gisli Sursson

One of my favorite characters from all of the sagas was Gisli Sursson. I also really enjoyed the character Egil Skallagrimsson, but I figured he might be a more popular character so I will write about Gisli Sursson. Gisli was from one of the sagas we read early in the semester called, "Gisli's Sursson's Saga." In this saga Gisli proclaims the fate of his three friends and himself and it comes true when they are eventually all killed and not friends anymore. Gisli became outlawed after he killed Thorgrim (his old friend), but survived a long time without being captured or killed because he was given help and refuge by many people who admired and honored him. Even though he broke the law and was in hiding, he was still well-liked by many people. Gisli's intelligent and loyal wife also stood by his side and cared for him while he was outlawed. Gisli was courageous, intelligent, and also recited well-versed poems throughout the saga. I chose Gisli because I enjoyed the plot and his role in this saga. He was definately the main character and I believe the reader/listener is supposed to feel sad for him when he is finally struck down in the end. Gisli was a great fighter and his bravery was shown when he stood up to those who were trying to kill him and actually defeated many of them. A line from the saga states that, "although he was deemed a man of great prowess, fortune was not always with him." More importantly another line says, "it is said everywhere that no man in this land had ever been known to put up a greater stand than Gisli." I admired Gisli's character and his courage so that is why I chose him.

Saga of Ref the Sly

This saga was entertaining like many others. Ref Steinsson was looked down upon by his mother until he finally proved himself worthy when he killed Thorbjorn who let his animals graze on Ref's land. Although at first he was regarded as worthless and a simpleton, later he was found to be an extremely talented craftsman, clever, cunning, and wise. Ref was also good with words, composing a few poems as well as a clever riddle to King Harald, who later decoded it. King Harald also gave Ref the name of Ref the Sly. After killing people for lack of due compensation, Ref became despised by some and outlawed from Norway. He was taken in by King Svein in Denmark, who praised Ref for his wit and talents, giving him the new name of Siggtrygg, which was more common in Denmark than Ref.

This saga mentions fate a few times. In one case King Harald advises his follower Bard to not go back to Greenland to try and help Gunner find and kill Ref because he would not be coming back. Of course Bard doesn't listen and ends up killed by Ref. Ref also claimed that it wasn't Bard's destiny or that of the men in Greenland to guard his corps, unless they receive help from wiser men, which turned out to be King Harald. Also, at the beginning Ref stays with a man named Gest who admires Ref and says he is "destined for great achievements."

Ref is clever with the construction of his house in Greenland and it's location and protective measures. He also cleverly devises an escape plan before Bard and his men come back to kill him. Ref uses two different fake names and disguises to escape from trouble and to manipulate his enemies.
Ref ends up with wealth and respect for himself and his family from King Svein. His sons marry well and have excellent descendents. It is also mentioned that Ref dies when going to visit an apostle in Rome and is buried in a rich monastery. This is likely since by this time Christianity was becoming widely accepted.

Saga of Greenlanders/Eirik the Red's Saga:

Egil's Saga Ch.49-90

The last half of Egil's Saga was as entertaining as the first. In this last half I developed a fondness for Egil and even admired him for his great accomplishments and attributes. In chapter 50, Thorolf and Egil joined the forces of the king of England, King Athelstan, in a war against King Olaf of Scotland. With the brute force of Thorolf and Egil, King Athelstan won the war, but Thorolf's life was taken. Before the war began, Egil said that he didn't want to be separated from Thorolf in battle and said the arrangement already made Egil would live to regret. This prophecy came true when his brother Thorolf was killed. King Athelstan then pledged his friendship to Egil and thanked him for his help with a gold bracelet and promised him wealth and high stature if he stayed with him. Egil's amazing strength and cleverness allowed him to help many people out like this, and he gained many friends.

Egil continues to anger King Eirik and Gunnhild when he kills Eyvind and then later kills their son. A weird twist occurs when King Eirik loses control over Norway to his brother, King Hakon. King Eirik then moves to England where King Athelstan lets him control Northumbria. Then, the unaware Egil becomes shipwrecked on his way to visit King Athelstan and ends up in the realm of King Eirik and Gunnhild, where he would surely be killed. In this predicament, he turns to his long time friend Arinbjorn, also the friend of King Eirik, for help where he is advised to compose a drapa for the king to save his life. Arinbjorn risks his status with the king in helping Egil, and only strengthens his friendship with Egil. Arinbjorn and Egil such good friends that Egil helped out Arinbjorn's family by killing a berserkish man in a duel that Arinbjorn's kinsman should have fought in. Egil later recited a long drapa in honor of Arinbjorn for all that Arinbjorn sacrificed and did for Egil. I really admired their relationship.

I thought it was interesting that when Egil's father, his brother, and sons died he became depressed and he showed great sorrow for them and even wrote poems for some of their deaths. But when his wife died, nothing was noted about him even being sad. He definitely had an unforgettable character, imposing his will on others a lot of the time, which he could get away with due to his great strength and ability to kill 11 men all by himself. I also thought it was really kind of him to help out his son Thorstein, who he wasn't very fond of, by showing up at the Althing with a group of 80 men for support of Thorstein. A lot of Egil's character was also shown in his poetry, like his deep sorrow for the loss of family, the great bond of friendship he shared with Arinbjorn, and his love for and desire to marry Asgerd. It was also interesting that even though Egil had always disrespected the kings of Norway, he was very friendly and respectful with King Athelstan. He even took the sign of the cross because it was the king's request. Another part to his personality was that he may have been selfish, atleast with his father, when he never shared the chests of silver that King Athelstand gave him with his father.

I thought it was interesting that they had skis and sleighs in the saga. I also had a few questions like how long is an "ell" that is referred to in the saga? I am also curious as to what a "coat of mail" is and what a "standard" is. These were both mentioned in the battle between the English and Scottish. My last comment is that between the marriage of Egil and Asgerd, both Arinbjorn and Bjorn, Asgerd's father, left it up to Asgerd whether she would marry Egil or not. So she actually had a say as to who she married. I really like Egil's saga because there is so much going on and it is so entertaining and fun to read about all of Egil's accomplishments. For my stanza to present in class, I chose one by Egil in his poem about his friendship with Arinbjorn.

Egil's Saga Ch.1-48

Although a little difficult to keep the many characters straight, this saga was very entertaining to me. I enjoyed the history of Egils family, the introduction to the first Vikings to settle Iceland, and also the interactions between the characters themselves and with King Harald and then his son King Eirik. There are many strong characters, some stubborn and jealous, some clever, and some who would do anything to please the king. I thought it was interesting that the saga was first recorded by Snorri Sturluson and that he was a decendant of Egil.
I noticed a couple themes. One was what I took as superstition, although it may have been a religious practice. I noticed this when the saga told about Skallagrim and Bera's children. They said they had many but the first ones all died. Then when they had another son, they sprinkled him with water and he was named Thorolf. When they had their next son Egil, he was also sprinkled with water. When Bjorn and Thora had a daughter named Asgerd, she was also sprinkled with water. I don't know why they did this, but it seemed to me to be a superstitious thing since the family started to do it after the first children died.
The next theme I noticed was that many people were said to be "well versed in the magic arts." This was the first time I remember reading this in any sagas so I thought it was worth noting.
Also, another theme I noticed was intuition where people mentioned that they didn't think something would go over well. For example when Thorolf announced to his father that he was going to make another journey abroad that summer, his father didn't want him to go and said, "but I have an intuition that if we part now we will never meet again." There were other instances of intuitions as well.
Characteristics of Egil were cleverness, greedy, bad tempered, stubborn, jealous and he was also a good poet. He was ugly, but was said to be extremely strong. His mother showed affection for him when she attributed his first killing when he was very young. He was much like his father Skallagrim, who was also ugly, very strong, a good poet, stubborn, and disrespected the kings. However, his father resented Egil and more favored his other son Thorolf who seemed more accomplished and probably more mature to his father.

Prologue to Prose Edda

What striked me as most significant in this prologue was the overview of how earth was populated in a Christian sense and then how the people changed from Christian beliefs and began to worship accomplished men like Thor and Odin as if they were gods. I also found it interesting that Odin was a descendent of Thor and that they both were greedy for land, power, and wealth, but still were held like gods and were praised. It was also interesting that Odin designated different lands for each of his sons to rule over and he established chieftains like those in Troy and also set up twelve head-men to be doomsmen over the people in order to judge the laws of the land. Last, I thought it significant that the world was said to be split up into three parts: Africa, Europa, and Asia.

Norse Mythology Intro

My impression of Nordic Mythology from my readings is that it seems similar to other mythology. I found it interesting that words from the Viking Age were translated using Germanic and Latin languages and Indo-European roots. Also, it was kind of odd that early Scandinavians trading with Christians would either convert to Christianity or be "prime-signed"(accepting the sign of the cross), so that they were able to do business with the Christians. In the intro it also stated that people could switch households only at certain times of the year called "moving days," which I was unaware of before this reading. I also learned that the Nordic "gods" were actually living people at some point and then worshipped after their death, and each might represent social classes of that time. It was interesting to learn that the days of the week (Tue-Fri) were named after these gods as well. Last I think that the nonwritten source of archeological findings was crucial to our understanding of the Viking Age, with not only mythological objects but Christian ones as well. Unlike "virtually every text of Scandinavian mythology," we do not have to use the extreme caution that the earliest findings may have been influenced by a later Christian.

I decided to right about Valholl, known also as Odin's Hall. In the poem Grimnismal, a few stanzas describe and support (by the speaker Odin) the notion that Valholl was indeed a hall. It is described as having 540 doors and endless mead, which is kept full by the female goat Heidrun who also provides feasts of boar meat. This hall may have also been lined with gold shields according to Snorri Sturluson's Edda. Since Valholl was also present in other poems from the tenth century, it has been noted an important mythological place in our written records.

To discuss Heidrun more thoroughly, since it has the root of my name (Heid), this root is little known but can only be thought to mean "sacrificial mead" or "bright." The story of Heidrun, a goat, is that she stands at Valholl and gnaws foliage from the famous tree called Laerad. The mead is said to run from her teats, filling a barrel a day, which is more than sufficient to dunken its consumers, the "einherjar." Heidrun is found also in stanzas of Hyundluljod of the eddic poetry, which only further supports the notion that her mead is extremely intoxicating, opposing an older notion that she might have a connection with fertility rituals.