Favorite Character of the Sagas

The variance of the sagas makes it difficult to choose a favorite character, but if I had to pick one who I most admired it would have to be Gisli Sursson. He is made into a hero in his saga with such maneuvers as catching spears mid-throw, as well as outsmarting a great many people who wished to do him in. Despite his outlawry, there were many people in Iceland who seemed to respect Gisli Sursson. This trait of righteous rebellion is very intriguing and warrants some great thought about his behavior otherwise. Gisli, his brothers (sworn and otherwise), and his in-laws were devoured by relationship drama, and throughout it all Gisli kept to the pact he had tried to make, he avenged the right deaths and properly buried all who deserved it. In doing so he also took the blame for killing a man whom he did not kill but had plenty of reason to. In a mess of unfaithfulness and slaughter, Gisli and his wife, Aud, remain true to each other and are each other's last motivations for living and holding their morals. For this reason, Aud is probably a second one of my favorite characters and female heroes.

The Saga of Ref the Sly

This saga appears to have many similar aspects to other sagas, but there are still new facts being introduced. For instance, while Ref was building the ship people were surprised that he not only made a beautiful and the largest ocean-going vessel in Iceland but that he was a "simpleton" who did so. This implies that there was something of a class system and that ship-builders were on the higher end of this. Also, the mention of animals was intriguing to me. The gift of a polar bear and walrus parts was intriguing in the least. Yet it shows that both polar bears and walruses were popular creatures in Scandanavia at the time of the sagas.

The Vinland Sagas

The presence of women in these sagas was very impressive. Especially in The Saga of Greenlanders when Freydis slaughtered half an expedition. She was a very manipulative woman finding a way to get what she wanted regardless. However, despite the violent nature of some of the sagas (Egil's in particular) her acts were looked on as such that no one respected even her descendents.

In this saga the appearance of foreigners is more openly acknowledged. It intrigued me greatlly to see a man being referred to as speaking German as I did not even know German was a unified and established language at the time. My other theory is that the monks who wrote the story referenced all people of that general area as being some form of German. Also, bondsmen and freed slaves were all mentioned for the first time since Gisli's saga. What exactly was the difference? and were they common? It is hard to tell from this script.

Egil's Saga Part II

The term Viking is used more often in this saga than in any previous saga we have read. I also thought it interesting that in this saga, the typical Viking activites are described much more than previously as well. Egil is described as being a good "Viking" from a very young age, and he seems to be motivated primarily by power and wealth. He goes after these things of desire less traditionally than most: by opposing the kings and plundering whenever he gets the chance. Neither his father nor his uncle had great respect for the kings and the mentality of submission.

Egil is a very fascinating character in the length of his life considering the great many risks he takes and enemies he makes. For being such a hardened and weidely-feared Viking, he is also deeply emotional and shows great depth of character. I also didn't notice Egil drinking an exceptional amount of ale and used "parties" as a way to gain advantages like the time he tricked Onand into thinking he was a bear and slaughtered him and two of his companions.

One thing bothered me a little though. It was very nice to identify with Egil's emotions (an option not available in many other sagas), but I was often at a loss to why he was killing many of the people he did and found it hard to identify with uselessly killing people.

Egil's Saga Part I

Egil's saga is different from the ones we have read before because it takes place primarily in Norway before/at the time of Iceland's discovery. There are some cultural differences as well. Because of Norway's size, there is more area to conquer and claim and Harald Tangle-Hair does just that. Something that intrigued me was the extensive geography. Thorolf travelled long distances in what would seem to me very inhospitable conditions, and there is an abundance of ethnic groups he encounters (all under Harald's reign I think) all of which, except the Lapps, I had never read about before. At one point there is a reference to someone's skiing ability, and I wondered if they used a method similar to cross country skiing or snowshoeing to get around in the icy land above Norway.

Another difference between Norwegian and Icelandic living was the way conflicts were settled. They seemed to be settled interpersonally, unless the ones involved were close to the king and then....like a corrupt court, they tried to get back at the other by sticking the king against him. This is how Hildirid's sons tried to get at Thorolf's inheritance, and it is much different than the processes of the Althing in later Iceland.

Prologue to Prose Edda

Except for modern Western civilization, most cultures have a creation story followed by the story of a flood and human dispersal. The Norsemen are no different. I found it fascinating that the first portion of the prologue closely resembled the Bible in it's perception; however, quickly deviated from what the Jews and Christians believe to be true. Another interesting thing about this writing is the portryal of the "gods" as humans with no reference to their deity. I cannot tell if this is becuase the writer assumes everyone reading it knows who Thor and Odin are, or if they orginally were legendary (or perhaps actual) people of this earth.

This is a telling of the story of ancient Scandanavian history as much as it is of the creation of the world as a whole which ties the Vikings to their history and gives them a legend upon which to base their society. The length of their history is extraordinary to me because here in the western hemisphere, a good portion of our "history" is speculation, and the part that we do know is very short. Also, there is no way to directly connect any creation story to our land...at least as thouroughly as the Norsemen, without at least a gap of thousands of years.

Norse Mythology

The mythology of the Norsemen is fascinating as well as intricate. The amount of detail put into the narratives is astounding for a culture oftern thought to be almost savage. The stories and characteristics of the gods are not unlike those of the Greeks and Romans, but rather than living in an underworld their gods seem to be referred to as living in a far off place on earth. This is not unlike the Greek concept of humans visiting Hades or the Christian concept of angels and demons. Similarites exist between historical and religious backgrounds of many cultures regardless of how complex they may be.

Also, the segment of the book we read also described in detail the poetry and how it came to be, and I was very much impressed with how in depth the poetic styles really are. Especially in a culture based on war and travel, such literary advancement in extraordinary.

The Saga of the Confederates

This saga is, in addition to being a depiction of trickery in politics, a portrayal of a certain father-son relationship. Ofeig displays no interest, rather disdain for his son Odd in the beginning of the story and the two have nothing to do with each other. (Odd by the way means sharp edge of an arrow or axe, not wierd in old Norse.) Ofeig then comes to Odd in his time of great need and secures for him a future with possessions, a wife and honor in exchange for a sum of money. Now whether Odd wanted his help or not we don't know, but based on his little work for much gain ethic, he probably appreciated it. Ofeig possibly did all he did for the money, but more likely becuase he recognized that Odd had finally decieded to use his abilities to better himself and therefore his family in life.

The manners in which Ofeig goes about securing Odd's future do not match today's definition of honorable, although both he and Odd were remembered for this with great respect which i found interesting. He divided the confederates against one another as well as went behind the backs of Thorarin and Styrmir to ally with them. I didn't understand all of the technicalities of the saga becuase the legal procedures were not entirely clear to me, and also so many people were double crossing one another that it was difficult to determine what was actually happening. This must have been a very difficult saga to tell and remember accurately.

The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi

This saga I believe is very telling of the underhandedness and corruption in Viking Iceland. It seems to me that this issue could have been very easily resolved if there had been a judge of some sort to ensure that Hrafnkel never again took part in gross injustices. Also, it registered to me for the first time that there were no jails in Iceland.

I wondered as to why it was Thorbjorn who determined to steadfastly to oppose Hrafnkel when throughout the story he appears to be a rather weak character nonetheless with some great manipulation powers. I especially was curious: why did Thorbjorn choose not to accept his offer rather than eventually sacrificing the lives of his other two sons?

Hrafnkel reminds of a school bully on the playground who enforces the made up "playground rule" of "he who gives warning is not at fault"(ch. 4).

Havamal

Throughout this poem several common themes keep reoccuring. One is silence, and another is honesty. Silence is often referenced in regard to wisdom and the lack thereof. A man who is silent when confronted with unimportant quarrels or when drunk is thought wise, but a man who is always silent is regarded as stupid. Honesty is not assumed nor is it respected necessarily, but the man who discerns between liars and truth-tellers. This surprised me because you would think that in such a close community trust would be essential, but in fact quite the opposite is true.

The party etiquette, and rules for household guests mentioned at the beginning are both similar, and I think their mention bears noting because of the amount and importance of travelling in the Viking Age. Visitors were how knowledge was spread, and welcoming travellers was an essence of survival. The well-travelled were heroes and it also follows that they were thought wise as well.

Stanza 21
A coward believes he will live forever
If he holds back in the battle,
But in old age he shall have no peace
Though spears have spared his limbs

I like this stanza becuase of its timelessness. Even today taking risks and living a full life is highly encouraged, and I always try to take advantage of opportunities.

If you know a friend you can fully trust,
Go often to his house
Grass and brambles grwo quickly
Upon the untrodden track.

This is another timeless saga and is one of a few that actually reiderate the importance of trust and of good friends, not just of avoiding foes.

Saga of Gisli Sursson

This saga is the most interesting story we've read so far to me. At first it was very confusing because of the abundance of characters and places, but as the plot progressed the character development and parallelism became wonderful additions to the saga. Gisli's character is probably slightly exaggerated like the time he, "caught the spear mid-throw and threw it back to spear Outlaw-Stein." However, his character development surprised me in the context of the gore and revenge of the story. Gisli begins by referring to himself in his poems as the warrior and in his last poems as the poet showing the now more prominent side of his character that loves and cherishes. Despite his reputation for being a strong and fearsome warrior, he still holds one of the most universal values: love. His driving force for getting back home is to be with his wife Aud whom he loves, and they stay together until the very end despite all the travesty that has befallen them.

The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue

Something I noticed very shortly into the saga was the usage of the serpent image. Besides Gunnalug's warrranting the same nickname as his grandfather, the serpent appears in some form in nearly every poem. since Gunnlaug and his arch-enemy Hrafn are both poets, there are many poems.

Originally, because Gunnlaug is made to seem like the protagonist, I tried to sympathize with him, and even like him. However, his arrogance and rebellion make him hard to like. I think these traits themselves may hae seemed romantic to Helga, though, and she may have seen him as ambitious, brave, and daring. In his desire for Helga, and his disobedience to Thorstein (who knew of the prophecy) and to his father (to whom Thorstien may have spoke of the prophecy) leads to his own imminent demise.

When Hrafn and Gunnlaug first meet in Sweden, they discover many similarities between themselves, and it also follows that they fall for the same woman. Sadly though, it is clear that Gunnlaug and Helga share a love relationship that Hrafn's greed will never allow him to enter into.

Reading response to the Tales

The Tales seem to be a snapshot of what daily life and auspicious characters were like in early Iceland. The values of the Icelanders are the underlying theme to many of the stories, and the stories slowly define what these people viewed as honorable. Their ideas of honor are slightly different from what I think of in modern America especially regarding revenge, gift-giving, pilgrimages, etc.