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.
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