My Favorite Viking

After reading about all these great Viking men and women, it was very difficult for me to pick out my favorite Viking. However, in the end I went with the Viking whom I think "has the makings of a true Viking." Yes, I chose Egil.
His character seemed to embody all that it is to be a Viking, both the stereotypical characteristics and those which we have discovered throughout our journey through the Sagas. At the young age of 3 he rode a horse and wrote a poem. Then later at the old age of 7 he killed another boy; murder, your typical Viking action. He is a very short-tempered and easily angered man. He was also very cunning nad went on many vkining raids. These are all examples of the stereotypical Viking qualities of which Egil possessed. Egil, however, was very multi-faceted. He could write poetry, very good poetry in fact. This was a characteristic of Vikings that was new to me as we read through the sagas. I found it very interesting that a man so easily angered and seemingly full of hate, had time to write this beautiful, deep poetry. His character also surprised me when he fell in love with Asgerd, yet was too nervous to talk to her. He even wrote her a love poem.
Overall, I really enjoyed the character of Egil for his multi-faceted personality which always kept me guessing. I could never tell exactly what he might do next.

The Saga of Ref the Sly

Although I am glad that the semester is winding down, i'm a little sad that this is the end of my journey through the sagas.
This last saga was a very entertaining one. I thought it was interesting how many of the themes we have seen in the previous saga once again made an appearance. For example there was poetry, foreshadowing/fate, revenge, and the giving of gifts to secure friendships. The foreshadowing occured when King Harald said that if Bard went on the journey, he wouldn't be coming back. Even though the King told them how to go about bringing down Ref's fortress, Bard's fate was still sealed and he was killed by Ref.
One thing that i thought was a little unfair was the treatment of Ref. It seemed to me that he never actually did anything wrong, that his actions were usually justified. He may have killed 5 men, but those men had first of all allowed their animals to graze on his land, then secondly spread a rumor that he was gay. And another time he killed a man who was trying to rape his wife. Both of these times he acts out of revenge, yes, but he is giving these people what they deserve, at least according to the Viking custom of killing out of revenge.
Throughout the many sagas we have read, there has been this same sort of conflict: is the person justified in their actions or not? I must still have lots to learn about the laws of the Vikings, because it seems to me that you can never tell if a killing will be acceptable by the public or not.

The Vinland Sagas

I thought it was very interesting how both of these sagas told the same main story, but each saga included different details and slightly different versions of the events. This seemed like the result of the "telephone game" where something sounds completely different after being told from one person to another. I think that since the sagas both had the same main events and very good descriptions of the lands, they most likely have some sort of historical background,...the vikings did discover America! Sorry Columbus! Maybe the little details are a little scewed as the result of different peoples stressing different events when telling the stories, but the main events are still there. Overall, very interesting and entertaining sagas!

Egil's Saga (part 2)

The thing that stands out to me the most about Egil is his multi-faceted personality. The most defining characteristic of Egil seems to be his short-temperedness and his blood thirsty ways. This is exemplified throughout his life, beginning with his first killing before the age of 10, and continued with many other incidents of murder/viking attacks. Egil also seems to be very confident in himself and very bold, especially when he visited the King although he knew he was outlawed. Another interesting characteristic was his loyalties to his friends, such as Arinbjorn who he even wrote a long poem for. (his ability to write poetry also seems to be something unexpected of such a strong warrior type) I, however, thought that the most surprising characteristic of all was his shyness around his brother's widow, Asgerd. He wrote love poems about her, but was too timid to express his love to her.

Egil's Saga

Egil's grandfather, Kveldulf, is a shape-shifter. It says that he often went into some sort of angry fit/rage and was very strong and powerful during these, but afterwards would be worn out. I think this characteristic may be somewhat fanciful, like that of a werewolf. However, the characteristic of basically losing oneself in the moment continues to be seen with his grandson Egil, who seems to kill during fits of rage, without really thinking of the consequences of his actions.
Egil and his kin are also not very keen to submit to authority, as can be seen by Kveldulf who refuses to visit the King Harald, and by his son Skallagrim who refuses to join the King. The men are also very ruthless and vengeful, pillaging and plundering for their own good. The do seem to be somewhat wise, especially Thorolf (the first) who managed his possesions well, and was liked by many. The family was also very loyal to their friends.

Prologue to Prose Edda

The prologue seems to give some insight to how the Vikings veiwed the history and layout of the world. I found the description of creation, the flood, and the falling away from God's name to be quite interesting. This seems to be some sort of explanation as to why they would set up their own belief system, myths, and gods, rather than following the Christian religion right away.
Another thing i found intriguing was the description of the earth as having 3 parts. The descriptions of Europe, Africa, and Asia were all quite accurate, and i believe this is probably a strong reflection of the knowledge the Vikings gained from various explorations and trade missions. Finally, the description of Troy, it's Kings, and it's governmental system seems to somewhat give validity to the famous story of the Trojans.

Norse Mythology

Norse mythology seemed very confusing to me. I have never studied Roman or Greek mythology before, so this whole idea of multiple gods was difficult to keep straight. A few things I found interesting were the fact that our days of the week are derived from the nordic gods. I had heard that it was derived from pagan gods, but i never knew it was from the "Vikings!"
Another thing i found interesting was the fact that the Midgard serpent surrounded the earth and was underwater, and that Hel was deep under the surface. This i thought could have been derived from Christianity where the devil is often referred to as a serpent, and Hell is thought to be in the depths of the earth.
I also found throughout the book some references to giants, such as Gjalp and Gerd. The thought of giants in their mythology as well as the many references to elves and dwarves also reminded me of Lord of the Rings. The names of many of the poeple/gods/creatures in the book were very similar to those used in the stories. I can definately see a parallel between norse mythology and Tolkien's made up world.