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Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, April 21, 2008
One character who I found especially fascinating was Sam from the Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi. First, Sam is a unique name among Vikings, so he's easy to remember. I thought his reaction when Thorstein told him of his cousin's death was almost funny in its understatement: "It's no news that Hrafnkel kills people." I admired the way he took over what he thought was a hopeless case from his uncle. I was entertained by the creative methods they employed in getting support from influential people at the Althing. Even more interesting were the choices Sam made once he obtained power by temporarily throwing Hrafnkel out of power--his show of mercy was definitely not rewarded in the end and he ended up getting revenge taken on him, including the death of his brother. It's implied that he had bad luck because he didn't listen to advice. Since I've been looking at various ideas of fate and why different things happened to different people according to the sagas, the fact that his misfortunes were his own fault was interesting.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Ref the Sly
The introduction to this saga states that this is a fictionalized story in saga form, and there are several instances in the text to back this up. First, the plotting is actually pretty tight. In the sagas that also serve to impart history, there are always lots of side plots, not all of which get resolved. In this saga, there is an uncharacteristic economy of characters, and in addition, only one generation is really dealt with. The saga begins and ends with Ref's life.
Another thing that would have made me doubt the truth of this saga even without being told that it was fictional was: How could he have had enough timber to build a huge fort in Greenland? We saw in the video last week in class that there was not much timber in Greenland, which was part of the reason to explore Markland and Vinland. Also, the saga does not explain at all the process he used to build the fort, where most sagas go into great detail about things like that.
I found myself drawing comparisons between Ref and Egil. Ref, like Egil, fights his way out of several impossible situations, and both are really good at coming up with clever retorts to enemies. Both characters went to many different places, making enemies along the way, but Ref is perpetually lucky even where Egil is not; for instance, none of Ref's children die. In fact, no one in Ref's family dies violently. Also, there was not a whole lot of character development on Ref's part, aside from his abrupt transition from a couch potato to a scary guy who will kill you, although granted it is on the short side for sagas.
I thought this saga was entertaining in its own right, and my experience of it was certainly richer for having studied other more factually-based sagas. Some of the things in it seem to almost be parody of saga conventions and hyperbole.
Another thing that would have made me doubt the truth of this saga even without being told that it was fictional was: How could he have had enough timber to build a huge fort in Greenland? We saw in the video last week in class that there was not much timber in Greenland, which was part of the reason to explore Markland and Vinland. Also, the saga does not explain at all the process he used to build the fort, where most sagas go into great detail about things like that.
I found myself drawing comparisons between Ref and Egil. Ref, like Egil, fights his way out of several impossible situations, and both are really good at coming up with clever retorts to enemies. Both characters went to many different places, making enemies along the way, but Ref is perpetually lucky even where Egil is not; for instance, none of Ref's children die. In fact, no one in Ref's family dies violently. Also, there was not a whole lot of character development on Ref's part, aside from his abrupt transition from a couch potato to a scary guy who will kill you, although granted it is on the short side for sagas.
I thought this saga was entertaining in its own right, and my experience of it was certainly richer for having studied other more factually-based sagas. Some of the things in it seem to almost be parody of saga conventions and hyperbole.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Vinland Sagas
First off, I thought it was cool that there are two separate sagas that overlap so much in terms of characters and events covered. It was like watching two different movies about World War II or something; there are some things that appear in each but the main focus of each is slightly different.
I also thought it was really interesting that so much emphasis was placed on Gudrid. It seems that her life is full of these supernatural types of events, most of which are recorded in both sagas. I could imagine how strange it must have been for her to be taking part in the magic rite with the wise woman in spite of her qualms about participating. When her husband woke up, after dying, to tell her fortune, it reminded me of the tale of Thorstein Shiver where he is talking to the demon in the outhouse--very matter of fact, not seeming to deny that such an interaction is really possible.
I think that the motivations stated for the exploration of Vinland speak to the nature of the Iceland-Greenland culture of the time. The people who went were in search of good natural resources and possible farm locations. If they were only a warmongering people, they would not have been so quick to give up hope of settlement because of conflict with the pre-existing residents.
I also thought it was really interesting that so much emphasis was placed on Gudrid. It seems that her life is full of these supernatural types of events, most of which are recorded in both sagas. I could imagine how strange it must have been for her to be taking part in the magic rite with the wise woman in spite of her qualms about participating. When her husband woke up, after dying, to tell her fortune, it reminded me of the tale of Thorstein Shiver where he is talking to the demon in the outhouse--very matter of fact, not seeming to deny that such an interaction is really possible.
I think that the motivations stated for the exploration of Vinland speak to the nature of the Iceland-Greenland culture of the time. The people who went were in search of good natural resources and possible farm locations. If they were only a warmongering people, they would not have been so quick to give up hope of settlement because of conflict with the pre-existing residents.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Egil's Saga, Part 2
The things that stood out most to me about Egil's life were the more sentimental moments. In the midst of all the various adventures, legal wranglings, and battles, it was nice to see the incidents that showed he was also a person with real emotions too, rather than just a caricature of a bloodthirsty Viking. After his son Bodvar dies and his wife sends for their daughter Thorgerd, their interaction was very interesting. It seems that she knew her father just that well that she was able to come up with a way to pull him out of his gloom. I also was struck by Egil's ongoing friendship with Arinbjorn. Not many people these days seem to have lifelong friends, especially across such great distances. I was impressed by the way that they continued to give and give to each other.
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