Snorri Sturluson (–1241)

Since this was my second time reading, I skipped Snorri's final section detailing verse-forms, as I was more interested in the mythology than the art of ancient poetry.

Snorri created this collection of stories and poetry how-to in part to save a dying art. He himself was Christian but he wished to ensure that traditional Norse poetic composition was not lost. He has an interesting theory on the origin of Aesir worship, linking them with Trojan mythology.

Reading this composition, I couldn't show more help but be sad that this is one of the few sources we still have for Norse mythology, and what we get here is often tantalising fragments. Snorri often quotes other compositions, which have been lost to the ages save the few lines he includes. Just what was Heimdall's poem, what would it have told us about the enigmatic watchman of the gods, and would it have told us why the head is called "Heimdall's sword"?

This is certainly a must for anyone wishing to dig down into Norse mythology. This is one of the main sources that collections of the myths draw from, and you can judge for yourself how well they have interpreted the fragmentary source material. One of the surprises is how numerous the gods were, yet these days we only really pay any attention to Odin, Thor and Loki, seeing as the surviving myths concern mainly these three and give them such lively personalities. But what of Loki and Odin's companion Hoenir? What of Gefjon who ploughed up a whole island? We may never know.

One thing I can say with fair certainty: our modern interpretation of Odin seems to be completely wrong. Sure he was "All Father", but he was also "Corpse Father" and "Dread". I feel that rather than being a kindly old man, he must have been terrifying. show less

Egil's Saga is not just Egil's story, as it begins with his grandfather Kveldulf. Although the chronology is a bit skewed, this is a saga that includes historical characters (such as the kings of Norway & England) and the events that happen are realistic. The Norsemen are not just violent and barbaric Viking raiders; the same men who spend some summers on Viking raids across Europe, spend other summers on respectable trading expeditions and yet others as mercenaries for foreign kings, whose show more territories they may well have raided previously. Viking raids and trading expeditions are summer activities, with winters being spent at home on their farms, or staying with friends.

Egil is also a poet and his poems occur throughout the saga. His war poetry is extremely gory, full of the clash of weapons and the wolves, eagles and ravens that prowl the battlefield feasting on the carrion.

There are not many overtly supernatural happenings in this saga, but some especially strong, violent men are suspected of being shapechangers. Egil's grandfather is nicknamed Kveldulf (Evening Wolf) because although sunny tempered during the day, he becomes bad-tempered, violent and unnaturally strong as evening falls. There is also some use of spells; for example Egil set a horse head on a pole as an insult to the spirits of the land to force them to drive Eirik and Gunnhild out of Norway.

Interestingly, when the pagan Thorulf and Egil go to England as mercenaries for the Christian King Athelstan, they are given preliminary baptism. The saga says that this allows them to mix with both Christians and heathens, but that they can still follow whatever beliefs they like. I have never heard of this practice before, but it's a very pragmatic way of going about things. Apparently it was common for viking merchants and mercenaries to undergo this preliminary baptism, as it allowed the Christians to salve their consciences about trading with heathens.

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It occurred to me while reading Egil's Saga, that Queen Gunnhild would make a fantastic Evil Overlord. If she had James Bond in her clutches she wouldn't make any of the classic mistakes that allow him to escape every time.

When Egil is shipwrecked in Northumberland, only to find that his enemies King Eirik Bloodaxe and Queen Gunnhild (the former rulers of Norway) are now in charge there, his blood-brother Arinbjorn (a close friend of the king's) takes him to the court to plead for his life. Queen Gunnhild's reaction to Arinbjorn's suggestion that Egil be allowed to compose a poem in honour of the king is to the point: "We don't want to hear his words of praise. Have him taken out and killed, Eirik. I don't want to hear him or see him". If only all Evil Overlords were so decisive!

Unfortunately, in order to succeed as an Evil Overlord, the first thing she would have to do is get rid of her husband. King Eirik agrees with Arinbjorn that killing Egil at night would be murder (?) so he tells him to come back the next day for judgment. Overnight Egil composes a long poem in honour of the king, and when he recites it the king is won over and lets Egil go (while reserving the right to take revenge if he ever sets eyes on him again), which must have infuriated the queen. I'm with Gunnhild on this; if someone had killed my son, foster-son and brother-in-law as well as many of my courtiers and servants, I wouldn't let him go just because he wrote a flattering poem about me! show less

For all that I know about mythology, the more I read of the original collections the more I realize that I don’t know! The Prose Edda is considered the seminal collection of Icelandic Norse mythology, even though it’s a surprisingly small book - and seemingly very slim in terms of actual story. Obviously modern scholars are working with very old manuscript copies of the work, so for all we know large portions of it are missing entirely, but the style of the book is also meant to be very show more concise. Unlike the Poetic Edda (which I have yet to read) the Prose Edda presents the stories of the Norse gods and the formation of the world in short, digestible form and generally presents them as an oral story being told to a character within the book itself. Kind of a strange format for modern readers, but it was a very common literary device used in the time period to make the stories carry more weight (as if they are coming to readers/listeners by divine intervention). What I found most interesting throughout the book was that the author inserted various quotes from poems that presumably existed concurrently - therefore trying to justify his recording of the stories and give them even more importance as some of the quotes come from prophecies, oral culture, and established myths and legends. I’ll have to read the Poetic Edda pretty soon, so that I can compare the two. show less

Ha a skandináv krimik Erlendur felügyelője vissza tudna röppenni a X. századi Izlandra, meglehetősen leegyszerűsödne a nyomozati munkája – találomra rábökhetne bármelyik helybelire, és bingó, ő tutira egy gyilkos. Ezek a pacákok továbbra is a sör-balta tengelyben képzelik el a problémakezelést, a hentelések szünetében meg verseket költenek egymás pajzsáról (eszembe is jutott, hogy biztos a KMTG mentorálta őket). Pedig az Egils Saga a sagák többségéhez show more képest elég visszafogottan indul, sokáig csak a sok északi nevet* látjuk, ahogy ide mennek, oda mennek, családot alapítanak**. Aztán belép a cselekménybe Egil, aki még viking mércével mérve is túlmozgásos kissé, és onnantól kezdve dübörög a heavy metal. A címszereplő ugyanis viking módra összeveszik mindenkivel (lásd még: „balta”), köztük királyokkal is, falvakat és mezővárosokat éget, gyermekeket nemz, embereket hány le és csonkít meg, szóval gondoskodik a sűrű cselekményről. Ja, el ne felejtsem: verseket is ír (méghozzá jókat), úgyhogy el vagyok bizonytalanodva, hogy őkelme az irodalomtudomány, vagy a kriminalisztika tárgykörébe tartozik-e.

A gond csak az, hogy ezekkel a vikingekkel én nem nagyon tudok azonosulni, és ez biztos elvesz egy picit a könyv élvezeti értékéből. Sokkal inkább együtt érzek mondjuk szegény kurlandi földművesekkel, akiknek egyszer csak a nyakába szakad két tucat fejszével hadonászó tajparaszt, és rájuk gyújtja a tanyát. Az, hogy a tajparasztok egyike-másika jobb verset ír, mint a kurlandiak… hát igen, ez tagadhatatlan. De attól még nagyon szorítottam a megtámadottaknak, hogy legalább az egyik bersekert sikerüljön kapával hókon csapniuk. (Nem sikerült.) Ettől függetlenül az Egils Saga páratlan irodalmi jelenség, ami meglepően informatív és reális képet rajzol a X. századi észak-európai viszonyokról. A fiát elvesztő Egil gyászának leírása pedig egyszerűen parádés – nem egy XX. századi író összetehetné a két kezét, ha ilyen elegánsan (és némi finom humorral) tudná ábrázolni egy apa fájdalmát.

* A kötet élvezetéhez elengedhetetlen, hogy ne akarjuk megjegyezni az összes nevet. Ez ugyanis teljességgel lehetetlen, ráadásul felesleges is, a megnevezettek zöme két mondat múlva úgyis meghal. Vikingek és kész. Ennyi pont elég.
** Korabeli viking szakkifejezéssel: „nőrablás”. show less