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Njála, 075

2016-02-15T17:55:06Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 75==

'''KOLSKEGG GOES ABROAD.'''

Thrain Sigfus' son said to his wife that he meant to fare abroad that summer. She said that was well. So he took his passage with Hogni the White.

Gunnar took his passage with Arnfin of the Bay; and Kolskegg was to go with him.

Grim and Helgi, Njal's sons, asked their father's leave to go abroad too, and Njal said, "This foreign voyage ye will find hard work, so hard that it will be doubtful whether ye keep your lives; but still ye two will get some honour and glory, but it is not unlikely that a quarrel will arise out of your journey when ye come back."

Still they kept on asking their father to let them go, and the end of it was that he bade them go if they chose.

Then they got them a passage with Bard the Black, and Olof Kettle's son of Elda; and it is the talk of the whole country that all the better men<ref> '''better men''': “If this biographical appendix seems unnecessary, it, too, has a reflexive function, for Kolskeggr’s absence, together with those of Þráinn and the Njálssons, is construed as an immediate cause of Gunnarr’s death. ‘Now people were saying that the district was being emptied of its best men,’ the author remarks in Ch. 75, and again, one page later, ‘They all felt that it would be easy to catch Gunnarr, now that Kolskeggr and Þráinn¬ and many other friends of his were away.” [[Clover, Carol J. Open composition: the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga]] (p. 285).</ref> in that district were leaving it.

By this time Gunnar's sons, Hogni and Grani, were grown up; they were men of very different turn of mind. Grani had much of his mother's temper, but Hogni was kind and good.

Gunnar made men bear down the wares of his brother and himself to the ship, and when all Gunnar's baggage had come down, and the ship was all but "boun," then Gunnar rides to Bergthorsknoll, and to other homesteads to see men, and thanked them all for the help they had given him.

The day after he gets ready early for his journey to the ship, and told all his people that he would ride away for good and all, and men took that much to heart, but still they said that they looked to his coming back afterwards.

Gunnar threw his arms round each of the household when he was "boun," and every one of them went out of doors with him; he leans on the butt of his spear<ref>'''on the butt of his spear''': “Inlaid this renowned episode lies an insight into the pattern of the inner life of Gunnar's character, and of the dilemma he faces in the saga.” [[Howson, George. The death of Gunnar]] (pp. 117-18).</ref> and leaps into the saddle, and he and Kolskegg ride away.

They ride down along Markfleet, and just then Gunnar's horse tripped and threw him off. He turned with his face up towards the Lithe and the homestead at Lithend, and said, "Fair is the Lithe; so fair that it has never seemed to me so fair; the corn fields are white to harvest and the home mead is mown; and now I will ride back home, and not fare abroad at all <ref> '''Fair is the Lithe....and not fare abroad''': “The beauty he [Gunnarr] had earlier seen in Hallgerðr and her hair is now seen even more clearly in the ripened crops and cut hay of his farm. As landscape description unrelated to the tactical detail of plot is rare in the sagas, the hair and grass element of the here unstated homology is given much of the relief achieved by others [sic] means in the taðskeggling episode.” [[Sayers, William. Njáll's beard, Hallgerðr's hair, and Gunnarr's hay]].'' (p.20) </ref>."

"Do not this joy to thy foes," says Kolskegg, "by breaking thy atonement, for no man could think thou wouldst do thus, and thou mayst be sure that all will happen as Njal has said."

"I will not go away any whither," said Gunnar, "and so I would thou shouldest do too."

"That shall not be," says Kolskegg; "I will never do a base thing in this, nor in any thing else which is left to my good faith; and this is that one thing that could tear us asunder; but tell this to my kinsman and to my mother that I never mean to see Iceland again, for I shall soon learn that thou art dead, brother, and then there will be nothing left to bring me back."

So they parted there and then. Gunnar rides home to Lithend, but Kolskegg rides to the ship, and goes abroad.

Hallgerda was glad to see Gunnar when he came home, but his mother said little or nothing.

How Gunnar sits at home that fall and winter, and had not many men with him.

Now the winter leaves the farmyard. Olaf the Peacock asked Gunnar and Hallgerda to come and stay with him; but as for the farm, to put it into the hands of his mother and his son Hogni.

Gunnar thought that a good thing at first, and agreed to it, but when it came to the point he would not do it.

But at the Thing next summer, Gizur the White, and Geir the Priest, gave notice of Gunnar's outlawry at the Hill of Laws; and before the Thing broke up Gizur summoned all Gunnar's foes to meet in the "Great Rift." (1) He summoned Starkad under the Threecorner, and Thorgeir his son; Mord and Valgard the Guileful; Geir the Priest and Hjalti Skeggi's son; Thorbrand and Asbrand, Thorleik's sons; Eyjulf, and Aunund his son. Aunund of Witchwood and Thorgrim the Easterling of Sandgil.

The Gizur spoke and said, "I will make you all this offer, that we go out against Gunnar this summer and slay him."

"I gave my word to Gunnar," said Hjalti, "here at the Thing, when he showed himself most willing to yield to my prayer, that I would never be in any attack upon him; and so it shall be."

Then Hjalti went away, but those who were left behind made up their minds to make an onslaught on Gunnar, and shook hands on the bargain, and laid a fine on any one that left the undertaking.

Mord was to keep watch and spy out when there was the best chance of falling on him, and they were forty men in this league, and they thought it would be a light thing for them to hunt down Gunnar, now that Kolskegg was away, and Thrain and many other of Gunnar's friends.

Men ride from the Thing, and Njal went to see Gunnar, and told him of his outlawry, and how an onslaught was planned against him.

"Methinks thou art the best of friends," says Gunnar; "thou makest me aware of what is meant."

"Now," says Njal, "I would that Skarphedinn should come to thy house, and my son Hauskuld; they will lay down their lives for thy life."

"I will not," says Gunnar, "that thy sons should be slain for my sake, and thou hast a right to look for other things from me."

"All thy care will come to nothing," says Njal; "quarrels will turn thitherward where my sons are as soon as thou art dead and gone."

"That is not unlikely," says Gunnar, "but still it would mislike me that they fell into them for me; but this one thing I will ask of thee, that ye see after my son Hogni, but I say naught of Grani, for he does not behave himself much after my mind." <ref>'''after my mind''': "Even if we have established that there is doubt regarding the positive portrayal of Njáll in the saga, this is not the case with Gunnar, a much more classic Íslendingasögur hero, although also not devoid of his fair share of complexities. We are meant to identify with this character, and his call to protect one son and forsake the other is not a decision we are meant to criticize. And if he prefers one child over the other, why can’t Njáll?” [[Tirosh, Yoav. Víga-Njáll: A New Approach Toward Njáls saga]] (p. 223). </ref>

Njal rode home, and gave his word to do that.

It is said that Gunnar rode to all meetings of men, and to all lawful Things, and his foes never dared to fall on him.

And so some time went on that he went about as a free and guiltless man.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 75==

Þráinn Sigfússon sagði það konu sinni að hann ætlaði að fara utan það sumar. Hún sagði að það væri vel. Tók hann sér þá fari með Högna hinum hvíta. Gunnar tók sér fari með Arnfinni hinum víkverska og Kolskeggur.

Þeir Grímur og Helgi Njálssynir báðu föður sinn leyfa að þeir færu utan.

Njáll mælti: „Erfið mun ykkur verða utanferðin svo að tvísýnt mun verða hvort þið fáið haldið lífinu en þó munuð þið fá sæmd í sumu og mannvirðing en eigi örvænt að af leiði vandræði er þið komið út.“

Þeir báðu jafnan að fara og varð það að hann bað þá fara ef þeir vildu. Réðu þeir sér þá far með Bárði svarta og Ólafi Ketilssyni úr Eldu. Og er nú mikil umræða á að mjög leysist á braut hinir betri menn<ref> '''betri menn''': “If this biographical appendix seems unnecessary, it, too, has a reflexive function, for Kolskeggr’s absence, together with those of Þráinn and the Njálssons, is construed as an immediate cause of Gunnarr’s death. ‘Now people were saying that the district was being emptied of its best men,’ the author remarks in Ch. 75, and again, one page later, ‘They all felt that it would be easy to catch Gunnarr, now that Kolskeggr and Þráinn¬ and many other friends of his were away.” [[Clover, Carol J. Open composition: the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga]] (s. 285).</ref> úr sveitinni.

Þeir voru menn frumvaxta synir Gunnars, Högni og Grani. Þeir voru menn óskaplíkir. Hafði Grani mikið af skaplyndi móður sinnar en Högni var vel að sér.

Gunnar lætur flytja vöru þeirra bræðra til skips. Og þá er öll föng Gunnars voru komin og skip var mjög búið þá ríður Gunnar til Bergþórshvols og á aðra bæi að finna menn og þakkaði liðveislu öllum þeim er honum höfðu lið veitt.

Annan dag eftir býr hann ferð sína til skips og sagði þá öllu liði að hann mundi ríða í braut alfari og þótti mönnum það mikið en væntu þó tilkomu hans síðar. Gunnar hverfur til allra manna. Er hann var búinn gengu menn út með honum allir. Hann stingur niður atgeirinum<ref>'''stingur niður atgeirinum''': “Inlaid this renowned episode lies an insight into the pattern of the inner life of Gunnar's character, and of the dilemma he faces in the saga.” [[Howson, George. The death of Gunnar]] (s. 117-18).</ref> og stiklar í söðulinn og ríða þeir Kolskeggur í braut. Þeir ríða fram að Markarfljóti. Þá drap hestur Gunnars fæti og stökk hann af baki.

Honum varð litið upp til hlíðarinnar og bæjarins að Hlíðarenda og mælti: „Fögur er hlíðin svo að mér hefir hún aldrei jafnfögur sýnst, bleikir akrar en slegin tún, og mun eg ríða heim aftur og fara hvergi <ref> '''Fögr er hliðin... ok fara hvergi''': “The beauty he [Gunnarr] had earlier seen in Hallgerðr and her hair is now seen even more clearly in the ripened crops and cut hay of his farm. As landscape description unrelated to the tactical detail of plot is rare in the sagas, the hair and grass element of the here unstated homology is given much of the relief achieved by others [sic] means in the taðskeggling episode.” [[Sayers, William. Njálls beard, Hallgerðrs hair, and Gunnars hay]].'' (s.20) </ref>.“

„Gerðu eigi þann óvinafagnað,“ segir Kolskeggur, „að þú rjúfir sætt þína því að þér mundi engi maður það ætla. Og muntu það ætla mega að svo mun allt fara sem Njáll hefir sagt.“

„Hvergi mun eg fara og svo vildi eg að þú gerðir,“ segir Gunnar.

„Eigi skal það,“ segir Kolskeggur, „hvorki skal eg á þessu níðast og á engu öðru því er mér er til trúað og mun sjá einn hlutur svo vera að skilja mun með okkur en seg það frændum mínum og móður minni að eg ætla ekki að sjá Ísland því að eg mun spyrja þig látinn, frændi, og heldur mig þá ekki til útferðar.“

Skilur þá með þeim. Ríður Gunnar heim til Hlíðarenda en Kolskeggur ríður til skips og fer utan.

Hallgerður verður fegin Gunnari er hann kom heim en móðir hans lagði fátt til. Gunnar situr nú heima þetta haust og veturinn og hafði ekki margt manna með sér.

Ólafur pái bauð Gunnari til sín og Hallgerði en bað hann fá bú í hendur móður sinni og Högna syni sínum. Gunnari þótti fýsilegt fyrst og játaði því en þá er að kom þá vildi hann eigi.

En á þingi um sumarið lýsa þeir Gissur sekt hans að Lögbergi. En áður þinglausnir voru stefndi Gissur öllum óvinum Gunnars í Almannagjá: Starkaði undan Þríhyrningi og Þorgeiri syni hans, Merði og Valgarði hinum grá, Geir goða og Hjalta Skeggjasyni, Þorbrandi og Ásbrandi Þorleikssonum, Eilífi og Önundi syni hans, Önundi úr Tröllaskógi, Þorgrími úr Sandgili.

Gissur mælti: „Eg vil bjóða yður að vér förum að Gunnari í sumar og drepum hann.“

Hjalti mælti: „Því hét eg Gunnari hér á þingi þá er hann gerði mest fyrir mín orð að eg skyldi eigi vera í aðförum við Gunnar, skal og svo vera.“

Síðan gekk Hjalti í braut en þeir réðu aðför við Gunnar er eftir voru og höfðu handtak að og lögðu við sekt ef nokkur gengi úr. Mörður skyldi halda njósnum nær best gæfi færi á honum og voru þeir fjórir tigir manna í þessu sambandi. Þótti þeim sér nú mundu lítið fyrir að veiða Gunnar er á brautu var Kolskeggur og Þráinn og margir aðrir vinir Gunnars. Riðu menn heim af þingi.

Njáll fór að finna Gunnar og sagði honum sekt hans og ráðna aðför við hann.

„Vel þykir mér þér fara,“ sagði Gunnar, „er þú gerir mig varan við.“

„Nú vil eg,“ segir Njáll, „að Skarphéðinn fari til þín og Höskuldur sonur minn og munu þeir leggja sitt líf við þitt líf.“

„Eigi vil eg,“ segir Gunnar, „að synir þínir séu drepnir fyrir mínar sakir og áttu annað að mér.“

„Fyrir ekki mun það koma,“ sagði Njáll. „Þangað mun snúið vandræðum þá er þú ert látinn sem synir mínir eru.“

„Eigi er það ólíklegt,“ segir Gunnar, „en eigi vildi eg að það hlytist af mér til. En þess vil eg biðja að þér sjáið á með Högna syni mínum. En eg tala ekki til Grana því að hann gerir ekki margt að mínu skapi.“ <ref>'''að mínu skapi''': "Even if we have established that there is doubt regarding the positive portrayal of Njáll in the saga, this is not the case with Gunnar, a much more classic Íslendingasögur hero, although also not devoid of his fair share of complexities. We are meant to identify with this character, and his call to protect one son and forsake the other is not a decision we are meant to criticize. And if he prefers one child over the other, why can’t Njáll?” [[Tirosh, Yoav. Víga-Njáll: A New Approach Toward Njáls saga]] (s. 223). </ref>

Reið Njáll heim og hét því.

Það er sagt að Gunnar reið til allra mannfunda og lögþinga og þorðu aldrei óvinir hans á hann að ráða. Fór svo fram nokkura hríð að hann fór sem ósekur maður.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Sayers, William. Njáll's beard, Hallgerðr's hair and Gunnarr's hay

2016-02-15T17:43:29Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': William Sayers
* '''Title''': Njálls beard, Hallgerðrs hair, Gunnars hay: Homological patterning in Njáls saga
* '''Published in''': ''Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek''
* '''Place, Publisher''':
* '''Year''': 1994
* '''Pages''': 5-31
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Sayers, William. “Njálls Beard, Hallgerðrs Hair, and Gunnars Hay: Homological patterning in Njáls saga.” ''Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek'', February 15, 1994. 5-31.
----
* '''Key words''':

homology, hair, gender

==Annotation==
Hair and vegetation have been homologically equated in various human cultures, not just through language but also through literary motifs. For example, cognates that alternatively denote hair and grass, forests, etc., exist in the Indo-European language family. Sayers argues that this homology was part of the cognitive processes of early societies, and is highly visible in Njáls saga. He lays out in his article various instances in the saga where hair and hay, grass, and grain clearly correspond to each other. Notable instances of this are Hallgerðr’s insults to Njáll and his sons, the term taðskeggling (‘little dung-beard’), Gunnarr’s various episodes relating to hay, and Hallgerðr’s refusal to lend her hair for a bowstring. In addition to proving homology, the article discusses gender expectations, most significantly physical traits, in considerable detail, and thus serves as an in-depth analysis of Hallgerðr’s (and to a lesser extent Gunnarr’s) character.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_75|Chapter 75]]: '''Fögr er hliðin... ok fara hvergi''': “The beauty he [Gunnarr] had earlier seen in Hallgerðr and her hair is now seen even more clearly in the ripened crops and cut hay of his farm. As landscape description unrelated to the tactical detail of plot is rare in the sagas, the hair and grass element of the here unstated homology is given much of the relief achieved by others [sic] means in the taðskeggling episode.” (p.20)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Jensen Scheuer
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Einar Pálsson. Evil and the earth

2016-02-15T17:25:12Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Einar Pálsson
* '''Title''': Evil and the Earth
* '''Place, Publisher''': Reykjavik, Mímir
* '''Year''': 1994
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Einar Pálsson. Evil and the Earth. Reykjavik: Mímir, 1994.
----
* '''Key words''':

mythology, Plato, symbolism

==Annotation==
This short book relies on symbolical derivations from Ancient Greek texts to analyze the character of Mörðr Valgarðsson in Njáls saga. Because Hauksbók contains Plato’s Timaeus, Einar assumes that the author of Njáls saga was, and indeed all ‘wise men’ were, intimately familiar with its concepts of the Four Elements and Five Regular Solids. Therefore he concludes that Mörðr must stand for the Cube and its association with earth and evil. Mörðr is also connected to the symbols of pagan slanderer, the god Loki, a marten, the Roman god Saturn, and the number six, and his character alludes to the Holy Grail. Einar’s approach heavily relies on evidence from Antiquity, such as Plato, Proclus, and Plotinus, combined with number symbolism and geometrical interpretations of landscape. Conversely, his use of evidence from Old Norse sources is mostly based on conjecture.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_46|Chapter 46]]: '''Hann var slægur go illgjarn''': “Not only are we told that Mörðr lived at Hof; we are directly told that he was cunning and full of ill will and that he further envied our great hero, Gunnar frá Hliðarenda. And Proclus tells us that jealousy and envy are the nature of matter – the ultimate symbol of which was the Cube.” (p. 25)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Jensen Scheuer
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Einar Pálsson. Evil and the earth

2016-02-15T17:19:37Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Einar Pálsson
* '''Title''': Evil and the Earth
* '''Place, Publisher''': Reykjavik, Mímir
* '''Year''': 1994
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Einar Pálsson. Evil and the Earth. Reykjavik: Mímir, 1994.
----
* '''Key words''':

mythology, Plato, symbolism

==Annotation==
This short book relies on symbolical derivations from Ancient Greek texts to analyze the character of Mörðr Valgarðsson in Njáls saga. Because Hauksbók contains Plato’s Timaeus, Einar assumes that the author of Njáls saga was, and indeed all ‘wise men’ were, intimately familiar with its concepts of the Four Elements and Five Regular Solids. Therefore he concludes that Mörðr must stand for the Cube and its association with earth and evil. Mörðr is also connected to the symbols of pagan slanderer, the god Loki, a marten, the Roman god Saturn, and the number six, and his character alludes to the Holy Grail. Einar’s approach heavily relies on evidence from Antiquity, such as Plato, Proclus, and Plotinus, combined with number symbolism and geometrical interpretations of landscape. Conversely, his use of evidence from Old Norse sources is mostly based on conjecture.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_46|Chapter 46]]: '''Í þenna tíma bjó Mörðr Valgarðsson at Hofi á Rangárvöllum; hann var slægr ok illgjarn...''' “Not only are we told that Mörðr lived at Hof; we are directly told that he was cunning and full of ill will and that he further envied our great hero, Gunnar frá Hliðarenda. And Proclus tells us that jealousy and envy are the nature of matter – the ultimate symbol of which was the Cube.” (p. 25)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Jensen Scheuer
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 005

2016-02-15T17:11:59Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 5==

There was a man named Atli, son of Arnvid, Earl of East Gothland. He had kept back the taxes from Hacon Athelstane's foster child, and both father and son had fled away from Jemtland to Gothland. After that, Atli held on with his followers out of the Maelar by Stock Sound, and so on towards Denmark, and now he lies out in Oresound.(1) He is an outlaw both of the Dane-King and of the Swede-King. Hrut held on south to the Sound, and when he came into it he saw a many ships in the Sound. Then Wolf said, "What's best to be done now, Icelander?"

"Hold on our course," said Hrut, "for 'nothing venture, nothing have <ref> '''nothing venture, nothing have''': “The voyage, then, is a significant structural element throughout the saga. Its parallels and variants signal the stages of the over-all design, and, since that of Hrútr sets the basic pattern, it is fitting that it takes up as much space as it does.” [[Hieatt, Constance B. Hrútr's voyage to Norway and the structure of Njála]] (p. 277).</ref>' My ship and Auzur's shall go first, but thou shalt lay thy ship where thou likest."

"Seldom have I had others as a shield before me," says Wolf, and lays his galley side by side with Hrut's ship; and so they hold on through the Sound. Now those who are in the Sound see that ships are coming up to them, and they tell Atli.

He answered, "Then may be there'll be gain to be got."

After that men took their stand on board each ship; "but my ship," says Atli, "shall be in the midst of the fleet."

Meantime Hrut's ships ran on, and as soon as either side could hear the other's hail, Atli stood up and said, "Ye fare unwarily. Saw ye not that war-ships were in the Sound. But what's the name of your chief?"

Hrut tells his name.

"Whose man art thou," says Atli.

"One of king Harold Grayfell's body-guard."

Atli said. "'Tis long since any love was lost between us, father and son, and your Norway kings."

"Worse luck for thee," says Hrut.

"Well," says Atli, "the upshot of our meeting will be, that thou shalt not be left alive to tell the tale;" and with that he caught up a spear and hurled it at Hrut's ship, and the man who stood before it got his death. After that the battle began, and they were slow in boarding Hrut's ship. Wolf, he went well forward, and with him it was now cut, now thrust. Atli's bowman's name was Asolf; he sprung up on Hrut's ship, and was four men's death before Hrut was aware of him; then he turned against him, and when they met, Asolf thrust at and through Hrut's shield, but Hrut cut once at Asolf, and that was his death-blow. Wolf the Unwashed saw that stroke, and called out, "Truth to say, Hrut, thou dealest big blows, but thou'st much to thank Gunnhillda for."

"Something tells me," says Hrut, "that thou speakest with a 'fey' mouth."

Now Atli sees a bare place for a weapon on Wolf, and shot a spear through him and now the battle grows hot: Atli leaps up on Hrut's ship, and clears it fast round about, and now Auzur turns to meet him, and thrust at him, but fell down full length on his back, for another man thrust at him. Now Hrut turns to meet Atli: he cut at once at Hrut's shield, and clove it all in two, from top to point; just then Atli got a blow on his hand from a stone, and down fell his sword. Hrut caught up the sword, and cut his foot from under him. After that he dealt him his death-blow. There they took much goods, and brought away with them two ships which were best, and stayed there only a little while. But meantime Soti and his crew had sailed past them, and he held on his course back to Norway, and made the land at Limgard's side. There Soti went on shore, and there he met Augmund, Gunnhillda's page; he knew him at once, and asks, "How long meanest thou to be here?"

"Three nights," says Soti.

"Whither away, then?" says Augmund.

"West, to England," says Soti, "and never to come back again to Norway while Gunnhillda's rule is in Norway."

Augmund went away, and goes and finds Gunnhillda, for she was a little way off, at a feast, and Gudred, her son, with her. Augmund told Gunnhillda what Soti meant to do, and she begged Gudred to take his life. So Gudred set off at once, and came unawares on Soti, and made them lead him up the country, and hang him there. But the goods he took, and brought them to his mother, and she got men to carry them all down to the King's Crag, and after that she went thither herself.

Hrut came back towards autumn, and had gotten great store of goods. He went at once to the king, and had a hearty welcome. He begged them to take whatever they pleased of his goods, and the king took a third. Gunnhillda told Hrut how she had got hold of the inheritance, and had Soti slain. He thanked her, and gave her half of all he had.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 5==

Atli hét maður. Hann var son Arnviðar jarls úr Gautlandi hinu eystra. Hann var hermaður mikill og lá úti austur í Leginum. Hann hafði átta skip. Faðir hans hafði haldið sköttum fyrir Hákoni Aðalsteinsfóstra og stukku þeir feðgar til Gautlands úr Jamtalandi. Síðan hélt Atli liðinu úr Leginum út um Stokkssund og svo suður til Danmerkur og liggur úti í Eyrasundi. Hann er útlagi bæði Danakonungs og Svíakonungs.

Hrútur hélt suður til Eyrasunds. Og er hann kom í sundið sér hann fjölda skipa í sundinu.

Þá mælti Úlfur: „Hvað skal nú til ráða taka, Íslendingur?“

„Halda fram ferðinni,“ segir Hrútur, „því að ekki dugir ófreistað <ref> '''því að ekki dugir ófreistað''': “The voyage, then, is a significant structural element throughout the saga. Its parallels and variants signal the stages of the over-all design, and, since that of Hrútr sets the basic pattern, it is fitting that it takes up as much space as it does.” [[Hieatt, Constance B. Hrútr's voyage to Norway and the structure of Njála]] (s. 277).</ref>. Skal skip okkað Össurar fara fyrst en þú skalt leggja fram sem þér líkar.“

„Sjaldan hefi eg aðra haft að skildi fyrir mér,“ segir Úlfur og leggur fram skeiðina jafnfram skipi Hrúts og halda svo fram í sundið.

Nú sjá þeir er í sundinu eru að skip fara að þeim. Þeir segja Atla.

Hann svaraði: „Þá gefur vel til fjár að vinna.“ Síðan skipuðu þeir til á hverju skipi. „En mitt skip skal vera í miðjum skipaflotanum,“ sagði Atli.

Síðan renna fram skipin. Og þegar er hvorir ná máli annarra stóð Atli upp og mælti: „Þér farið óvarlega. Sáuð þér eigi að herskip voru í sundinu eða hvert er nafn höfðingja yðar?“

Hrútur sagði til sín.

„Hvers maður ert þú?“ segir Atli.

„Hirðmaður Haralds konungs gráfeldar.“

Atli mælti: „Lengi höfum við feðgar ekki kærir verið Noregskonungum yðrum.“

„Ógæfa þín er það,“ sagði Hrútur.

„Svo hefir borið saman fund okkarn,“ segir Atli, „að þú skalt eigi kunna frá tíðindum að segja“ og þreif upp spjót og skaut á skip Hrúts og hafði sá bana er fyrir varð.

Síðan tókst orusta með þeim og sóttist þeim seint skip þeirra Hrúts. Úlfur gekk vel fram og gerði ýmist, hjó eða lagði. Ásólfur hét stafnbúi Atla. Hann hljóp upp á skip Hrúts og varð fjögurra manna bani áður Hrútur varð var við. Sneri hann þá í móti honum. En er þeir fundust lagði Ásólfur í skjöld Hrúts og í gegnum en Hrútur hjó til Ásólfs og varð það hans banahögg.

Þetta sá Úlfur óþveginn og mælti: „Bæði er nú, Hrútur, að þú höggur stórt enda áttu mikið að launa Gunnhildi.“

„Það varir,“ segir Hrútur, „að þú mælir feigum munni.“

Nú sér Atli beran vopnastað á Úlfi og skaut spjóti í gegnum hann. Nú tekst orusta mikil. Atli hleypur upp á skip að Hrúti og ryðst um fast og snýr í móti honum Össur og lagði til hans og féll sjálfur á bak aftur því að annar maður lagði til hans. Hrútur sneri nú í móti Atla. Hann hjó þegar í skjöld Hrúts og klauf allan niður. Þá fékk Atli steinshögg á höndina og féll niður sverðið. Hrútur tók sverðið og hjó undan honum fótinn. Síðan veitti hann honum banasár. Þar tóku þeir fé mikið og höfðu með sér tvö skip, þau er best voru, og dvöldust þar litla hríð síðan, því að þeir Sóti fórust hjá og hélt hann aftur til Noregs og kom við Limgarðssíðu og gekk Sóti þar á land. Þar mætti hann Ögmundi sveini Gunnhildar. Hann kenndi hann þegar og spyr: „Hversu lengi ætlar þú hér að vera?“

„Þrjár nætur,“ segir Sóti.

„Hvert ætlar þú þá?“ sagði Ögmundur.

„Vestur til Englands,“ segir Sóti, „og koma aldregi til Noregs síðan meðan ríki Gunnhildar er í Noregi.“

Ögmundur gekk í braut og fer á fund Gunnhildar því að hún var þaðan skammt á veislu og Guðröður sonur hennar. Ögmundur sagði Gunnhildi fyrirætlan Sóta. Hún bað Guðröð taka hann af lífi.

Guðröður fór þegar og kom á óvart Sóta og lét leiða hann á land upp og festa þar upp en tók féið og færði móður sinni. Hún fékk til menn að færa féið allt til Konungahellu. Síðan fór hún og þangað.

Hrútur hélt aftur um haustið og hefir fengið offjár og fór þegar á fund konungs og hafði af honum góðar viðtökur. Hann bauð þeim að hafa af slíkt sem þau vildu en konungur tók af þriðjunginn. Gunnhildur segir Hrúti að hún hafði tekið erfðina en látið drepa Sóta. Hann þakkar henni og gaf henni allt hálft við sig.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Hieatt, Constance B. Hrútr's voyage to Norway and the structure of Njála

2016-02-15T17:04:56Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Constance B. Hieatt
* '''Title''': Hrútr's voyage to Norway and the structure of ''Njála''
* '''Editor''': John Tucker
* '''Published in''': ''Sagas of the Icelanders''
* '''Place, Publisher''': New York & London, Garland Publishing Inc.
* '''Year''': 1989
* '''Pages''': 272-279
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Hieatt, Constance B. “Hrútr’s Voyage to Norway and the Structure of ''Njála''.” ''Sagas of the Icelanders''. Ed. John Tucker. New York & London: Garland Publishing Inc. 1989. 272-279
----
* '''Key words''':
marriage, voyage, travel pattern

==Annotation==
Hieatt claims that Hrútr’s voyage to Norway in the beginning of Njáls saga has been inadequately explained by scholars (most notably Richard F. Allen and Lars Lönnroth) in relation to the whole of the saga. Working from their theory that ‘digressive’ elements in sagas are keys to understanding the whole, he puts forth the idea that the voyage functions as a prologue which reveals the author’s intentions, sets in motion the central events of the plot, and establishes the main themes to be paralleled later in the saga. One of these themes is ‘bride-wooing’ and disastrous marriages, anticipating Gunnar’s marriage with Hallgerðr. Another theme is the voyages overseas, which serve as markers for significant developments of the plot and move the story into its next phase. Hieatt elaborates on further echoes of Hrútr’s voyage throughout the saga, demonstrating how the audience is given clues by this ‘prologue’ to the events and meaning of the story thereafter.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==

[[Njála,_5|Chapter 5]]: '''nothing venture, nothing have''': “The voyage, then, is a significant structural element throughout the saga. Its parallels and variants signal the stages of the over-all design, and, since that of Hrútr sets the basic pattern, it is fitting that it takes up as much space as it does.” (p. 277)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Jensen Scheuer
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 075

2016-02-15T14:19:36Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 75==

'''KOLSKEGG GOES ABROAD.'''

Thrain Sigfus' son said to his wife that he meant to fare abroad that summer. She said that was well. So he took his passage with Hogni the White.

Gunnar took his passage with Arnfin of the Bay; and Kolskegg was to go with him.

Grim and Helgi, Njal's sons, asked their father's leave to go abroad too, and Njal said, "This foreign voyage ye will find hard work, so hard that it will be doubtful whether ye keep your lives; but still ye two will get some honour and glory, but it is not unlikely that a quarrel will arise out of your journey when ye come back."

Still they kept on asking their father to let them go, and the end of it was that he bade them go if they chose.

Then they got them a passage with Bard the Black, and Olof Kettle's son of Elda; and it is the talk of the whole country that all the better men<ref> '''better men''': “If this biographical appendix seems unnecessary, it, too, has a reflexive function, for Kolskeggr’s absence, together with those of Þráinn and the Njálssons, is construed as an immediate cause of Gunnarr’s death. ‘Now people were saying that the district was being emptied of its best men,’ the author remarks in Ch. 75, and again, one page later, ‘They all felt that it would be easy to catch Gunnarr, now that Kolskeggr and Þráinn¬ and many other friends of his were away.” [[Clover, Carol J. Open composition: the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga]] (p. 285).</ref> in that district were leaving it.

By this time Gunnar's sons, Hogni and Grani, were grown up; they were men of very different turn of mind. Grani had much of his mother's temper, but Hogni was kind and good.

Gunnar made men bear down the wares of his brother and himself to the ship, and when all Gunnar's baggage had come down, and the ship was all but "boun," then Gunnar rides to Bergthorsknoll, and to other homesteads to see men, and thanked them all for the help they had given him.

The day after he gets ready early for his journey to the ship, and told all his people that he would ride away for good and all, and men took that much to heart, but still they said that they looked to his coming back afterwards.

Gunnar threw his arms round each of the household when he was "boun," and every one of them went out of doors with him; he leans on the butt of his spear<ref>'''on the butt of his spear''': “Inlaid this renowned episode lies an insight into the pattern of the inner life of Gunnar's character, and of the dilemma he faces in the saga.” [[Howson, George. The death of Gunnar]] (pp. 117-18).</ref> and leaps into the saddle, and he and Kolskegg ride away.

They ride down along Markfleet, and just then Gunnar's horse tripped and threw him off. He turned with his face up towards the Lithe and the homestead at Lithend, and said, "Fair is the Lithe; so fair that it has never seemed to me so fair; the corn fields are white to harvest and the home mead is mown; and now I will ride back home, and not fare abroad at all."

"Do not this joy to thy foes," says Kolskegg, "by breaking thy atonement, for no man could think thou wouldst do thus, and thou mayst be sure that all will happen as Njal has said."

"I will not go away any whither," said Gunnar, "and so I would thou shouldest do too."

"That shall not be," says Kolskegg; "I will never do a base thing in this, nor in any thing else which is left to my good faith; and this is that one thing that could tear us asunder; but tell this to my kinsman and to my mother that I never mean to see Iceland again, for I shall soon learn that thou art dead, brother, and then there will be nothing left to bring me back."

So they parted there and then. Gunnar rides home to Lithend, but Kolskegg rides to the ship, and goes abroad.

Hallgerda was glad to see Gunnar when he came home, but his mother said little or nothing.

How Gunnar sits at home that fall and winter, and had not many men with him.

Now the winter leaves the farmyard. Olaf the Peacock asked Gunnar and Hallgerda to come and stay with him; but as for the farm, to put it into the hands of his mother and his son Hogni.

Gunnar thought that a good thing at first, and agreed to it, but when it came to the point he would not do it.

But at the Thing next summer, Gizur the White, and Geir the Priest, gave notice of Gunnar's outlawry at the Hill of Laws; and before the Thing broke up Gizur summoned all Gunnar's foes to meet in the "Great Rift." (1) He summoned Starkad under the Threecorner, and Thorgeir his son; Mord and Valgard the Guileful; Geir the Priest and Hjalti Skeggi's son; Thorbrand and Asbrand, Thorleik's sons; Eyjulf, and Aunund his son. Aunund of Witchwood and Thorgrim the Easterling of Sandgil.

The Gizur spoke and said, "I will make you all this offer, that we go out against Gunnar this summer and slay him."

"I gave my word to Gunnar," said Hjalti, "here at the Thing, when he showed himself most willing to yield to my prayer, that I would never be in any attack upon him; and so it shall be."

Then Hjalti went away, but those who were left behind made up their minds to make an onslaught on Gunnar, and shook hands on the bargain, and laid a fine on any one that left the undertaking.

Mord was to keep watch and spy out when there was the best chance of falling on him, and they were forty men in this league, and they thought it would be a light thing for them to hunt down Gunnar, now that Kolskegg was away, and Thrain and many other of Gunnar's friends.

Men ride from the Thing, and Njal went to see Gunnar, and told him of his outlawry, and how an onslaught was planned against him.

"Methinks thou art the best of friends," says Gunnar; "thou makest me aware of what is meant."

"Now," says Njal, "I would that Skarphedinn should come to thy house, and my son Hauskuld; they will lay down their lives for thy life."

"I will not," says Gunnar, "that thy sons should be slain for my sake, and thou hast a right to look for other things from me."

"All thy care will come to nothing," says Njal; "quarrels will turn thitherward where my sons are as soon as thou art dead and gone."

"That is not unlikely," says Gunnar, "but still it would mislike me that they fell into them for me; but this one thing I will ask of thee, that ye see after my son Hogni, but I say naught of Grani, for he does not behave himself much after my mind." <ref>'''after my mind''': "Even if we have established that there is doubt regarding the positive portrayal of Njáll in the saga, this is not the case with Gunnar, a much more classic Íslendingasögur hero, although also not devoid of his fair share of complexities. We are meant to identify with this character, and his call to protect one son and forsake the other is not a decision we are meant to criticize. And if he prefers one child over the other, why can’t Njáll?” [[Tirosh, Yoav. Víga-Njáll: A New Approach Toward Njáls saga]] (p. 223). </ref>

Njal rode home, and gave his word to do that.

It is said that Gunnar rode to all meetings of men, and to all lawful Things, and his foes never dared to fall on him.

And so some time went on that he went about as a free and guiltless man.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 75==

Þráinn Sigfússon sagði það konu sinni að hann ætlaði að fara utan það sumar. Hún sagði að það væri vel. Tók hann sér þá fari með Högna hinum hvíta. Gunnar tók sér fari með Arnfinni hinum víkverska og Kolskeggur.

Þeir Grímur og Helgi Njálssynir báðu föður sinn leyfa að þeir færu utan.

Njáll mælti: „Erfið mun ykkur verða utanferðin svo að tvísýnt mun verða hvort þið fáið haldið lífinu en þó munuð þið fá sæmd í sumu og mannvirðing en eigi örvænt að af leiði vandræði er þið komið út.“

Þeir báðu jafnan að fara og varð það að hann bað þá fara ef þeir vildu. Réðu þeir sér þá far með Bárði svarta og Ólafi Ketilssyni úr Eldu. Og er nú mikil umræða á að mjög leysist á braut hinir betri menn<ref> '''betri menn''': “If this biographical appendix seems unnecessary, it, too, has a reflexive function, for Kolskeggr’s absence, together with those of Þráinn and the Njálssons, is construed as an immediate cause of Gunnarr’s death. ‘Now people were saying that the district was being emptied of its best men,’ the author remarks in Ch. 75, and again, one page later, ‘They all felt that it would be easy to catch Gunnarr, now that Kolskeggr and Þráinn¬ and many other friends of his were away.” [[Clover, Carol J. Open composition: the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga]] (s. 285).</ref> úr sveitinni.

Þeir voru menn frumvaxta synir Gunnars, Högni og Grani. Þeir voru menn óskaplíkir. Hafði Grani mikið af skaplyndi móður sinnar en Högni var vel að sér.

Gunnar lætur flytja vöru þeirra bræðra til skips. Og þá er öll föng Gunnars voru komin og skip var mjög búið þá ríður Gunnar til Bergþórshvols og á aðra bæi að finna menn og þakkaði liðveislu öllum þeim er honum höfðu lið veitt.

Annan dag eftir býr hann ferð sína til skips og sagði þá öllu liði að hann mundi ríða í braut alfari og þótti mönnum það mikið en væntu þó tilkomu hans síðar. Gunnar hverfur til allra manna. Er hann var búinn gengu menn út með honum allir. Hann stingur niður atgeirinum<ref>'''stingur niður atgeirinum''': “Inlaid this renowned episode lies an insight into the pattern of the inner life of Gunnar's character, and of the dilemma he faces in the saga.” [[Howson, George. The death of Gunnar]] (s. 117-18).</ref> og stiklar í söðulinn og ríða þeir Kolskeggur í braut. Þeir ríða fram að Markarfljóti. Þá drap hestur Gunnars fæti og stökk hann af baki.

Honum varð litið upp til hlíðarinnar og bæjarins að Hlíðarenda og mælti: „Fögur er hlíðin svo að mér hefir hún aldrei jafnfögur sýnst, bleikir akrar en slegin tún, og mun eg ríða heim aftur og fara hvergi.“

„Gerðu eigi þann óvinafagnað,“ segir Kolskeggur, „að þú rjúfir sætt þína því að þér mundi engi maður það ætla. Og muntu það ætla mega að svo mun allt fara sem Njáll hefir sagt.“

„Hvergi mun eg fara og svo vildi eg að þú gerðir,“ segir Gunnar.

„Eigi skal það,“ segir Kolskeggur, „hvorki skal eg á þessu níðast og á engu öðru því er mér er til trúað og mun sjá einn hlutur svo vera að skilja mun með okkur en seg það frændum mínum og móður minni að eg ætla ekki að sjá Ísland því að eg mun spyrja þig látinn, frændi, og heldur mig þá ekki til útferðar.“

Skilur þá með þeim. Ríður Gunnar heim til Hlíðarenda en Kolskeggur ríður til skips og fer utan.

Hallgerður verður fegin Gunnari er hann kom heim en móðir hans lagði fátt til. Gunnar situr nú heima þetta haust og veturinn og hafði ekki margt manna með sér.

Ólafur pái bauð Gunnari til sín og Hallgerði en bað hann fá bú í hendur móður sinni og Högna syni sínum. Gunnari þótti fýsilegt fyrst og játaði því en þá er að kom þá vildi hann eigi.

En á þingi um sumarið lýsa þeir Gissur sekt hans að Lögbergi. En áður þinglausnir voru stefndi Gissur öllum óvinum Gunnars í Almannagjá: Starkaði undan Þríhyrningi og Þorgeiri syni hans, Merði og Valgarði hinum grá, Geir goða og Hjalta Skeggjasyni, Þorbrandi og Ásbrandi Þorleikssonum, Eilífi og Önundi syni hans, Önundi úr Tröllaskógi, Þorgrími úr Sandgili.

Gissur mælti: „Eg vil bjóða yður að vér förum að Gunnari í sumar og drepum hann.“

Hjalti mælti: „Því hét eg Gunnari hér á þingi þá er hann gerði mest fyrir mín orð að eg skyldi eigi vera í aðförum við Gunnar, skal og svo vera.“

Síðan gekk Hjalti í braut en þeir réðu aðför við Gunnar er eftir voru og höfðu handtak að og lögðu við sekt ef nokkur gengi úr. Mörður skyldi halda njósnum nær best gæfi færi á honum og voru þeir fjórir tigir manna í þessu sambandi. Þótti þeim sér nú mundu lítið fyrir að veiða Gunnar er á brautu var Kolskeggur og Þráinn og margir aðrir vinir Gunnars. Riðu menn heim af þingi.

Njáll fór að finna Gunnar og sagði honum sekt hans og ráðna aðför við hann.

„Vel þykir mér þér fara,“ sagði Gunnar, „er þú gerir mig varan við.“

„Nú vil eg,“ segir Njáll, „að Skarphéðinn fari til þín og Höskuldur sonur minn og munu þeir leggja sitt líf við þitt líf.“

„Eigi vil eg,“ segir Gunnar, „að synir þínir séu drepnir fyrir mínar sakir og áttu annað að mér.“

„Fyrir ekki mun það koma,“ sagði Njáll. „Þangað mun snúið vandræðum þá er þú ert látinn sem synir mínir eru.“

„Eigi er það ólíklegt,“ segir Gunnar, „en eigi vildi eg að það hlytist af mér til. En þess vil eg biðja að þér sjáið á með Högna syni mínum. En eg tala ekki til Grana því að hann gerir ekki margt að mínu skapi.“ <ref>'''að mínu skapi''': "Even if we have established that there is doubt regarding the positive portrayal of Njáll in the saga, this is not the case with Gunnar, a much more classic Íslendingasögur hero, although also not devoid of his fair share of complexities. We are meant to identify with this character, and his call to protect one son and forsake the other is not a decision we are meant to criticize. And if he prefers one child over the other, why can’t Njáll?” [[Tirosh, Yoav. Víga-Njáll: A New Approach Toward Njáls saga]] (s. 223). </ref>

Reið Njáll heim og hét því.

Það er sagt að Gunnar reið til allra mannfunda og lögþinga og þorðu aldrei óvinir hans á hann að ráða. Fór svo fram nokkura hríð að hann fór sem ósekur maður.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Clover, Carol J. Open composition: the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga

2016-02-15T14:14:49Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Carol J. Clover
* '''Title''': Open Composition: The Atlantic Interlude in ''Njál’s Saga''
* '''Published in''': ''Sagas of the Icelanders''
* '''Place, Publisher''': New York & London, Garland Publishing Inc.
* '''Year''': 1989
* '''Pages''': 280-291
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Clover, Carol J. “Open Composition: The Atlantic Interlude in Njál’s Saga.” Sagas of the Icelanders. Ed. John Tucker. New York & London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1989. 280-291.
----
* '''Key words''':
structure, Atlantic interlude, character

==Annotation==
This article is a reaction against neoclassical critiques of sagas that portray them as disunified and full of digressions from the main plot. Clover uses the Atlantic interlude in Njáls saga as a case study that demonstrates sagas’ unique sense of unity. This is achieved through a concept of ‘open composition’ where anything not directly impacting the main plot can be included as long as it serves a reflexive or anticipatory function. Furthermore, unnecessary details and overdevelopment of minor characters can be explained by a tendency to complete a character’s story, thus forming an interwoven collection of þættir rather than a single, focused narrative. The Atlantic interlude is comprised of five individual and complete stories of Icelanders (Gunnarr, Grímr, Helgi, Kolskeggr, and Þráinn) which together are aesthetically satisfying and, as Clover claims, embody the author´s intention: infinite digression for the sake of completeness.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==

[[Njála,_75|Chapter 75]]: '''betri menn''': “If this biographical appendix seems unnecessary, it, too, has a reflexive function, for Kolskeggr’s absence, together with those of Þráinn and the Njálssons, is construed as an immediate cause of Gunnarr’s death. ‘Now people were saying that the district was being emptied of its best men,’ the author remarks in Ch. 75, and again, one page later, ‘They all felt that it would be easy to catch Gunnarr, now that Kolskeggr and Þráinn¬ and many other friends of his were away.” (p. 285)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Jensen Scheuer
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 077

2016-01-26T00:36:34Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 77==

'''GUNNAR'S SLAYING.'''

Gunnar woke up in his hall and said, "Thou hast been sorely treated, Sam, my fosterling, and this warning is so meant that our two deaths will not be far apart."

Gunnar's hall was made all of wood, and roofed with beams above, and there were window-slits under the beams that carried the roof, and they were fitted with shutters.

Gunnar slept in a loft above the hall, and so did Hallgerda and his mother.

Now when they were come near to the house they knew not whether Gunnar were at home, and bade that some one would go straight up to the house and see if he could find out. But the rest sat them down on the ground.

Thorgrim the Easterling went and began to climb up on the hall; Gunnar sees that a red kirtle passed before the windowslit, and thrusts out the bill, and smote him on the middle. Thorgrim's feet slipped from under him, and he dropped his shield, and down he toppled from the roof.

Then he goes to Gizur and his band as they sat on the ground.

Gizur looked at him and said, "Well, is Gunnar at home?

"Find that out for yourselves," said Thorgrim; "but this I am sure of, that his bill is at home," and with that he fell down dead.

Then they made for the buildings. Gunnar shot out arrows at them, and made a stout defence, and they could get nothing done. Then some of them got into the out houses and tried to attack him thence, but Gunnar found them out with his arrows there also, and still they could get nothing done.

So it went on for a while, then they took a rest, and made a second onslaught. Gunnar still shot out at them, and they could do nothing, and fell off the second time. Then Gizur the White said, "Let us press on harder; nothing comes of our onslaught."

Then they made a third bout of it, and were long at it, and then they fell off again.

Gunnar said, "There lies an arrow outside on the wall, and it is one of their shafts; I will shoot at them with it, and it will be a shame to them if they get a hurt from their own weapons."

His mother said, "Do not so, my son; nor rouse them again when they have already fallen off from the attack."

But Gunnar caught up the arrow and shot it after them, and struck Eylif Aunund's son, and he got a great wound; he was standing all by himself, and they knew not that he was wounded.

"Out came an arm yonder," says Gizur, "and there was a gold ring on it, and took an arrow from the roof, and they would not look outside for shafts if there were enough in doors; and now ye shall made a fresh onslaught."

"Let us burn him house and all," said Mord.

"That shall never be," says Gizur, "though I knew that my life lay on it; but it is easy for thee to find out some plan, such a cunning man as thou art said to be."

Some ropes lay there on the ground, and they were often used to strengthen the roof. Then Mord said, "Let us take the ropes and throw one end over the end of the carrying beams, but let us fasten the other end to these rocks and twist them tight with levers, and so pull the roof off the hall."

So they took the ropes and all lent a hand to carry this out, and before Gunnar was aware of it, they had pulled the whole roof off the hall.

Then Gunnar still shoots with his bow so that they could never come nigh him. Then Mord said again that they must burn the house over Gunnar's head. But Gizur said, "I know not why thou wilt speak of that which no one else wishes, and that shall never be."

Just then Thorbrand Thorleik's son, sprang up on the roof, and cuts asunder Gunnar's bowstring. Gunnar clutches the bill with both hands, and turns on him quickly and drives it through him, and hurls him down on the ground.

Then up sprung Asbrand his brother. Gunnar thrusts at him with his bill, and he threw his shield before the blow, but the bill passed clean through the shield and broke both his arms, and down he fell from the wall.

Gunnar had already wounded eight men and slain those twain. By that time Gunnar had got two wounds, and all men said that he never once winced either at wounds or death.

Then Gunnar said to Hallgerda, "Give me two locks of thy hair, and ye two, my mother and thou, twist them together into a bowstring for me.<ref>'''into a bowstring for me''': "Svona er saga Njálu um bogastrenginn, og það þarf ekki að leggjast djúpt til að sjá það, að þetta er allt skáldskapur og þjóðsaga frá upphafi til enda og meira að segja lélegur skáldskapur." [[Ólafur Ólafsson. Hallgerður Höskuldsdóttir]] (p. 152).</ref>."

"Does aught lie on it?" she says.

"My life lies on it<ref>'''My life lies on it''': “The mythological Yi was betrayed by his wife, Chang-E, and the quasi-historical Yi too was betrayed by his wife, Chun- Hu. And Gunnar the Sun-god was indeed betrayed by his wife, Hallgerð the Moon-goddess, who furthermore was said to be a thief, like Chang- E.” [[Jón Egill Eþórsson. The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njals Saga]] (p. 49).</ref>;" he said; "for they will never come to close quarters with me if I can keep them off with my bow."

"Well!" she says, "now I will call to thy mind that slap<ref>'''that slap''': “The epic threefold repetition, therefore, forms the substructure and it also governs the construction. Three times we find the hair-motif, three times a marriage, and finally Hallgerðr’s attitude and words cause each of the three men to strike her. Each time the blow is a defensive action, and it invariability causes revenge – though in different forms. The hair-motif finally leads to the dramatic climax in Hallgerðr’s behaviour.” [[Bouman, Arie Cornelis. Literature and Myth, the picture of Hallgerðr]] (p. 7).</ref> on the face which thou gavest me; and I care never<ref>'''I care never''': “Þegar Hallgerður er að hefna kinnhests Gunnars, eru athafnir hennar mótaðar af afleiðingum hinna fyrri kinnhesta. Veit hún, að hún er þá um leið að hefna sín á Þorvaldi, fyrsta bónda sínum? Eða veit hún það ekki? Eða ríkir eitthvert hálfrökkur í vitund hennar?” [[Einar Ól. Sveinsson. Klýtæmestra og Hallgerður]] (p. 18).</ref> a whit whether thou holdest out a long while or a short."

Then Gunnar sang a song:

"Each who hurts the gory javelin
Hath some honour of his own,
Now my helpmeet wimple-hooded
Hurries all my fame to earth.
No one owner of a war-ship
Often asks for little things,
Woman, fond of Frodi's flour,
Wends her hand as she is wont."

"Every one has something to boast of," says Gunnar, "and I will ask thee no more for this."

"Thou behavest ill," said Rannveig, "and this shame shall long be had in mind."

Gunnar made a stout and bold defence, and now wounds other eight men with such sore wounds that many lay at death's door. Gunnar keeps them all off until he fell worn out with toil. Then they wounded him with many and great wounds, but still he got away out of their hands, and held his own against them a while longer, but at last it came about that they slew him.

Of this defence of his, Thorkell the Skald of Gota-Elf sang in the verses which follow--

"We have heard how south in Iceland
Gunnar guarded well himself,
Boldly battle's thunder wielding,
Fiercest foeman on the wave;
Hero of the golden collar,
Sixteen with the sword he wounded;
In the shock that Odin loveth,
Two before him tasted death."

But this is what Thormod Olaf's son sang--

"None that scattered sea's bright sunbeams,
Won more glorious fame than Gunnar,
So runs fame of old in Iceland,
Fitting fame of heathen men;
Lord of fight when helms were crashing,
Lives of foeman twain he took,
Wielding bitter steel he sorely
Wounded twelve, and four besides."

Then Gizur spoke and said, "We have now laid low to earth a mighty chief, and hard work has it been, and the fame of this defence of his shall last as long as men live in this land."

After that he went to see Rannveig and said, "Wilt thou grant us earth here for two of our men who are dead, that they may lie in a cairn here?"

"All the more willingly for two," she says, "because I wish with all my heart I had to grant it to all of you."

"It must be forgiven thee," he says, "to speak thus, for thou hast had a great loss."

Then he gave orders that no man should spoil or rob anything there.

After that they went away.

Then Thorgeir Starkad's son said, "We may not be in our house at home for the sons of Sigfus, unless thou Gizur or thou Geir be here south some little while."

"This shall be so," says Gizur, and they cast lots, and the lot fell on Geir to stay behind.

After that he came to the Point, and set up his house there; he had a son whose name was Hroald; he was base born, and his mother's name was Biartey; he boasted that he had given Gunnar his death blow. Hroald was at the Point with his father.

Thorgeir Starkad's son boasted of another wound which he had given to Gunnar.

Gizur sat at home at Mossfell. Gunnar's slaying was heard of, and ill spoken of throughout the whole country, and his death was a great grief to many a man.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 77==

Gunnar vaknaði í skálanum og mælti: „Sárt ertu leikinn, Sámur fóstri, og búið svo sé til ætlað að skammt skuli okkar í meðal.“

Skáli Gunnars var ger af viði einum og súðþaktur utan og gluggar hjá brúnásunum og snúin þar fyrir speld. Gunnar svaf í lofti einu í skálanum og Hallgerður og móðir hans.

Þá er þeir komu að vissu þeir eigi hvort Gunnar mundi heima vera og báðu að einhver mundi fara heim fyrir og vita hvers vís yrði. En þeir settust niður á völlinn. Þorgrímur Austmaður gekk upp á skálann. Gunnar sér að rauðan kyrtil bar við glugginn og leggur út með atgeirinum á hann miðjan. Þorgrími skruppu fæturnir og varð laus skjöldurinn og hrataði hann ofan af þekjunni. Gengur hann síðan að þeim Gissuri er þar sátu á vellinum.

Gissur leit við honum og mælti: „Hvort er Gunnar heima?“

Þorgrímur svaraði: „Vitið þér það en hitt vissi eg að atgeir hans var heima.“

Síðan féll hann niður dauður. Þeir sóttu þá að húsunum. Gunnar skaut út örum að þeim og varðist vel og gátu þeir ekki að gert. Þá hljópu sumir í húsin og ætluðu þaðan að að sækja. Gunnar kom þangað að þeim örunum og gátu þeir ekki að gert og fór svo fram um hríð. Þeir tóku hvíld og sóttu að í annað sinn. Gunnar skaut enn út og gátu þeir ekki að gert og hrukku frá í annað sinn.

Þá mælti Gissur hvíti: „Sækjum að betur, ekki verður af oss.“

Gerðu þeir þá hríð hina þriðju og voru við lengi. Eftir það hrukku þeir frá.

Gunnar mælti: „Ör liggur þar úti á vegginum og er sú af þeirra örum og skal eg þeirri skjóta til þeirra. Og er þeim það skömm ef þeir fá geig af vopnum sínum.“

Móðir hans mælti: „Ger þú eigi það að þú vekir þá er þeir hafa áður frá horfið.“

Gunnar þreif örina og skaut til þeirra og kom á Eilíf Önundarson og fékk hann af sár mikið. Hann hafði staðið einn saman og vissu þeir eigi að hann var særður.

„Hönd kom þar út,“ segir Gissur, „og var á gullhringur og tók ör er lá á þekjunni og mundi eigi vítt leitað viðfanga ef gnógt væri inni og skuluð þér nú sækja að.“

Mörður mælti: „Brennum vér hann inni.“

„Það skal verða aldrei,“ segir Gissur, „þótt eg viti að líf mitt liggi við. Er þér sjálfrátt að leggja til ráð þau er dugi svo slægur maður sem þú ert kallaður.“

Strengir lágu á vellinum og voru hafðir til að festa með hús jafnan.

Mörður mælti: „Tökum vér strengina og berum um ásendana en festum aðra endana um steina og snúum í vindása og vindum af ræfrið af skálanum.“

Þeir tóku strengina og veittu þessa umbúð alla og fann Gunnar eigi fyrr en þeir höfðu undið allt þakið af skálanum. Gunnar skýtur þá af boganum svo að þeir komast aldrei að honum. Þá mælti Mörður í annað sinn að þeir mundu brenna Gunnar inni.

Gissur mælti: „Eigi veit eg hví þú vilt það mæla er engi vill annar og skal það aldrei verða.“

Í þessu bili hleypur upp á þekjuna Þorbrandur Þorleiksson og höggur í sundur bogastrenginn Gunnars. Gunnar þrífur atgeirinn báðum höndum og snýst að honum skjótt og rekur í gegnum hann og kastar honum á völlinn. Þá hljóp upp Ásbrandur bróðir hans. Gunnar leggur til hans atgeirinum og kom hann skildi fyrir sig. Atgeirinn renndi í gegnum skjöldinn en brotnuðu báðir handleggirnir og féll hann út af vegginum. Áður hafði Gunnar sært átta menn en vegið þá tvo. Þá fékk Gunnar sár tvö og sögðu það allir menn að hann brygði sér hvorki við sár né við bana.

Hann mælti til Hallgerðar: „Fá mér leppa tvo úr hári þínu og snúið þið móðir mín saman til bogastrengs mér“<ref>'''til bogastrengs mér''': "Svona er saga Njálu um bogastrenginn, og það þarf ekki að leggjast djúpt til að sjá það, að þetta er allt skáldskapur og þjóðsaga frá upphafi til enda og meira að segja lélegur skáldskapur." [[Ólafur Ólafsson. Hallgerður Höskuldsdóttir]] (s. 152).</ref>.

„Liggur þér nokkuð við?“ segir hún.

„Líf mitt liggur við<ref>'''Líf mitt liggur við''': “The mythological Yi was betrayed by his wife, Chang-E, and the quasi-historical Yi too was betrayed by his wife, Chun- Hu. And Gunnar the Sun-god was indeed betrayed by his wife, Hallgerð the Moon-goddess, who furthermore was said to be a thief, like Chang- E.” [[Jón Egill Eþórsson. The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njals Saga]] (s. 49).</ref>,“ segir hann, „því að þeir munu mig aldrei fá sótt meðan eg kem boganum við.“

„Þá skal eg nú,“ segir hún, „muna þér kinnhestinn<ref>'''muna þér kinnhestinn''': “The epic threefold repetition, therefore, forms the substructure and it also governs the construction. Three times we find the hair-motif, three times a marriage, and finally Hallgerðr’s attitude and words cause each of the three men to strike her. Each time the blow is a defensive action, and it invariability causes revenge – though in different forms. The hair-motif finally leads to the dramatic climax in Hallgerðr’s behaviour.” [[Bouman, Arie Cornelis. Literature and Myth, the picture of Hallgerðr]] (s. 7).</ref> og hirði eg aldrei<ref>'''hirði eg aldrei''': “Þegar Hallgerður er að hefna kinnhests Gunnars, eru athafnir hennar mótaðar af afleiðingum hinna fyrri kinnhesta. Veit hún, að hún er þá um leið að hefna sín á Þorvaldi, fyrsta bónda sínum? Eða veit hún það ekki? Eða ríkir eitthvert hálfrökkur í vitund hennar?” [[Einar Ól. Sveinsson. Klýtæmestra og Hallgerður]] (p. 18).</ref> hvort þú verð þig lengur eða skemur.“

Gunnar kvað þá:

23. Hver hefir dreyrgra darra

dómreynir til, sóma

niður drepur sveigar Sága,

síns ágætis, mínum.

Öngur skal lítils lengi

liðs ráðandi biðja;

fús verður fagurmjöls dísi

Fenju hönd á venju.

„Hefir hver til síns ágætis nokkuð,“ segir Gunnar, „og skal þig þessa eigi lengi biðja.“

Rannveig mælti: „Illa fer þér og mun þín skömm lengi uppi.“

Gunnar varði sig vel og fræknlega og særir nú aðra átta menn svo stórum sárum að mörgum lá við bana. Gunnar ver sig þar til er hann féll af mæði. Þeir særðu hann mörgum stórum sárum en þó komst hann úr höndum þeim og varði sig þá lengi. En þó kom þar að þeir drápu hann.

Um vörn hans orti Þorkell Elfaraskáld í vísu þessi:

24. Spurðu vér hve varðist

vígmóður kjalar slóða

gnýstærandinn geiri

Gunnar, fyrir Kjöl sunnan.

Sóknrýrir vann sára

sextán viður mána

hríðar herðimeiða

hauðurmens en tvo dauða.

Gissur mælti: „Mikinn öldung höfum vér nú að velli lagt og hefir oss erfitt veitt og mun hans vörn uppi meðan landið er byggt.“

Síðan gekk hann til fundar við Rannveigu og mælti: „Viltu veita mönnum vorum tveimur jörð er dauðir eru og séu hér heygðir?“

„Að heldur tveimur að eg mundi veita yður öllum,“ segir hún.

„Vorkunn er það,“ segir hann, „er þú mælir það því að þú hefir mikils misst“ og kvað á að þar skyldi engu ráða og engu spilla. Fóru á braut síðan.

Þá mælti Þorgeir Starkaðarson: „Eigi megum vér vera heima í búum vorum fyrir Sigfússonum nema þú, Gissur, eða Geir sért suður hér nokkura hríð.“

„Þetta mun svo vera,“ segir Gissur og hlutuðu þeir og hlaut Geir eftir að vera.

Síðan fór hann í Odda og settist þar. Hann átti sér son er Hróaldur hét. Hann var laungetinn og hét Bjartey móðir hans og var systir Þorvalds hins veila er veginn var við Hestlæk í Grímsnesi. Hann hrósaði því að hann hefði veitt Gunnari banasár. Hróaldur var með föður sínum. Þorgeir Starkaðarson hrósaði öðru sári að hann hefði Gunnari veitt. Gissur sat heima að Mosfelli.

Víg Gunnars spurðist og mæltist illa fyrir um allar sveitir og var hann mörgum mönnum harmdauði.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Jón Egill Eþórsson. The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njals Saga

2016-01-26T00:29:37Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Jón Egill Eþórsson
* '''Title''': ''The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njáls Saga''
* '''Published in''': Bachelor’s Thesis from the Faculty of Arts of Shinshuu University
* '''Editors''':
* '''Place, Publisher''': Japan, Shinshuu University
* '''Year''': 1995
* '''Pages''': 1-50
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Jón Egill Eyþórsson “The Myths of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njáls Saga.” Bachelor’s Thesis. Japan: Shinshuu University, 1995.
----
* '''Key words''':
mythology, Yi the Archer, Einar Pálsson

==Annotation==
Jón compares certain aspects of Chinese mythology with both Norse mythology and with Njáls Saga. Pulling heavily from the work of Einar Pálsson, especially the ten-volume RÍM, or Rætur Íslenskrar Menningar. Jón describes the use of numerology and allegory in both mythological contexts. Yi the Archer, in the Chinese traditions, is a demi-god sent to earth to rid the world of certain menaces. His connection to a bow mirrors Gunnar’s choice of weapon. Both men are betrayed by their wives and subsequently meet their deaths. Jón connects between the two stories, tying it to Norse mythology and explains that the characters in the saga represent the gods in an ancient echo of death and rebirth that can be found throughout the mythology of many cultures.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==

[[Njála,_77|Chapter 77]]: '''Líf mitt liggur við''': “The mythological Yi was betrayed by his wife, Chang-E, and the quasi-historical Yi too was betrayed by his wife, Chun- Hu. And Gunnar the Sun-god was indeed betrayed by his wife, Hallgerð the Moon-goddess, who furthermore was said to be a thief, like Chang- E.” (p. 49)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Jón Egill Eþórsson. The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njals Saga

2016-01-26T00:25:40Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Jón Egill Eþórsson
* '''Title''': ''The Myth of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njáls Saga''
* '''Published in''': Bachelor’s Thesis from the Faculty of Arts of Shinshuu University
* '''Editors''':
* '''Place, Publisher''': Japan, Shinshuu University
* '''Year''': 1995
* '''Pages''': 1-50
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Jón Egill Eyþórsson “The Myths of Yi the Archer & the Allegory of Njáls Saga.” Bachelor’s Thesis. Japan: Shinshuu University, 1995.
----
* '''Key words''':
mythology, Yi the Archer, Einar Pálsson

==Annotation==
Jón compares certain aspects of Chinese mythology with both Norse mythology and with Njáls Saga. Pulling heavily from the work of Einar Pálsson, especially the ten-volume RÍM, or Rætur Íslenskrar Menningar. Jón describes the use of numerology and allegory in both mythological contexts. Yi the Archer, in the Chinese traditions, is a demi-god sent to earth to rid the world of certain menaces. His connection to a bow mirrors Gunnar’s choice of weapon. Both men are betrayed by their wives and subsequently meet their deaths. Jón connects between the two stories, tying it to Norse mythology and explains that the characters in the saga represent the gods in an ancient echo of death and rebirth that can be found throughout the mythology of many cultures.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==

[[Njála,_77|Chapter 77]]: '''hvort þú verð''': “The mythological Yi was betrayed by his wife, Chang-E, and the quasi-historical Yi too was betrayed by his wife, Chun- Hu. And Gunnar the Sun-god was indeed betrayed by his wife, Hallgerð the Moon-goddess, who furthermore was said to be a thief, like Chang- E.” (p. 49)
==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 111

2016-01-25T23:35:07Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 111==

'''THE SLAYING OF HAUSKULD, THE PRIEST OFWHITENESS.'''

About that time Hauskuld, the Priest of Whiteness, awoke; he put on his clothes, and threw over him his cloak, Flosi's gift. He took his corn-sieve, and had his sword in his other hand, and walks towards the fence, and sows the corn as he goes.

Skarphedinn and his band had agreed that they would all give him a wound. Skarphedinn sprang up from behind the fence, but when Hauskuld saw him he wanted to turn away, then Skarphedinn ran up to him and said, "Don't try to turn on thy heel, Whiteness priest," and hews at him, and the blow came on his head, and he fell on his knees. Hauskuld said these words when he fell, "God help me, and forgive you!"<ref> '''forgive you''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” [[Hamer, Andrew. Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method]] (p. 198)</ref>

Then they all ran up to him and gave him wounds.

After that Mord said, "A plan comes into my mind."

"What is that?" says Skarphedinn.

"That I shall fare home as soon as I can, but after that I will fare up to Gritwater, and tell them the tidings, and say 'tis an ill deed; but I know surely that Thorgerda will ask me to give notice of the slaying, and I will do that, for that will be the surest way to spoil their suit. I will also send a man to Ossaby and know how soon they take any counsel in the matter, and that man will learn all these tidings thence, and I will make believe that I have heard them from him."

"Do so by all means," says Skarphedinn.

Those brothers fared home, and Kari with them, and when they came home they told Njal the tidings.

"Sorrowful tidings are these," says Njal, "and such are ill to hear, for sooth to say this grief touches me so nearly, that methinks it were better to have lost two of my sons and that Hauskuld lived."

"It is some excuse for thee," says Skarphedinn, "that thou art an old man, and it is to be looked for that this touches thee nearly."

"But this," says Njal, "no less than old age, is why I grieve, that I know better than thou what will come after."

"What will come after?" says Skarphedinn.

"My death," says Njal, "and the death of my wife and of all my sons."

"What dost thou foretell for me?" says Kari.

"They will have hard work to go against thy good fortune, for thou wilt be more than a match for all of them."

This one thing touched Njal so nearly that he could never speak of it without shedding tears.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 111==

Í þenna tíma vaknaði Höskuldur Hvítanesgoði. Hann fór í klæði sín og tók yfir sig skikkjuna Flosanaut. Hann tók kornkippu og sverð í aðra hönd og fer til gerðisins og sáir niður korninu.

Þeir Skarphéðinn höfðu það mælt með sér að þeir skyldu allir á honum vinna. Skarphéðinn spratt upp undan garðinum. En er Höskuldur sá hann vildi hann undan snúa.

Þá hljóp Skarphéðinn að honum og mælti: „Hirð eigi þú að hopa á hæl, Hvítanesgoði“ og höggur til hans og kom í höfuðið og féll hann á knéin.

Höskuldur mælti þetta: „Guð hjálpi mér en fyrirgefi yður.“ <ref> '''fyrirgefi yður''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” [[Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method.'']] (s. 198)</ref>

Hljópu þeir þá að honum allir og unnu á honum.

Eftir það mælti Mörður: „Ráð kemur mér í hug.“

„Hvert er það?“ segir Skarphéðinn.

„Það er eg mun fara heim fyrst en síðan mun eg fara upp til Grjótár og segja þeim tíðindin og láta illa yfir verkinu. En eg veit víst að Þorgerður mun biðja mig að eg lýsi víginu og mun eg það gera því að þeim mega það mest málaspell vera. Eg mun og senda mann í Ossabæ og vita hversu skjótt þau taki til ráða og mun sá spyrja þar tíðindin og mun eg láta sem eg taki af þeim.“

„Farðu svo með víst,“ segir Skarphéðinn.

Þeir bræður fóru heim og Kári. Og er þeir komu heim sögðu þeir Njáli tíðindin.

„Hörmuleg tíðindi eru þetta,“ segir Njáll, „og er slíkt illt að vita því að það er satt að segja að svo fellur mér þetta nær um trega að mér þætti betra að hafa látið tvo sonu mína og lifði Höskuldur.“

„Það er nokkur vorkunn,“ segir Skarphéðinn. „Þú ert maður gamall og er von að þér falli nær.“

„Eigi er það síður en elli,“ segir Njáll, „að eg veit gerr en þér hvað eftir mun koma.“

„Hvað mun eftir koma?“ segir Skarphéðinn.

„Dauði minn,“ segir Njáll, „og konu minnar og allra sona minna.“

„Hvað spáir þú fyrir mér?“ segir Kári.

„Erfitt mun þeim að ganga í móti giftu þinni því að þú munt þeim öllum drjúgari verða.“

Sjá einn hlutur var svo að Njáli féll svo nær að hann mátti aldrei óklökkvandi um tala.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Hamer, Andrew. Njals Saga and its Christian Background

2016-01-25T23:30:53Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Andrew Hamer
* '''Title''': Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method
* '''Published in''':
* '''Editors''':
* '''Place, Publisher''': Belgium: Peeters
* '''Year''': 2014
* '''Pages''': 1-292
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method.'' Belgium: Peeters, 2014.
----
* '''Key words''':

structure, Christianity,

==Annotation==
This book attempts to set Njáls Saga within a Christian framework, comparing it with Laxdœla Saga in its use of ecclesiastical metaphors, its use of scripture within the narrative, and even its structure. Hamer uses an abundance of scholarship, weighing former and current opinions to support his argument. Fundamental to the book is the author’s belief that, contrary to popular scholarship, Njáls Saga is not, in fact, multiple sagas haphazardly thrown together but rather a very planned structure that purposefully mirrors its own set of story lines, Iceland’s conversion and its shift in ethics, and scriptural exegesis that were popular in medieval scholarship.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_111|Chapter 111]]: '''fyrirgefi yður''': "When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of 'eye for eye, tooth for tooth, receives Skarpheðinn's first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies." (p. 198)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 111

2016-01-14T23:09:45Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 111==

'''THE SLAYING OF HAUSKULD, THE PRIEST OFWHITENESS.'''

About that time Hauskuld, the Priest of Whiteness, awoke; he put on his clothes, and threw over him his cloak, Flosi's gift. He took his corn-sieve, and had his sword in his other hand, and walks towards the fence, and sows the corn as he goes.

Skarphedinn and his band had agreed that they would all give him a wound. Skarphedinn sprang up from behind the fence, but when Hauskuld saw him he wanted to turn away, then Skarphedinn ran up to him and said, "Don't try to turn on thy heel, Whiteness priest," and hews at him, and the blow came on his head, and he fell on his knees. Hauskuld said these words when he fell, "God help me, and forgive you!"<ref> '''forgive you''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” [[Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative
Method.'']] (p. 198)</ref>

Then they all ran up to him and gave him wounds.

After that Mord said, "A plan comes into my mind."

"What is that?" says Skarphedinn.

"That I shall fare home as soon as I can, but after that I will fare up to Gritwater, and tell them the tidings, and say 'tis an ill deed; but I know surely that Thorgerda will ask me to give notice of the slaying, and I will do that, for that will be the surest way to spoil their suit. I will also send a man to Ossaby and know how soon they take any counsel in the matter, and that man will learn all these tidings thence, and I will make believe that I have heard them from him."

"Do so by all means," says Skarphedinn.

Those brothers fared home, and Kari with them, and when they came home they told Njal the tidings.

"Sorrowful tidings are these," says Njal, "and such are ill to hear, for sooth to say this grief touches me so nearly, that methinks it were better to have lost two of my sons and that Hauskuld lived."

"It is some excuse for thee," says Skarphedinn, "that thou art an old man, and it is to be looked for that this touches thee nearly."

"But this," says Njal, "no less than old age, is why I grieve, that I know better than thou what will come after."

"What will come after?" says Skarphedinn.

"My death," says Njal, "and the death of my wife and of all my sons."

"What dost thou foretell for me?" says Kari.

"They will have hard work to go against thy good fortune, for thou wilt be more than a match for all of them."

This one thing touched Njal so nearly that he could never speak of it without shedding tears.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 111==

Í þenna tíma vaknaði Höskuldur Hvítanesgoði. Hann fór í klæði sín og tók yfir sig skikkjuna Flosanaut. Hann tók kornkippu og sverð í aðra hönd og fer til gerðisins og sáir niður korninu.

Þeir Skarphéðinn höfðu það mælt með sér að þeir skyldu allir á honum vinna. Skarphéðinn spratt upp undan garðinum. En er Höskuldur sá hann vildi hann undan snúa.

Þá hljóp Skarphéðinn að honum og mælti: „Hirð eigi þú að hopa á hæl, Hvítanesgoði“ og höggur til hans og kom í höfuðið og féll hann á knéin.

Höskuldur mælti þetta: „Guð hjálpi mér en fyrirgefi yður.“ <ref> '''fyrirgefi yður''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” [[Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative
Method.'']] (s. 198)</ref>

Hljópu þeir þá að honum allir og unnu á honum.

Eftir það mælti Mörður: „Ráð kemur mér í hug.“

„Hvert er það?“ segir Skarphéðinn.

„Það er eg mun fara heim fyrst en síðan mun eg fara upp til Grjótár og segja þeim tíðindin og láta illa yfir verkinu. En eg veit víst að Þorgerður mun biðja mig að eg lýsi víginu og mun eg það gera því að þeim mega það mest málaspell vera. Eg mun og senda mann í Ossabæ og vita hversu skjótt þau taki til ráða og mun sá spyrja þar tíðindin og mun eg láta sem eg taki af þeim.“

„Farðu svo með víst,“ segir Skarphéðinn.

Þeir bræður fóru heim og Kári. Og er þeir komu heim sögðu þeir Njáli tíðindin.

„Hörmuleg tíðindi eru þetta,“ segir Njáll, „og er slíkt illt að vita því að það er satt að segja að svo fellur mér þetta nær um trega að mér þætti betra að hafa látið tvo sonu mína og lifði Höskuldur.“

„Það er nokkur vorkunn,“ segir Skarphéðinn. „Þú ert maður gamall og er von að þér falli nær.“

„Eigi er það síður en elli,“ segir Njáll, „að eg veit gerr en þér hvað eftir mun koma.“

„Hvað mun eftir koma?“ segir Skarphéðinn.

„Dauði minn,“ segir Njáll, „og konu minnar og allra sona minna.“

„Hvað spáir þú fyrir mér?“ segir Kári.

„Erfitt mun þeim að ganga í móti giftu þinni því að þú munt þeim öllum drjúgari verða.“

Sjá einn hlutur var svo að Njáli féll svo nær að hann mátti aldrei óklökkvandi um tala.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Hamer, Andrew

2016-01-14T22:46:20Z

Zachary Jordan: /* References */

* '''Author''': Andrew Hamer
* '''Title''': Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method
* '''Place, Publisher''': Belgium: Peeters
* '''Year''': 2014
* '''Pages''': 1-292
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method.'' Belgium: Peeters, 2014.
----
* '''Key words''':
structure, Christianity

==Annotation==
This book attempts to set Njáls Saga within a Christian framework, comparing it with Laxdœla Saga in its use of ecclesiastical metaphors, its use of scripture within the narrative, and even its structure. Hamer uses an abundance of scholarship, weighing former and current opinions to support his argument. Fundamental to the book is the author’s belief that, contrary to popular scholarship, Njáls Saga is not, in fact, multiple sagas haphazardly thrown together but rather a very planned structure that purposefully mirrors its own set of story lines, Iceland’s conversion and its shift in ethics, and scriptural exegesis that were popular in medieval scholarship.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_111|Chapter 111]]: '''fyrirgefi yður''': "When the author of ''Njáls saga'' modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of 'eye for eye, tooth for tooth, receives Skarpheðinn's first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies." (p. 198)

==Links==

* ''Written by:''
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Hamer, Andrew

2016-01-14T22:37:01Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Andrew Hamer
* '''Title''': Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method
* '''Place, Publisher''': Belgium: Peeters
* '''Year''': 2014
* '''Pages''': 1-292
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method.'' Belgium: Peeters, 2014.
----
* '''Key words''':
structure, Christianity

==Annotation==
This book attempts to set Njáls Saga within a Christian framework, comparing it with Laxdœla Saga in its use of ecclesiastical metaphors, its use of scripture within the narrative, and even its structure. Hamer uses an abundance of scholarship, weighing former and current opinions to support his argument. Fundamental to the book is the author’s belief that, contrary to popular scholarship, Njáls Saga is not, in fact, multiple sagas haphazardly thrown together but rather a very planned structure that purposefully mirrors its own set of story lines, Iceland’s conversion and its shift in ethics, and scriptural exegesis that were popular in medieval scholarship.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_111|Chapter 111]]: '''fyrirgefi yður''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” (p. 198)
==Links==

* ''Written by:''
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Hamer, Andrew

2016-01-14T22:22:31Z

Zachary Jordan: Created page with "* '''Author''': Andrew Hamer * '''Title''': ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method'' * '''Place, Publisher''': Belgium: Peeters * '''Year''': 201..."

* '''Author''': Andrew Hamer
* '''Title''': ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method''
* '''Place, Publisher''': Belgium: Peeters
* '''Year''': 2014
* '''Pages''': 1-292
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Hamer, Andrew. ''Njáls saga and its Christian Background: A Study of Narrative Method.'' Belgium: Peeters, 2014.
----
* '''Key words''':
structure, Christianity

==Annotation==
This book attempts to set Njáls Saga within a Christian framework, comparing it with Laxdœla Saga in its use of ecclesiastical metaphors, its use of scripture within the narrative, and even its structure. Hamer uses an abundance of scholarship, weighing former and current opinions to support his argument. Fundamental to the book is the author’s belief that, contrary to popular scholarship, Njáls Saga is not, in fact, multiple sagas haphazardly thrown together but rather a very planned structure that purposefully mirrors its own set of story lines, Iceland’s conversion and its shift in ethics, and scriptural exegesis that were popular in medieval scholarship.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_111|Chapter 111]]: '''fyrirgefi yður''': “When the author of Njáls saga modeled the killing of Höskuldr on the martyrdom of Stephen, and had him refuse to use his sword against his attackers, he made of him an embodiment of the new law in action. Höskuldr rejects the old code of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’ receives Skarpheðinn ́s first blow to the head, and submits to further blows. The weapon he does choose to wield is love, articulated in the prayer for his killers, and the battle he wages is for their souls, not against their bodies.” (p. 198)
==Links==

* ''Written by:''
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Njála, 159

2016-01-13T21:58:54Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Njála_TOC}}

==Chapter 159==

'''OF FLOSI AND KARI.'''

Now it is to be told of Kari that the summer after he went down to his ship and sailed south across the sea, and began his pilgrimage in Normandy, and so went south and got absolution and fared back by the western way, and took his ship again in Normandy, and sailed in her north across the sea to Dover in England.

Thence he sailed west, round Wales, and so north, through Scotland's firths, and did not stay his course till he came to Thraswick in Caithness, to master Skeggi's house.

There he gave over the ship of burden to Kolbein and David, and Kolbein sailed in that ship to Norway, but David stayed behind in the Fair Isle.

Kari was that winter in Caithness. In this winter his housewife died out in Iceland.

The next summer Kari busked him for Iceland. Skeggi gave him a ship of burden, and there were eighteen of them on board her.

They were rather late "boun," but still they put to sea, and had a long passage, but at last they made Ingolf's Head. There their ship was dashed all to pieces, but the men's lives were saved. Then, too, a gale of wind came on them.

Now they ask Kari what counsel was to be taken; but he said their best plan was to go to Swinefell and put Flosi's manhood to the proof.

So they went right up to Swinefell in the storm. Flosi was in the sitting-room. He knew Kari as soon as ever he came into the room, and sprang up to meet him, and kissed him, and sate him down in the high seat by his side.

Flosi asked Kari to be there that winter, and Kari took his offer. Then they were atoned with a full atonement. <ref>'''full atonement.''': “We see Kári as the final hero, uniting in himself the figures of the heroic individual, Gunnar, and the man of justice and Christianity, Njál, but finding for himself a new solution, and on which involves life, not death.” [[Fox, Denton. Njáls Saga and the Western Literary Tradition]] (p. 309)</ref>

Then Flosi gave away his brother's daughter Hildigunna, whom Hauskuld the priest of Whiteness had had to wife to Kari, and they dwelt first of all at Broadwater.

Men say that the end of Flosi's life was, that he fared abroad, when he had grown old, to seek for timber to build him a hall; and he was in Norway that winter, but the next summer he was late "boun"; and men told him that his ship was not seaworthy.

Flosi said she was quite good enough for an old and deathdoomed man, and bore his goods on shipboard and put out to sea. But of that ship no tidings were ever heard.

These were the children of Kari Solmund's son and Helga Njal's daughter--Thorgerda and Ragneida, Valgerda, and Thord who was burnt in Njal's house. But the children of Hildigunna and Kari, were these, Starkad, and Thord, and Flosi.

The son of Burning-Flosi was Kolbein, who has been the most famous man of any of that stock.

And here we end the STORY of BURNT NJAL.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 159==

Nú er segja frá Kára að um sumarið eftir fór hann til skips síns og sigldi suður um sjá og hóf upp suðurgöngu sína í Norðmandí og gekk suður og þá lausn og fór aftur hina vestri leið og tók skip sitt í Norðmandí og sigldi norður um sjó til Dofra á Englandi. Þaðan sigldi hann vestur um Bretland og svo norður fyrir Skotlandsfjörðu og létti eigi fyrr ferð sinni en hann kom í Þrasvík á Katanesi til Skeggja bónda. Fékk hann þá þeim Kolbeini og Davíði byrðinginn. Sigldi Kolbeinn þessu skipi til Noregs en Davíður var eftir í Friðarey. Kári var þenna vetur á Katanesi. Á þessum vetri andaðist húsfreyja hans á Íslandi.

Um sumarið eftir bjóst Kári til Íslands. Skeggi fékk honum byrðing. Voru þeir þar á átján. Þeir urðu heldur síðbúnir og sigldu þó í haf og höfðu langa útivist. En um síðir tóku þeir Ingólfshöfða og brutu þar skipið allt í spón. Þar varð mannbjörg. Þá gerði og á hríðveður. Spyrja þeir nú Kára hvað nú skal til ráða taka en hann sagði það ráð að fara til Svínafells og reyna þegnskap Flosa. Gengu þeir nú heim til Svínafells í hríðinni.

Flosi var í stofu. Hann kenndi Kára er hann kom í stofuna og spratt upp í móti honum og minntist til hans og setti hann í hásæti hjá sér. Flosi bauð Kára að vera þar um veturinn. Kári þá það. Sættust þeir þá heilum sáttum. <ref>'''heilum sáttum.''': “We see Kári as the final hero, uniting in himself the figures of the heroic individual, Gunnar, and the man of justice and Christianity, Njál, but finding for himself a new solution, and on which involves life, not death.” [[Fox, Denton. Njáls Saga and the Western Literary Tradition]] (p. 309)</ref> Flosi gifti þá Kára Hildigunni bróðurdóttur sína er Höskuldur Hvítanesgoði hafði átta. Bjuggu þau þá fyrst að Breiðá.

Það segja menn að þau yrðu ævilok Flosa að hann færi utan þá er hann var orðinn gamall að sækja sér skálavið og var hann í Noregi þann vetur. En um sumarið var hann síðbúinn. Menn ræddu um að vant væri skip hans. Flosi sagði vera ærið gott gömlum og feigum og sté á skip og lét í haf. Og hefir til þess skips aldrei spurst síðan.

Þessi voru börn þeirra Kára Sölmundarsonar og Helgu Njálsdóttur: Þorgerður og Ragneiður, Valgerður og Þórður er inni brann. En börn þeirra Hildigunnar og Kára voru þeir Starkaður og Þórður og Flosi. Son Brennu-Flosa var Kolbeinn er ágætastur maður hefir verið einnhver í þeirri ætt.

Og lúkum vér þar Brennu-Njálssögu.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Fox, Denton. Njáls Saga and the Western Literary Tradition

2016-01-13T21:53:35Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Denton Fox
* '''Title''': Njáls Saga and the Western literary tradition.
* '''Place, Publisher''': Eugene, University of Oregon
* '''Year''': 1963
* '''Pages''': 289-310
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Fox, Denton. “Njál’s Saga and the Western literary tradition.” Comparative Literature XV/4 (1963): 289-310
----
* '''Key words''': epic, structure

==Annotation==
Fox begins this article by comparing Njáls Saga with the other great epics of western literature, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Song of Roland. Beyond specific small similarities, such as knowledge of characters’ eventual fates, Fox focuses on the structure of the saga, how its make-up and more importantly its break-up mirrors the broken structures of the other epics. The structure of the saga helps the plot move by interrupting up the protagonists’ movements and mirroring their progress with the overall progress of medieval Icelandic culture from an honor-centered pagan past to law-focused and orderly Christian future.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_159|Chapter 159]]: '''heilum sáttum''': “We see Kári as the final hero, uniting in himself the figures of the heroic individual, Gunnar, and the man of justice and Christianity, Njál, but finding for himself a new solution, and on which involves life, not death.” (p. 309)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Fox, Denton. Njáls Saga and the Western Literary Tradition

2016-01-13T21:46:18Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Denton Fox
* '''Title''': Njáls Saga and the Western literary tradition.
* '''Place, Publisher''': Eugene, University of Oregon
* '''Year''': 1963
* '''Pages''': 289-310
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Fox, Denton. “Njál’s Saga and the Western literary tradition.” Comparative Literature XV/4 (1963): 289-310
----
* '''Key words''': epic, structure

==Annotation==
Fox begins this article by comparing Njáls Saga with the other great epics of western literature, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Song of Roland. Beyond specific small similarities, such as knowledge of characters’ eventual fates, Fox focuses on the structure of the saga, how its make-up and more importantly its break-up mirrors the broken structures of the other epics. The structure of the saga helps the plot move by interrupting up the protagonists’ movements and mirroring their progress with the overall progress of medieval Icelandic culture from an honor-centered pagan past to law-focused and orderly Christian future.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Njála,_159|Chapter 159]] “We see Kári as the final hero, uniting in himself the figures of the heroic individual, Gunnar, and the man of justice and Christianity, Njál, but finding for himself a new solution, and on which involves life, not death.” (p. 309)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Egla, 61

2016-01-13T21:42:11Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Egla_TOC}}

==Chapter 61==

'''Egil's voyage to England'''

King Eric ruled over Norway one year after the death of his father king Harold, before Hacon Athelstan's foster-son, another son of Harold, came out of the west from England; and in that same summer Egil Skallagrimsson went to Iceland. Hacon went northwards to Throndheim. He was there accepted as king. He and Eric were for the winter both king in Norway. But in the following spring each gathered an army. Hacon had by far the larger numbers; the reason of this was that he made it law in the land that every man should own his patrimony, where king Harold had enslaved all, rich and poor alike. Eric saw no other choice but to flee the land; so he went abroad with Gunnhilda his wife and their children. Lord Arinbjorn was king Eric's foster-brother, and foster-father of his son. Dear to the king was he above all his barons; the king had set him as ruler over all the Firth-folk. Arinbjorn was with the king when he left the land; they first went westwards over the main to the Orkneys. There Eric gave his daughter Ragnhildr in marriage to earl Arnfinn. After that he went south with his force along the coast of Scotland, and harried there; thence still south to England, and harried there. And when king Athelstan heard of this, he gathered force and went against Eric. But when they met, terms were proposed, and the terms were that king Athelstan gave to Eric the government of Northumberland; and he was to be for king Athelstan defender of the land against the Scots and Irish. Athelstan had made Scotland tributary under him after the death of king Olaf, but that people were constantly disloyal to him. The story goes that Gunnhilda had a spell worked, this spell being that Egil Skallagrimsson should find no rest in Iceland till she had seen him. But in that summer when Hacon and Eric had met and contended for Norway, all travel to any land from Norway was forbidden; so in that summer there came to Iceland from Norway neither ship nor tidings. Egil Skallagrimsson abode at his home.

But during the second winter that he was living at Borg after Skallagrim's death Egil became melancholy, and this was more marked as the winter wore on. And when summer came, Egil let it be known that he meant to make ready his ship for a voyage out in the summer. He then got a crew. He purposed to sail to England. They were thirty men on the ship. Asgerdr remained behind, and took charge of the house. Egil's purpose was to seek king Athelstan and look after the promise that he had made to Egil at their last parting.

It was late ere Egil was ready, and when he put to sea, the winds delayed him. Autumn then came on, and rough weather set in. They sailed past the north coast of the Orkneys. Egil would not put in there, for he thought king Eric's power would be supreme all over the islands. Then they sailed southwards past Scotland, and had great storms and cross winds. Weathering the Scotch coast they held on southwards along England; but on the evening of a day, as darkness came on, it blew a gale. Before they were aware, breakers were both seaward and ahead. There was nothing for it but to make for land, and this they did. Under sail they ran ashore, and came to land at Humber-mouth. All the men were saved, and most of the cargo, but as for the ship, that was broken to pieces.

When they found men to speak with, they learnt these tidings, which Egil thought good, that with king Athelstan all was well and with his kingdom: but other tidings were there which Egil thought dangerous, to wit, that king Eric Bloodaxe was there and Gunnhilda, and they had the government of the province, and Eric was but a short way up the country in the town of York.<ref>'''the town of York''': "Dass sich im einzelnen nun die vorgänge am königshofe zu York unmöglich so abgespielt haben konnten, wie sie die Eigla in den langen reden und verhandlungen Arinsbjörns mit dem könige Erich und dessen gemahlin Gunnhild schildert, ist schon von andern forschern hervorgehoben." [[Niedner, Felix. Egils Hauptlösung]] (p. 108).</ref> This also Egil learnt, that lord Arinbjorn was there with the king, and in great friendship with him.

And when Egil got to know these tidings, he resolved what to do. He thought he had little hope of escape, though he should try to conceal himself and to go disguised as long as he might till he were clear of Eric's dominions. For he was at that time easily known by such as should see him. He thought also it were a mean man's fate to be captured in such flight. So he took a bold heart, and resolved that at once, in that very night when they came there, he would get him a horse and ride to the town.<ref>'''ride to the town''': "Einn var sá þáttur í fari Egils sem sagan hvað eftir annað bregður á hvössu ljósi – hve hann var fégjarn, féelskur, fésár. Þarf í rauninni meir að segja en að farmurinn hafi bjargast upp á ströndina, til að lesandinn skilji hvers kyns er þegar Egill stofnar lífi sínu í hættu, ríður samstundis upp til Jórvíkur?" [[Kristján Albertsson. Egill Skallagrímsson í Jórvík]] (p. 97).</ref> He came there in the evening, and rode at once into the town. He had now a hood drawn over his helm<ref>'''hood drawn over his helm''': "Sem úlfsnafn merkir „Hatti“ líklega ‘sá höttótti’, en þegar það er fært yfir á ‘mann-úlf’ gefur það tilefni til merkingarinnar ‘maður með hatt eða hött’." [[Bergljót Soffía Kristjánsdóttir. Primum caput: um höfuð Egils Skalla-Grímssonar]] (p. 79).</ref>, and was fully armed.

Egil inquired where in the town Arinbjorn was housed. It was told him. Thither he rode to the house. When he came to the hall-door, he dismounted from his horse, and found a man to speak to. It was told him that Arinbjorn sat at meat.

Egil said: 'I would fain, good fellow, you should go into the hall and ask Arinbjorn whether he will rather speak without or within to Egil Skallagrimsson.'

The man said: ''Tis but little trouble for me to do this errand.'

He went into the hall, and spoke quite loud: 'There is a man come here out before the door,' said he, 'big as a giant,<ref>'''big as a giant''': "Egill Skallagrímsson er hamrammastur alla mennskra manna, sem Íslendingasögur fornar og nýjar skýra frá. Hann ræður yfir slíkum kynngikrafti líkamlegum og andlegum, að hann verður sigurvegari í hverri raun ... Hann er í senn hrotti og hetja, dólgur og skáld, brennandi í hatri, tryggur í vináttu og heitur í ást til eiginkonu og barna. Þrátt fyrir alla þá kynngi, sem í honum býr yfir, er honum lýst sem svo heilsteyptum manni, að við neyðumst til að taka sögu hans sanna, ef ekki sagnfræðilega sanna, þá sem raunsanna lifandi mynd úr samtíð hans, gerða af höfuðsnillingi." [[Arnór Sigurjónsson. Trolldómur Egils Skallagrímssonar]] (p. 245).</ref><ref>'''big as a giant''': "Egill is both troll and not troll… Ultimately, Egill’s own troll nature remains obscured by a lack of concrete evidence. Rather, Egill exhibits a troll potentiality that opens the text to the possibility of the occult. Egils saga is deliberately ambiguous and the ultimate truth regarding its hero’s troll-like nature is never completely revealed. The occult must remain both unknown and unknowable." [[Ármann Jakobsson. Beast and Man: Realism and the Occult]] (p. 43).</ref> and he begged me go in and ask whether thou wouldst rather without or within speak to Egil Skallagrimsson.'

Arinbjorn said: 'Go and beg him to bide without, nor shall he need to bide long.'

He did as Arinbjorn told him, went out and said what had been said to him.

Arinbjorn bade take up the tables; then went he out and all his house-carles with him.

And when Arinbjorn met Egil, he greeted him well, and asked why he was come there.

Egil in few words told him clearly of his journey: 'And now you shall see what counsel I ought to take, if you will give me any help.'

'Have you,' said Arinbjorn, 'before you came to this house met any men in the town who are likely to have known you?'

'None,' said Egil.

'Let men then take their weapons,' said Arinbjorn.

They did so. But when all were armed, then went they to the king's house. And when they came to the hall, then Arinbjorn knocked at the door, asking them to open, and saying who was there. The door-keepers at once opened the door. The king was sitting at table.

Arinbjorn then bade that they should go in twelve in number, naming for this Egil and ten others. 'Now shall you, Egil, bring the king your head and clasp his foot, but I will be your spokesman.'<ref>'''I will be your spokesman''': „Aðstaða Egils á sér merkilega hliðstæðu í riti af útlendum toga [Maríu sögu]: „[...] því að það er ofdjörfung sekjum og útlaga manni að biðja sjálfan fyrirgefningar í fyrstu sinni sekt þann er misgert er við, heldur skal hinn seki fá til vin þess er misboðið er að túlka sitt mál, og svo skal eg gera.“ Egill er svo einstaklega heppinn að vinur þess manns sem hann hafði misboðið er einnig vinur Egils sjálfs.“ [[Hermann Pálsson. Ættarmót með Eglu og öðrum skrám]] (p. 5).</ref>

Then they went in. Arinbjorn went before the king and saluted him. The king received him, and asked what he would have.

Arinbjorn said: 'I lead hither one who has come a long way to seek thee in thy place, and to be reconciled to thee. Great is this honour<ref>'''Great is this honour''': "On the surface this is a diplomatic manoeuvre aimed at flattering the king, but while Egill is actually quite able to live with Eiríkr’s anger, it is perhaps harder for him to bear the anger of his deceased father. [...] Thus the confrontation with the king would symbolically be a confrontation with Skalla-Grímr". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (p. 262).</ref> to thee, my lord, when thine enemies travel of their own free will from other lands, and deem they cannot endure thy wrath though thou be nowhere near. Now show thyself princely to this man. Let him get of thee good terms, seeing that he hath so magnified thine honour, as thou now mayst see, by braving many seas and dangers to come hither from his own home. No compulsion drove him to this journey, nought but goodwill to thee.'

Then the king looked round, and saw over men's heads where Egil stood. The king knew him at once, and, darting a keen glance at him, said: 'How wert thou so bold, Egil, that thou daredst to come before me? Thy last parting from me was such that of life thou couldst have from me no hope.'

Then went Egil up to the table, and clasped the foot of the king. He then sang:

'With cross-winds far cruising 
I came on my wave-horse, 
Eric England's warder 
Eager soon to see. 
Now wielder of wound-flash, 
Wight dauntless in daring, 
That strong strand of Harold's 
Stout lineage I meet.' 

King Eric said: 'I need not to count the crimes on thy hands, for they are so many and great that each one might well warrant that thou go not hence alive. Thou hast nothing else to expect but that here thou must die. This thou mightest know before, that thou wouldst get no terms from me.'

Gunnhilda said: 'Why shall not Egil be slain<ref>'''Why shall not Egil be slain''': "Ræða Gunnhildar er um svipað efni og hinar tvær ræðurnar: upptalning saka á hendur óvini og krafa um að láta hann fá makleg málagjöld. [...] Ræða Gunnhildar er örstutt, efnið kemur í fáum setningum, algerlega umbúðarlaust. Hún er því gerólík hinni löngu og sléttorðu ræðu Háreks, og eru þó báðar samdar af sama manni. Öðru máli gegnir um samanburð við ræðu Sigurðar biskups." [[Haraldur Matthíasson. Þrjár ræður]] (pp. 96-97).</ref> at once? Rememberest thou no more, O king, what Egil hath done to thee, slain thy friends and kin, ay, even thine own son to boot, and cursed thyself? Where ever was it known that a king was thus dealt with<ref>'''a king was thus dealt with''': "Gunnhildur sér hér ekki einstakling standa gegn einstaklingi, heldur ótiginn mann gegn konungsmanni. Eiríkur hefur enga leiðandi hugsjón að miða við. En Gunnhildur er það þroskaðri, að hún mælir allt á kvarða slíkrar hugsjónar". [[Sigurður Nordal. Gunnhildur konungamóðir]] (pp. 153-54).</ref>?'

Arinbjorn said: 'If Egil have spoken evil of the king, for that he can now atone in words of praise that shall live for all time.'

Gunnhilda said: 'We will hear none of his praise. O king, bid Egil be led out and beheaded. I will neither hear his words nor see him.'

Then said Arinbjorn: 'The king will not let himself be egged on to all thy dastardly work. He will not have Egil slain by night, for night-slaying is murder.'

The king said: 'So shall it be, Arinbjorn, as thou demandest. Egil shall live this night. Take thou him home with thee, and bring him to me in the morning.'

Arinbjorn thanked the king for his words: 'We hope, my lord, that henceforth Egil's cause will take a better turn. And though Egil has done great wrong against thee, yet look thou on this, that he has suffered much from thee and thy kin. King Harold thy father took the life of Thorolf, a man of renown, Egil's father's brother, for the slander of bad men, for no crime at all. And thou, O king, didst break the law in Egil's case for the sake of Bergonund; nay further thou didst wish to doom his death, and didst slay his men, and plunder all his goods, and withal didst make him an outlaw and drive him from the land. And Egil is one who will stand no teasing. But in every cause under judgment one must look on the act with its reasons. I will now have Egil in keeping for the night.'

Then Arinbjorn and Egil went back to the house, and when they came in they two went into a small upper room and talked over this matter. Arinbjorn said: 'The king just now was very wroth, yet methought his mood rather softened before the end, and fortune will now decide what may be the upshot. I know that Gunnhilda will set all her mind on marring your cause. Now I would fain that we take this counsel: that you be awake through the night, and compose a song of praise about king Eric. I should think it had best be a poem of twenty stanzas, and you might recite it to-morrow when we come before the king. Thus did Bragi my kinsman,<ref>'''Bragi my kinsman''': "Í ummælum Arinbjarnar hersis um Braga ... virðist enn vera stuðzt við Skáldatal, sem telur Braga skáld Bjarnar (Svíakonungs) að Haugi og segir um Erp lútanda: „Hann orti drápu - - ok þar höfuð sitt fyrir"." [[Sigurður Nordal. Egils saga og Skáldatal]] (p. 183).</ref> when he was under the wrath of Bjorn king of Sweden; he composed a poem of praise about him in one night, and for it received his head. Now may we also have the same luck with the king, that you may make your peace with him, if you can offer him the poem of praise.'

Egil said: 'I shall try <ref> '''I shall try''': “Egill’s travels to and encounters with royalty are of course even more disruptive of the pattern. The best example is doubtless the head-ransom episode in York. Instead of planning to visit the king, perhaps to present a drápa, Egill is driven to him by shipwreck and only composes the poem at the very last minute. Instead of being taken into the hirð, he is cast out of the land pardon-less, with his life alone as the reward for passing the implicit test.’” [[Lindow, John. Skald Sagas in their Literary Context]] (p. 226)</ref> this counsel that you wish, but 'twas the last thing I ever meant, to sing king Eric's praises.'

Arinbjorn bade him try.

Then Arinbjorn went away, and had food and drink carried to the upper room. Egil was there alone for the night. Arinbjorn went to his men, and they sate over drink till midnight. Then Arinbjorn and his men went to the sleeping chambers, but before undressing he went up to the room to Egil, and asked how he was getting on with the poem.

Egil said that nothing was done. 'Here,' said he, 'has sate a swallow by the window and twittered all night, so that I have never got rest for that same.'

Whereupon Arinbjorn went away and out by the door leading up to the house-roof, and he sate by the window of the upper room where the bird had before sate. He saw that something of a shape witch-possest moved away from the roof. Arinbjorn sate there by the window all night till dawn. But after Arinbjorn had come there, Egil composed all the poem, and got it so by heart<ref>'''got it so by heart''': "Clearly, this oral composition was far from improvised! It may of course be objected that Egil’s poem was skaldic, not Eddic, and consequently more difficult to compose from a technical point of view. Nevertheless, the burden of proof must surely rest with anyone wishing to claim that any longer Norse poem, as we now know it, was based on an improvised performance.“ [[Lönnroth, Lars. Hjálmar’s Death-Song and the Delivery of Eddic Poetry]] (p. 3).</ref> that he could recite it<ref>'''he could recite it''': "þess er getið í sögunum, sumum, að menn hafi rist rúnar á kefli. Ennfremur er komist svo að orði um Höfuðlausn Egils, að hann hafi „fest“ hana„ svá, at hann mátti kveða um morgininn“. Það er erfitt að skilja þessi orð á annan veg, en þann, að Egill hafi, til öryggis minninu, einnig hripað hana með rúnum“. [[Eiríkur Kjerulf. Í nátttrölla höndum]] (p. 4).</ref> in the morning when he met Arinbjorn. They watched for a fit time to go before the king.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 61==

'''Englandsferð Egils'''

Eiríkur konungur réð einn vetur fyrir Noregi eftir andlát föður síns Haralds konungs áður Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, annar son Haralds konungs, kom til Noregs vestan af Englandi og það sama sumar fór Egill Skalla-Grímsson til Íslands. Hákon fór norður til Þrándheims. Var hann þar til konungs tekinn. Voru þeir Eiríkur um veturinn báðir konungar í Noregi. En eftir um vorið dró hvortveggi her saman. Varð Hákon miklu fjölmennri. Sá Eiríkur þá engan sinn kost annan en flýja land. Fór hann þá á brott með Gunnhildi konu sína og börn þeirra.

Arinbjörn hersir var fóstbróðir Eiríks konungs og barnfóstri hans. Hann var kærastur konungi af öllum lendum mönnum. Hafði konungur sett hann höfðingja yfir allt Firðafylki. Arinbjörn var úr landi með konungi, fóru fyrst vestur um haf til Orkneyja. Þá gifti hann Ragnhildi dóttur sína Arnfinni jarli. Síðan fór hann með liði sínu suður fyrir Skotland og herjaði þar. Þaðan fór hann suður til Englands og herjaði þar.

Og er Aðalsteinn konungur spurði það safnaði hann liði og fór í mót Eiríki. Og er þeir hittust voru borin sáttmál milli þeirra og var það að sættum að Aðalsteinn konungur fékk Eiríki til forráða Norðimbraland en hann skyldi vera landvarnarmaður Aðalsteins konungs fyrir Skotum og Írum. Aðalsteinn konungur hafði skattgilt undir sig Skotland eftir fall Ólafs konungs en þó var það fólk jafnan ótrútt honum.

Svo er sagt að Gunnhildur lét seið efla og lét það seiða að Egill Skalla-Grímsson skyldi aldrei ró bíða á Íslandi fyrr en hún sæi hann. En það sumar er þeir Hákon og Eiríkur höfðu hist og deilt um Noreg þá var farbann til allra landa úr Noregi og komu það sumar engi skip til Íslands og engi tíðindi úr Noregi.

Egill Skalla-Grímsson sat að búi sínu. En þann vetur annan er hann bjó að Borg eftir andlát Skalla-Gríms þá gerðist Egill ókátur og var því meiri ógleði hans er meir leið á veturinn. Og er sumar kom þá lýsti Egill yfir því að hann ætlar að búa skip sitt til brottfarar um sumarið. Tók hann þá háseta. Hann ætlar þá að sigla til Englands. Þeir voru á skipi þrír tigir manna. Ásgerður var þá eftir og gætti bús þeirra en Egill ætlaði þá að fara á fund Aðalsteins konungs og vitja heita þeirra er hann hafði heitið Agli að skilnaði þeirra.

Egill varð ekki snemmbúinn og er hann lét í haf þá byrjaði heldur seint, tók að hausta og stærði veðrin. Sigldu þeir fyrir norðan Orkneyjar. Vildi Egill þar ekki við koma því að hann hugði að ríki Eiríks konungs mundi allt yfir standa í eyjunum. Sigldu þeir þá suður fyrir Skotland og höfðu storm mikinn og veður þvert. Fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland og svo norðan fyrir England. En aftan dags er myrkva tók var veður hvasst. Finna þeir eigi fyrr en grunnföll voru á útborða og svo fram fyrir. Var þá engi annar til en stefna á land upp og svo gerðu þeir, sigldu þá til brots og komu að landi við Humrumynni. Þá héldust menn allir og mestur hluti fjár annað en skip. Það brotnaði í spón.

Og er þeir hittu menn að máli spurðu þeir þau tíðindi er Agli þóttu háskasamleg að Eiríkur konungur blóðex var þar fyrir og Gunnhildur og þau höfðu þar ríki til forráða og hann var skammt þaðan uppi í borginni Jórvík.<ref>'''í borginni Jórvík''': „Dass sich im einzelnen nun die vorgänge am königshofe zu York unmöglich so abgespielt haben konnten, wie sie die Eigla in den langen reden und verhandlungen Arinsbjörns mit dem könige Erich und dessen gemahlin Gunnhild schildert, ist schon von andern forschern hervorgehoben.“ [[Niedner, Felix. Egils Hauptlösung]] (s. 108).</ref> Það spurði hann og að Arinbjörn hersir var þar með konungi og í miklum kærleik við konunginn.

Og er Egill var vís orðinn þessa tíðinda þá gerði hann ráð sitt. Þótti honum sér óvænt til undankomu þótt hann freistaði þess að leynast og fara huldu höfði leið svo langa sem vera mundi áður hann kæmi úr ríki Eiríks konungs. Var hann þá auðkenndur þeim er hann sæju. Þótti honum það lítilmannlegt að vera tekinn í flótta þeim. Herti hann þá huginn og réð það af að þegar um nóttina er þeir höfðu þar komið þá fær hann sér hest og ríður þegar til borgarinnar.<ref>'''ríður þegar til borgarinnar''': "Einn var sá þáttur í fari Egils sem sagan hvað eftir annað bregður á hvössu ljósi – hve hann var fégjarn, féelskur, fésár. Þarf í rauninni meir að segja en að farmurinn hafi bjargast upp á ströndina, til að lesandinn skilji hvers kyns er þegar Egill stofnar lífi sínu í hættu, ríður samstundis upp til Jórvíkur?" [[Kristján Albertsson. Egill Skallagrímsson í Jórvík]] (p. 97).</ref> Hann hafði síðan hatt yfir hjálmi<ref>'''hatt yfir hjálmi''': "Sem úlfsnafn merkir „Hatti“ líklega ‘sá höttótti’, en þegar það er fært yfir á ‘mann-úlf’ gefur það tilefni til merkingarinnar ‘maður með hatt eða hött’." [[Bergljót Soffía Kristjánsdóttir. Primum caput: um höfuð Egils Skalla-Grímssonar]] (s. 79).</ref> og alvæpni hafði hann.
og alvæpni hafði hann.

Egill spurði hvar garður sá væri í borginni er Arinbjörn átti. Honum var það sagt. Hann reið þangað í garðinn. En er hann kom að stofunni steig hann af hesti sínum og hitti mann að máli. Var honum þá sagt að Arinbjörn sat yfir matborði.

Egill mælti: „Eg vildi góður drengur að þú gengir inn í stofuna og spyr Arinbjörn hvort hann vill heldur úti eða inni tala við Egil Skalla-Grímsson.“

Sá maður segir: „Það er mér lítið starf að reka þetta erindi.“

Hann gekk inn í stofuna og mælti stundarhátt: „Maður er hér kominn úti fyrir dyrum,“ segir hann, „mikill sem tröll.<ref>'''mikill sem tröll''': "Egill Skallagrímsson er hamrammastur alla mennskra manna, sem Íslendingasögur fornar og nýjar skýra frá. Hann ræður yfir slíkum kynngikrafti líkamlegum og andlegum, að hann verður sigurvegari í hverri raun ... Hann er í senn hrotti og hetja, dólgur og skáld, brennandi í hatri, tryggur í vináttu og heitur í ást til eiginkonu og barna. Þrátt fyrir alla þá kynngi, sem í honum býr yfir, er honum lýst sem svo heilsteyptum manni, að við neyðumst til að taka sögu hans sanna, ef ekki sagnfræðilega sanna, þá sem raunsanna lifandi mynd úr samtíð hans, gerða af höfuðsnillingi." [[Arnór Sigurjónsson. Trolldómur Egils Skallagrímssonar]] (p. 245).</ref><ref>'''mikill sem tröll''': "Egill is both troll and not troll… Ultimately, Egill’s own troll nature remains obscured by a lack of concrete evidence. Rather, Egill exhibits a troll potentiality that opens the text to the possibility of the occult. Egils saga is deliberately ambiguous and the ultimate truth regarding its hero’s troll-like nature is never completely revealed. The occult must remain both unknown and unknowable." [[Ármann Jakobsson. Beast and Man: Realism and the Occult]] (p. 43).</ref> En sá bað mig ganga inn og spyrja hvort þú vildir úti eða inni tala við Egil Skalla-Grímsson.“

Arinbjörn segir: „Gakk og bið hann bíða úti og mun hann eigi lengi þurfa.“

Hann gerði sem Arinbjörn mælti, gekk út og sagði sem mælt var við hann.

Arinbjörn bað taka upp borðin. Síðan gekk hann út og allir húskarlar hans með honum. Og er Arinbjörn hitti Egil heilsaði hann honum og spurði hví hann var þar kominn.

Egill segir í fám orðum hið ljósasta af um ferð sína „en nú skaltu fyrir sjá hvert ráð eg skal taka ef þú vilt nokkurt lið veita mér.“

„Hefir þú nokkura menn hitt í borginni,“ segir Arinbjörn, „þá er þig munu kennt hafa áður þú komst hér í garðinn?“

„Engi,“ segir Egill.

„Taki menn þá vopn sín,“ segir Arinbjörn.

Þeir gerðu svo. Og er þeir voru vopnaðir og allir húskarlar Arinbjarnar þá gekk hann í konungsgarð. En er þeir komu til hallar þá klappaði Arinbjörn á dyrum og bað upp láta og segir hver þar var. Dyrverðir létu þegar upp hurðina. Konungur sat yfir borðum.

Arinbjörn bað þá ganga inn tólf menn, nefndi til þess Egil og tíu menn aðra. „Nú skaltu Egill færa Eiríki konungi höfuð þitt og taka um fót honum en eg mun túlka mál þitt.“<ref>'''eg mun túlka mál þitt''': „Aðstaða Egils á sér merkilega hliðstæðu í riti af útlendum toga [Maríu sögu]: „[...] því að það er ofdjörfung sekjum og útlaga manni að biðja sjálfan fyrirgefningar í fyrstu sinni sekt þann er misgert er við, heldur skal hinn seki fá til vin þess er misboðið er að túlka sitt mál, og svo skal eg gera.“ Egill er svo einstaklega heppinn að vinur þess manns sem hann hafði misboðið er einnig vinur Egils sjálfs.“
[[Hermann Pálsson. Ættarmót með Eglu og öðrum skrám]] (s. 5).</ref>

Síðan ganga þeir inn. Gekk Arinbjörn fyrir konung og kvaddi hann. Konungur fagnaði honum og spurði hvað er hann vildi.

Arinbjörn mælti: „Eg fylgi hingað þeim manni er kominn er um langan veg að sækja yður heim og sættast við yður. Er yður það vegur mikill herra<ref>'''vegur mikill herra''': "On the surface this is a diplomatic manoeuvre aimed at flattering the king, but while Egill is actually quite able to live with Eiríkr’s anger, it is perhaps harder for him to bear the anger of his deceased father. [...] Thus the confrontation with the king would symbolically be a confrontation with Skalla-Grímr". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (s. 262).</ref> er óvinir yðrir fara sjálfviljandi af öðrum löndum og þykjast eigi mega bera reiði yðra þó að þér séuð hvergi nær. Láttu þér nú verða höfðinglega við þenna mann. Lát hann fá af sætt góða fyrir það er hann hefir gert veg þinn svo mikinn sem nú má sjá, farið yfir mörg höf og torleiði heiman frá búum sínum. Bar honum enga nauðsyn til þessar farar nema góðvilji við yður.“

Þá litaðist konungur um og sá hann fyrir ofan höfuð mönnum hvar Egill stóð og hvessti augun á hann og mælti: „Hví varstu svo djarfur Egill að þú þorðir að fara á fund minn? Leystist þú svo héðan næstum að þér var engi von lífs af mér.“

Þá gekk Egill að borðinu og tók um fót konungi. Hann kvað þá:

Kominn er eg á jó Íva 
angrbeittan veg langan 
öldu enskrar foldar 
aðsitjanda að vitja. 
Nú hefir sískelfir sjálfan 
snarþátt Haralds áttar 
viðr ofrhuga yfrinn 
undar bliks of fundinn. 

Eiríkur konungur sagði: „Ekki þarf eg að telja upp sakir á hendur þér en þó eru þær svo margar og stórar að ein hver má vel endast til að þú komir aldrei héðan lífs. Áttu engis annars af von en þú munt hér deyja skulu. Máttir þú það vita áður að þú mundir enga sætt af mér fá.“

Gunnhildur mælti: „Hví skal eigi þegar drepa Egil<ref>'''Hví skal eigi þegar drepa Egil''': "Ræða Gunnhildar er um svipað efni og hinar tvær ræðurnar: upptalning saka á hendur óvini og krafa um að láta hann fá makleg málagjöld. [...] Ræða Gunnhildar er örstutt, efnið kemur í fáum setningum, algerlega umbúðarlaust. Hún er því gerólík hinni löngu og sléttorðu ræðu Háreks, og eru þó báðar samdar af sama manni. Öðru máli gegnir um samanburð við ræðu Sigurðar biskups." [[Haraldur Matthíasson. Þrjár ræður]] (s. 96-97).</ref> eða manstu eigi nú konungur hvað Egill hefir gert, drepið vini þína og frændur og þar á ofan son þinn en nítt sjálfan þig. Eða hvar viti menn slíku bellt við konungmann<ref>'''slíku bellt við konungmann''': „Gunnhildur sér hér ekki einstakling standa gegn einstaklingi, heldur ótiginn mann gegn konungsmanni. Eiríkur hefur enga leiðandi hugsjón að miða við. En Gunnhildur er það þroskaðri, að hún mælir allt á kvarða slíkrar hugsjónar”. [[Sigurður Nordal. Gunnhildur konungamóðir]] (s. 153-54).</ref>?“

Arinbjörn segir: „Ef Egill hefir mælt illa til konungs þá má hann það bæta í lofsorðum þeim er allan aldur megi uppi vera.“

Gunnhildur mælti: „Vér viljum ekki lof hans heyra. Láttu konungur leiða Egil út og höggva hann. Vil eg eigi heyra orð hans og eigi sjá hann.“

Þá mælti Arinbjörn: „Eigi mun konungur láta að eggjast um öll níðingsverk þín. Eigi mun hann láta Egil drepa í nótt því að náttvíg eru morðvíg.“

Konungur segir: „Svo skal vera Arinbjörn sem þú biður að Egill skal lifa í nótt. Hafðu hann heim með þér og fær mér hann á morgun.“

Arinbjörn þakkaði konungi orð sín. „Væntum vér herra að héðan af muni skipast mál Egils á betri leið. En þó að Egill hafi stórt til saka gert við yður þá lítið þér á það að hann hefir mikils misst fyrir yðrum frændum. Haraldur konungur faðir þinn tók af lífi ágætan mann, Þórólf föðurbróður hans, af rógi manna en af engum sökum. En þér konungur brutuð lög á Agli fyrir sakir Berg-Önundar, en þar á ofan vilduð þér hafa Egil að dauðamanni og drápuð menn af honum en rænduð hann fé öllu, og þar á ofan gerðuð þér hann útlaga og rákuð hann af landi, en Egill er engi ertingamaður. En hvert mál er maður skal dæma verður að líta á tilgerðir. Eg mun nú,“ segir Arinbjörn, „hafa Egil með mér í nótt heim í garð minn.“

Var nú svo. Og er þeir komu í garðinn þá ganga þeir tveir í loft nokkurt lítið og ræða um þetta mál. Segir Arinbjörn svo: „Allreiður var konungur nú en heldur þótti mér mýkjast skaplyndi hans nokkuð áður létti og mun nú hamingja skipta hvað upp kemur. Veit eg að Gunnhildur mun allan hug á leggja að spilla þínu máli. Nú vil eg það ráð gefa að þú vakir í nótt og yrkir lofkvæði um Eirík konung. Þætti mér þá vel ef það yrði drápa tvítug og mættir þú kveða á morgun er við komum fyrir konung. Svo gerði Bragi frændi minn<ref>'''Bragi frændi minn''': "Í ummælum Arinbjarnar hersis um Braga ... virðist enn vera stuðzt við Skáldatal, sem telur Braga skáld Bjarnar (Svíakonungs) að Haugi og segir um Erp lútanda: „Hann orti drápu - - ok þar höfuð sitt fyrir"." [[Sigurður Nordal. Egils saga og Skáldatal]] (s. 183).</ref> þá er hann varð fyrir reiði Bjarnar Svíakonungs að hann orti drápu tvítuga um hann eina nótt og þá þar fyrir höfuð sitt. Nú mætti vera að vér bærum gæfu til við konung svo að þér kæmi það í frið við konung.“

Egill segir: „Freista skal <ref> '''Freista skal''': “Egill’s travels to and encounters with royalty are of course even more disruptive of the pattern. The best example is doubtless the head-ransom episode in York. Instead of planning to visit the king, perhaps to present a drápa, Egill is driven to him by shipwreck and only composes the poem at the very last minute. Instead of being taken into the hirð, he is cast out of the land pardon-less, with his life alone as the reward for passing the implicit test.’” [[Lindow, John. Skald Sagas in their Literary Context]] (p. 226)</ref>eg þessa ráðs er þú vilt en ekki hefi eg við því búist að yrkja lof um Eirík konung.“

Arinbjörn bað hann freista. Síðan gekk hann á brott til manna sinna. Sátu þeir að drykkju til miðrar nætur. Þá gekk Arinbjörn til svefnhúss og sveit hans og áður hann afklæddist gekk hann upp í loftið til Egils og spurði hvað þá liði um kvæðið.

Egill segir að ekki var ort „hefir hér setið svala ein við glugginn og klakað í alla nótt svo að eg hefi aldrei beðið ró fyrir.“

Síðan gekk Arinbjörn á brott og út um dyr þær er ganga mátti upp á húsið og settist við glugg þann á loftinu er fuglinn hafði áður við setið. Hann sá hvar hamhleypa nokkur fór annan veg af húsinu. Arinbjörn sat þar við glugginn alla nóttina til þess er lýsti. En síðan er Arinbjörn hafði þar komið þá orti Egill alla drápuna og hafði fest svo<ref>'''hafði fest svo''': "Clearly, this oral composition was far from improvised! It may of course be objected that Egil’s poem was skaldic, not Eddic, and consequently more difficult to compose from a technical point of view. Nevertheless, the burden of proof must surely rest with anyone wishing to claim that any longer Norse poem, as we now know it, was based on an improvised performance.“ [[Lönnroth, Lars. Hjálmar’s Death-Song and the Delivery of Eddic Poetry]] (s. 3).</ref> að hann mátti kveða<ref>'''hann mátti kveða''': "þess er getið í sögunum, sumum, að menn hafi rist rúnar á kefli. Ennfremur er komist svo að orði um Höfuðlausn Egils, að hann hafi „fest“ hana„ svá, at hann mátti kveða um morgininn“. Það er erfitt að skilja þessi orð á annan veg, en þann, að Egill hafi, til öryggis minninu, einnig hripað hana með rúnum“. [[Eiríkur Kjerulf. Í nátttrölla höndum]] (s. 4).</ref> um morguninn þá er hann hitti Arinbjörn. Þeir héldu vörð á nær tími mundi vera að hitta konung.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Lindow, John. Skald Sagas in their Literary Context

2016-01-13T21:31:06Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Lindow, John
* '''Title''': Skald Sagas in their Literary Context 1: Other Icelandic Genres
* '''Published in''': ''Skaldsagas. Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets''
* '''Editor''': Russell Poole
* '''Place, Publisher''': Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter
* '''Year''': 2001
* '''Pages''': 218-31
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Lindow, John. "Skald Sagas in their Literary Context 1: Other Icelandic Genres." ''Skaldsagas. Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets,'' pp. 218–31. Ed. Russell Poole. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2001.

----
* '''Key words''':
Icelander, travel, skald, poets

==Annotation==
This article is part one of a three-part discussion of skalds in their literary contexts. In it, Lindow describes two very basic plot patterns involving Icelandic poets. The first and more familiar is the feud pattern in which the skald becomes tangled in the conflicts we have to come to associate with the family sagas. The second pattern, which Lindow calls the “travel pattern,” involves an Icelandic poet traveling to the court of a king, usually to seek admittance to his entourage or to talk himself out of disfavor. A poet needed a royal audience and these sagas explore the relationship between skald and king. Egils Saga contains elements of the “travel pattern,” yet is one of the few sagas that breaks with the tradition and creates a more complex picture of the relationship in the “king and Icelander” pattern since Egil never joins the king, nor are the two ever fully reconciled.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Egla,_61|Chapter 61]]: '''Freista skal''': “Egill’s travels to and encounters with royalty are of course even more disruptive of the pattern. The best example is doubtless the head-ransom episode in York. Instead of planning to visit the king, perhaps to present a drápa, Egill is driven to him by shipwreck and only composes the poem at the very last minute. Instead of being
taken into the hirð, he is cast out of the land pardon-less, with his life alone as the reward for passing the implicit test.’” (p. 226)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Egla, 55

2016-01-12T12:21:40Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Egla_TOC}}

==Chapter 55==

'''Egil buries Thorolf'''

While his men still pursued the fugitives, king Athelstan left the battle-field, and rode back to the town, nor stayed he for the night before he came thither. But Egil pursued the flying foe, and followed them far, slaying every man whom he overtook. At length, sated with pursuit, he with his followers turned back, and came where the battle had been, and found there the dead body of his brother Thorolf. He took it up, washed it, and performed such other offices as were the wont of the time. They dug a grave there, and laid Thorolf therein with all his weapons and raiment. Then Egil clasped a gold bracelet<ref>'''clasped a gold bracelet''': „I think it is underestimating some of the deeper roots of his character, as a man and as a poet, to ascribe to him a meanness such as evoked by the word avarice. The conflict in his mind – if there ever was one – did not arise out of material, but of spiritual interests. Is it in keeping with this supposed vice, when Egill puts a gold ring on both Þórólf’s arms before burying him?“ [[Bouman, Ari C. Egill Skallagrímsson‘s Poem Sonatorrek]] (p. 23).</ref> on either wrist before he parted from him; this done they heaped on stones and cast in mould. Then Egil sang a stave:

'Dauntless the doughty champion 
Dashed on, the earl's bold slayer: 
In stormy stress of battle.<ref>'''in stormy stress of battle''': "Haukr [Valdísarson] apparently knew Egill’s verse in Egils Saga about the battle in Vínheiðr. ‘Helt, né hrafnar sultu,/ Hringr á vápna þingi,’ says Egill, and ‘þreklundaðr fell Þundar/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ which should be compared with: ‘Hrings fell á því þingi/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ in the [Íslendinga]drápa." [[Jónas Kristjánsson. Íslendingadrápa and Oral Tradition]] (p. 90).</ref> 
Stout-hearted Thorolf fell. 
Green grows on soil<ref>'''Green grows on soil''': "In one and the same verse the
impassive re-growing or, better said, the endless growing in nature is opposed to […]
the personal revolt, in a cry that is soon broken off and taken up again after a wide gap
of almost two verses «en vér verðum […] hylja harm»." [[Koch, Ludovica. Gli scaldi]] (p. 11).</ref> of Vin-heath<ref>'''of Vin-heath''': "It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937;
what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an
English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse
form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham." [[Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse]] (p. 88).</ref> 
Grass o'er my noble brother: 
But we our woe - a sorrow 
Worse than death-pang must bear.' 

And again he further sang:

'With warriors slain round standard 
The western field I burdened; 
Adils with my blue Adder 
Assailed mid snow of war. 
Olaf, young prince, encountered 
England in battle thunder: 
Hring stood not stour of weapons, 
Starved not the ravens' maw.' 

Then went Egil and those about him to seek king Athelstan, and at once went before the king, where he sat at the drinking. There was much noise of merriment. And when the king saw that Egil was come in, he bade the lower bench be cleared for them, and that Egil should sit in the high-seat facing the king. Egil sat down there, and cast his shield before his feet. He had his helm on his head, and laid his sword across his knees; and now and again he half drew it, then clashed it back into the sheath. He sat upright, but with head bent forward.

Egil was large-featured, broad of forehead, with large eyebrows, a nose not long but very thick, lips wide and long, chin exceeding broad, as was all about the jaws; thick-necked was he, and big-shouldered beyond other men, hard-featured, and grim when angry.<ref>'''narrative tool''': “This technique is used most effectively in chapter 55 of ''Egils saga'' where Egill finally takes over centre stage after the death of Þórólfr at the battle of Vínheiðr. All action seems to halt while the author skilfully builds the tension by giving a long description of Egill sitting across from the king, still in his armour, violently pulling his sword halfway out of its scabbard and slamming it back in.” [[Blaney, Benjamin. The Narrative Technique of Character Delineation in Egils saga]] (s. 344).</ref> He was well-made, more than commonly tall, had hair wolf-gray and thick, but became early bald. He was black-eyed and brown-skinned,

But as he sat (as was before written), he drew one eye-brow down towards the cheek<ref>'''one eye-brow down towards the cheek''': "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down." [[Speidel, Michael P. Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”]] (p. 260).</ref>, the other up to the roots of the hair.<ref>'''up to the roots of the hair''': "In many ways this scene is reminiscent of the confrontation between Heiðrekr and Gestumblindi in Hervarar saga, and also of a scene in Grímnismál that was probably the prototype. The presence of fire, the face-to-face encounter between the kind and a newcomer, and the fact that Egill closes one eye as if in imitation of Óðinn, who occupies the role that Egill occupies in the two other episodes, can be viewed as allusions to these scenes, which, as we have seen, are both bound up with the motif of fratricide". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (p. 255).</ref><ref> '''he drew one eye-brow down towards the cheek, the other up to the roots of the hair''': "Oppsummert er tolkingsforslaget mitt altså at auga skal oppfattast som eit våpen parallelt til sverdet, og augnebryna (og augnelokka) som ein parallell til slira. Å sperre opp og knipe att annakvart auge blir dermed ein parallell til å dra sverdet halvt og så smelle det nedi slira att." [[Heide, Eldar. Auga til Egil: ei nytolkning av ein tekststad i Egilssoga]] (p. 123).</ref> He would not drink now, though the horn was borne to him, but alternately twitched his brows up and down. King Athelstan sat in the upper high-seat. He too laid his sword across his knees. When they had sat there for a time,<ref>'''sat there for a time''': "Þessi óviðjafnanlega smámynd úr Egils sögu ber snilld höfundarins fagurt vitni. Hann nær hinum sterkustu áhrifum með algerðu þagnarspili milli tveggja leikenda. [...] Ekki veit ég, hvað konungi hefur búið í hug, er hann horfðist í augu við Egil um hallargólf þvert, en mig grunar, að honum hafi þá skilizt, að það var sómi Þórólfs, hins fallna höfðingja, en ekki ágirnd ein, sem var um að tefla." [[Kristján Eldjárn. Kistur Aðalsteins konungs]] (pp. 97-98).</ref> then the king drew his sword from the sheath, and took from his arm a gold ring large and good, and placing it upon the sword-point he stood up, and went across the floor, and reached it over the fire<ref>'''reached it over the fire''': "When the king puts a gold ring on the tip of his sword and hands it across the fire to Egill, who receives it in like fashion, it is not just a sign of fear or mistrust, but also - symbolically - an act of social recognition. The exact symmetry in the way the two men are presented is more important than the gift involved; it shows Egill and Athelstan as equals. ... The imaginary vision of an English court where justice and generosity prevail is in stark contrast with the less favorable impression which the saga offers of the Norwegian courts of King Harald and his sons. From this point of view the author hardly included the Vínheiðr episode to relate an event in the history of Anglo-Saxon England but as a literary counterpoint with a thinly veiled political message." [[Magnús Fjalldal. A Farmer in the Court of King Athelstan]] (pp. 29-31).</ref> to Egil. Egil stood up and drew his sword, and went across the floor. He stuck the sword-point within the round of the ring, and drew it to him; then he went back to his place. The king sate him again in his high-seat. But when Egil was set down, he drew the ring on his arm, and then his brows went back to their place. He now laid down sword and helm, took the horn that they bare to him, and drank it off. Then sang he:

'Mailed monarch, god of battle, 
Maketh the tinkling circlet 
Hang, his own arm forsaking, 
On hawk-trod wrist of mine. 
I bear on arm brand-wielding 
Bracelet of red gold gladly. 
War-falcon's feeder meetly 
Findeth such meed of praise.' 

Thereafter Egil drank his share, and talked with others. Presently the king caused to be borne in two chests; two men bare each. Both were full of silver.

The king said: 'These chests, Egil, thou shalt have, and, if thou comest to Iceland, shalt carry this money to thy father; as payment for a son I send it to him: but some of the money thou shalt divide among such kinsmen of thyself and Thorolf as thou thinkest most honourable. But thou shalt take here payment for a brother with me, land or chattels, which thou wilt. And if thou wilt abide with me long, then will I give thee honour and dignity such as thyself mayst name.'

Egil took the money, and thanked the king for his gifts and friendly words. Thenceforward Egil began to be cheerful; and then he sang:

'In sorrow sadly drooping 
Sank my brows close-knitted; 
Then found I one who furrows 
Of forehead<ref>'''furrows of forehead''': "No doubt the wry sense of humour and jesting pleasure in his own ugliness, shown by Egill Skallagrímsson in his poems and verses, also owes something to tradition. On the other hand, the author is probably to be credited with some of the comic elements in Egill’s character. These arise mainly from one of the basic vices of heroic society – he is incurably avaricious. Since Egill is also essentially unselfconcious the author can make the avarice humorous by the casual air with which at various times he makes the point." [[Wilson, R.M. Comedy and Character in the Icelandic Family Sagas]] (p. 121-22).</ref> could smooth. 
Fierce-frowning cliffs that shaded 
My face a king hath lifted 
With gleam of golden armlet: 
Gloom leaveth my eyes.' 

Then those men were healed whose wounds left hope of life. Egil abode with king Athelstan<ref>'''Egil abode with king Athelstan''': "Wood includes Egill Skallagrímsson among the learned men who visited Athelstan’s court, but I dare say Egill was more at home with Eric Bloodaxe." [[Keynes, Simon. King Athelstan’s Books]] (p. 145).</ref> for the next winter after Thorolf's death, and had very great honour from the king. With Egil was then all that force which had followed the two brothers, and come alive out of the battle. Egil now made a poem about king Athelstan, and in it is this stave:

'Land-shielder, battle-quickener, 
Low now this scion royal 
Earls three hath laid. To Ella 
Earth must obedient bow. 
Lavish of gold, kin-glorious, 
Great Athelstan<ref>'''Great Athelstan''': "In these verses by Egill, the naming of the king in the poetic text, along with … indications of its performance context, combine to reinforce the statement of the prose that the poem from which they are taken was indeed composed for performance in England, in the presence of King Æthelstan." [[Jesch, Judith. Skaldic Verse in Scandinavian England]] (p. 316).</ref> victorious, 
Surely, I swear, all humbled 
To such high monarch yields.' 

But this is the burden in the poem:

'Reindeer-trod hills obey 
Bold Athelstan's high sway.' 

Then gave Athelstan further to Egil as poet's meed two gold rings, each weighing a mark, and therewith a costly cloak<ref>'''costly cloak''': "Rewarded poets become part of a relationship of service and payment for helping royal reputations. Egill composes a verse in praise of his new armband and produces another stanza iin praise of Aðalsteinn himself. The king further rewards him with gold and skikkja dýr, er konungr sjálfr hafði áðr borit... This kind of gift absorbs a poet and makes him into what the sovereign wants him to be: dressed for court; visibly in the king's debt; obviously a member of an individual lord's retinue." [[Waugh, Robin. Literacy, Royal Power, and King-Poet Relations in Old English and Old Norse Compositions]] (p. 301).</ref> that the king himself had formerly worn.<ref>'''the king himself had formerly worn:''' "But recherché: METTRE EN VALEUR au double sens du mot: - valeur littéraire (on dit que le poème qu'on va citer est "un rondelet moult bon", par exemple). (Méliador, v. 7275); - valeur financière (l'insertion est payée par le commanditaire)… - "Goal (i.e. of the poetic insertion): VALORISE in both senses of the term: - literary value (one says that the poem one quotes is "a very good rondelet" for example). (Méliador, v. 7275); - financial value (the insertion is paid by the sponsor)… " [[Cerquiglini, Jacqueline. Pour une typologie de l'insertion]] (p. 12).</ref>

But when spring came Egil signified to the king this, that he purposed to go away in the summer to Norway, and to learn 'how matters stand with Asgerdr, my late brother Thorolf's wife. A large property is there in all; but I know not whether there be children of theirs living. I am bound to look after them, if they live; but I am heir to all, if Thorolf died childless.'

The king answered, 'This will be, Egil, for you to arrange, to go away hence, if you think you have an errand of duty; but I think 'twere the best way that you should settle down here with me on such terms as you like to ask.'

Egil thanked the king for his words.

'I will,' he said, 'now first go, as I am in duty bound to do; but it is likely that I shall return hither to see after this promise so soon as I can.'

The king bade him do so.

Whereupon Egil made him ready to depart with his men; but of these many remained behind with the king. Egil had one large war-ship, and on board thereof a hundred men or thereabouts. And when he was ready for his voyage, and a fair wind blew, he put out to sea. He and king Athelstan parted with great friendship: the king begged Egil to return as soon as possible. This Egil promised to do.

Then Egil stood for Norway, and when he came to land sailed with all speed into the Firths. He heard these tidings, that lord Thorir was dead, and Arinbjorn had taken inheritance after him, and was made a baron. Egil went to Arinbjorn and got there a good welcome. Arinbjorn asked him to stay there. Egil accepted this, had his ship set up, and his crew lodged. But Arinbjorn received Egil and twelve men; they stayed with him through the winter.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 55==

'''Egill jarðaði Þórólf'''

Aðalsteinn konungur sneri í brott frá orustunni en menn hans ráku flóttann. Hann reið aftur til borgarinnar og tók eigi fyrr náttstað en í borginni en Egill rak flóttann og fylgdi þeim lengi og drap hvern mann er hann náði. Síðan sneri hann aftur með sveitunga sína og fór þar til er orustan hafði verið og hitti þar Þórólf bróður sinn látinn. Hann tók upp lík hans og þó, bjó um síðan sem siðvenja var til. Grófu þeir þar gröf og settu Þórólf þar í með vopnum sínum öllum og klæðum. Síðan spennti Egill gullhring á hvora hönd<ref>'''gullhring á hvora hönd''': "I think it is underestimating some of the deeper roots of his character, as a man and as a poet, to ascribe to him a meanness such as evoked by the word avarice. The conflict in his mind – if there ever was one – did not arise out of material, but of spiritual interests. Is it in keeping with this supposed vice, when Egill puts a gold ring on both Þórólf’s arms before burying him?" [[Bouman, Ari C. Egill Skallagrímsson‘s Poem Sonatorrek]] (s. 23).</ref> honum áður hann skildist við, hlóðu síðan að grjóti og jósu að moldu. Þá kvað Egill vísu:

Gekk, sá er óaðist ekki 
jarlmanns bani snarla, 
þreklundaðr féll, Þundar, 
Þórólfr, í gný stórum.<ref>'''í gný stórum''': "Haukr [Valdísarson] apparently knew Egill’s verse in Egils Saga about the battle in Vínheiðr. ‘Helt, né hrafnar sultu,/ Hringr á vápna þingi,’ says Egill, and ‘þreklundaðr fell Þundar/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ which should be compared with: ‘Hrings fell á því þingi/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ in the [Íslendinga]drápa." [[Jónas Kristjánsson. Íslendingadrápa and Oral Tradition]] (s. 90).</ref> 
Jörð grær, en vér verðum,<ref>'''Jörð grær, en vér verðum''': "In one and the same verse the
impassive re-growing or, better said, the endless growing in nature is opposed to […]
the personal revolt, in a cry that is soon broken off and taken up again after a wide gap
of almost two verses «en vér verðum […] hylja harm»." [[Koch, Ludovica. Gli scaldi]] (s. 11).</ref> 
Vínu nær <ref>'''Vínu nær''': "It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937;
what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an
English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse
form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham." [[Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse]] (p. 88).</ref> of mínum, 
helnauð er það, hylja 
harm, ágætum barma. 

Og enn kvað hann:

Valköstum hlóð eg vestan 
vang fyr merkistangir. 
Ótt var él það er sóttag 
Aðils blám Naðri. 
Háði ungum við Engla 
Ólafr þrimu stála. 
Hélt, né hrafnar sultu, 
Hringr á vopna þingi. 

Síðan fór Egill með sveit sína á fund Aðalsteins konungs og gekk þegar fyrir konung er hann sat við drykkju. Þar var glaumur mikill. Og er konungur sá að Egill var inn kominn þá mælti hann að rýma skyldi pallinn þann hinn óæðra fyrir þeim og mælti að Egill skyldi sitja þar í öndvegi gegnt konungi.

Egill settist þar niður og skaut skildinum fyrir fætur sér. Hann hafði hjálm á höfði og lagði sverðið um kné sér og dró annað skeið til hálfs en þá skellti hann aftur í slíðrin. Hann sat uppréttur og var gneyptur mjög. Egill var mikilleitur, ennibreiður, brúnamikill, nefið ekki langt en ákaflega digurt, granstæðið vítt og langt, hakan breið furðulega og svo allt um kjálkana, hálsdigur og herðimikill, svo að það bar frá því sem aðrir menn voru, harðleitur og grimmlegur þá er hann var reiður.<ref>'''narrative tool''': “This technique is used most effectively in chapter 55 of ''Egils saga'' where Egill finally takes over centre stage after the death of Þórólfr at the battle of Vínheiðr. All action seems to halt while the author skilfully builds the tension by giving a long description of Egill sitting across from the king, still in his armour, violently pulling his sword halfway out of its scabbard and slamming it back in.” [[Blaney, Benjamin. The Narrative Technique of Character Delineation in Egils saga]] (s. 344).</ref> Hann var vel í vexti og hverjum manni hærri, úlfgrátt hárið og þykkt og varð snemma sköllóttur. En er hann sat, sem fyrr var ritað, þá hleypti hann annarri brúninni ofan<ref>'''annarri brúninni ofan''': "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down." [[Speidel, Michael P. Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”]] (s. 260).</ref> á kinnina en annarri upp í hárrætur.<ref>'''annarri upp í hárrætur''': "In many ways this scene is reminiscent of the confrontation between Heiðrekr and Gestumblindi in Hervarar saga, and also of a scene in Grímnismál that was probably the prototype. The presence of fire, the face-to-face encounter between the kind and a newcomer, and the fact that Egill closes one eye as if in imitation of Óðinn, who occupies the role that Egill occupies in the two other episodes, can be viewed as allusions to these scenes, which, as we have seen, are both bound up with the motif of fratricide". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (s. 255).</ref><ref>'''þá hleypti hann annarri brúninni ofan á kinnina en annarri upp í hárrætur''': "Oppsummert er tolkingsforslaget mitt altså at auga skal oppfattast som eit våpen parallelt til sverdet, og augnebryna (og augnelokka) som ein parallell til slira. Å sperre opp og knipe att annakvart auge blir dermed ein parallell til å dra sverdet halvt og så smelle det nedi slira att." [[Heide, Eldar. Auga til Egil: ei nytolkning av ein tekststad i Egilssoga]] (p. 123).</ref> Egill var svarteygur og skolbrúnn. Ekki vildi hann drekka þó að honum væri borið en ýmsum hleypti hann brúnunum ofan eða upp.

Aðalsteinn konungur sat í hásæti. Hann lagði og sverð um kné sér. Og er þeir sátu svo um hríð,<ref>'''sátu svo um hríð''': "Þessi óviðjafnanlega smámynd úr Egils sögu ber snilld höfundarins fagurt vitni. Hann nær hinum sterkustu áhrifum með algerðu þagnarspili milli tveggja leikenda. [...] Ekki veit ég, hvað konungi hefur búið í hug, er hann horfðist í augu við Egil um hallargólf þvert, en mig grunar, að honum hafi þá skilizt, að það var sómi Þórólfs, hins fallna höfðingja, en ekki ágirnd ein, sem var um að tefla." [[Kristján Eldjárn. Kistur Aðalsteins konungs]] (s. 97-98).</ref> þá dró konungur sverðið úr slíðrum og tók gullhring af hendi sér, mikinn og góðan, og dró á blóðrefilinn, stóð upp og gekk á gólfið og rétti yfir eldinn<ref>'''rétti yfir eldinn''': "When the king puts a gold ring on the tip of his sword and hands it across the fire to Egill, who receives it in like fashion, it is not just a sign of fear or mistrust, but also - symbolically - an act of social recognition. The exact symmetry in the way the two men are presented is more important than the gift involved; it shows Egill and Athelstan as equals. ... The imaginary vision of an English court where justice and generosity prevail is in stark contrast with the less favorable impression which the saga offers of the Norwegian courts of King Harald and his sons. From this point of view the author hardly included the Vínheiðr episode to relate an event in the history of Anglo-Saxon England but as a literary counterpoint with a thinly veiled political message." [[Magnús Fjalldal. A Farmer in the Court of King Athelstan]] (s. 29-31).</ref> til Egils. Egill stóð upp og brá sverðinu og gekk á gólfið. Hann stakk sverðinu í bug hringinum og dró að sér, gekk aftur til rúms síns. Konungur settist í hásæti. En er Egill settist niður dró hann hringinn á hönd sér og þá fóru brýnn hans í lag. Lagði hann þá niður sverðið og hjálminn og tók við dýrshorni er honum var borið og drakk af. Þá kvað hann:

Hvarmtangar lætr hanga 
hrynvirgil mér brynju 
Höðr á hauki troðnum 
heiðis vingameiði. 
Rítmeiðis kná eg reiða, 
ræðr gunnvala bræðir, 
gelgju seil á gálga 
geirveðrs, lofi að meira. 

Þaðan af drakk Egill að sínum hlut og mælti við aðra menn.

Eftir það lét konungur bera inn kistur tvær. Báru tveir menn hvora. Voru báðar fullar af silfri.

Konungur mælti: „Kistur þessar Egill skaltu hafa og, ef þú kemur til Íslands, skaltu færa þetta fé föður þínum, í sonargjöld sendi eg honum. En sumu fé skaltu skipta með frændum ykkrum Þórólfs þeim er þér þykja ágætastir. En þú skalt taka hér bróðurgjöld hjá mér, lönd eða lausaaura, hvort er þú vilt heldur, og ef þú vilt með mér dveljast lengdar þá skal eg hér fá þér sæmd og virðing þá er þú kannt mér sjálfur til segja.“

Egill tók við fénu og þakkaði konungi gjafar og vinmæli. Tók Egill þaðan af að gleðjast og þá kvað hann:

Knáttu hvarms af harmi 
hnúpgnípur mér drúpa. 
Nú fann eg þann er ennis 
ósléttur<ref>'''ennis ósléttur''': "No doubt the wry sense of humour and jesting pleasure in his own ugliness, shown by Egill Skallagrímsson in his poems and verses, also owes something to tradition. On the other hand, the author is probably to be credited with some of the comic elements in Egill’s character. These arise mainly from one of the basic vices of heroic society – he is incurably avaricious. Since Egill is also essentially unselfconcious the author can make the avarice humorous by the casual air with which at various times he makes the point." [[Wilson, R.M. Comedy and Character in the Icelandic Family Sagas]] (s. 121-22).</ref> þær rétti. 
Gramr hefir gerðihömrum 
grundar upp um hrundið, 
Sá er til ýgr, af augum, 
armsíma, mér grímu. 

Síðan voru græddir þeir menn er sárir voru og lífs auðið.

Egill dvaldist með Aðalsteini<ref>'''Egill dvaldist með Aðalsteini''': "Wood includes Egill Skallagrímsson among the learned men who visited Athelstan’s court, but I dare say Egill was more at home with Eric Bloodaxe." [[Keynes, Simon. King Athelstan’s Books]] (s. 145).</ref> konungi hinn næsta vetur eftir fall Þórólfs og hafði hann allmiklar virðingar af konungi. Var þá með honum lið það allt er áður hafði fylgt þeim báðum bræðrum og úr orustu höfðu komist. Þá orti Egill drápu um Aðalstein konung og er í því kvæði þetta:

Nú hefir foldgnár fellda, 
fellr jörð und nið Ellu, 
hjaldrsnerrandi, harra, 
höfuðbaðmr, þrjá jöfra. 
Aðalsteinn of vann<ref>'''Aðalsteinn of vann''': "In these verses by Egill, the naming of the king in the poetic text, along with … indications of its performance context, combine to reinforce the statement of the prose that the poem from which they are taken was indeed composed for performance in England, in the presence of King Æthelstan." [[Jesch, Judith. Skaldic Verse in Scandinavian England]] (s. 316).</ref> annað. 
Allt er lægra, kynfrægi, 
hér sverjum þess, hyrjar 
hrannbrjótr, konungmanni. 

En þetta er stefið í drápunni:

Nú liggr hæst und hraustum 
hreinbraut Aðalsteini. 

Aðalsteinn gaf þá enn Agli að bragarlaunum gullhringa tvo og stóð hvor mörk og þar fylgdi skikkja dýr<ref>'''fylgdi skikkja dýr''': "Rewarded poets become part of a relationship of service and payment for helping royal reputations. Egill composes a verse in praise of his new armband and produces another stanza iin praise of Aðalsteinn himself. The king further rewards him with gold and skikkja dýr, er konungr sjálfr hafði áðr borit... This kind of gift absorbs a poet and makes him into what the sovereign wants him to be: dressed for court; visibly in the king's debt; obviously a member of an individual lord's retinue." [[Waugh, Robin. Literacy, Royal Power, and King-Poet Relations in Old English and Old Norse Compositions]] (s. 301).</ref> er konungur sjálfur hafði áður borið.

En er voraði lýsti Egill yfir því fyrir konungi að hann ætlaði í brott um sumarið og til Noregs og vita hvað títt er um hag Ásgerðar „konu þeirrar er átt hefir Þórólfur bróðir minn. Þar standa saman fé mikil en eg veit eigi hvort börn þeirra lifa nokkur. Á eg þar fyrir að sjá ef þau lifa en eg á arf allan ef Þórólfur hefir barnlaus andast.“

Konungur sagði: „Það mun vera Egill á þínu forráði að fara héðan á brott ef þú þykist eiga skyldarerindi en hinn veg þykir mér best að þú takir hér staðfestu með mér og slíka kosti sem þú vilt beiðast.“

Egill þakkaði konungi orð sín „eg mun nú fara fyrst svo sem mér ber skylda til en það er líkara að eg vitji hingað þessa heita þá er eg kemst við.“

Konungur bað hann svo gera. Síðan bjóst Egill brott með liði sínu en margt dvaldist eftir með konungi. Egill hafði eitt langskip mikið og þar á hundrað manna eða vel svo. Og er hann var búinn ferðar sinnar og byr gaf þá hélt hann til hafs. Skildust þeir Aðalsteinn konungur með mikilli vináttu. Bað hann Egil koma aftur sem skjótast. Egill kvað svo vera skyldu.

Síðan hélt Egill til Noregs og er hann kom við land fór hann sem skyndilegast inn í Fjörðu. Hann spurði þau tíðindi að andaður var Þórir hersir en Arinbjörn hafði tekið við arfi og gerst lendur maður. Egill fór á fund Arinbjarnar og fékk þar góðar viðtökur. Bauð Arinbjörn honum þar að vera. Egill þekktist það. Lét hann setja upp skipið og vista lið. En Arinbjörn tók við Agli við tólfta mann og var með honum um veturinn.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Egla, 55

2016-01-12T12:17:51Z

Zachary Jordan:

{{Egla_TOC}}

==Chapter 55==

'''Egil buries Thorolf'''

While his men still pursued the fugitives, king Athelstan left the battle-field, and rode back to the town, nor stayed he for the night before he came thither. But Egil pursued the flying foe, and followed them far, slaying every man whom he overtook. At length, sated with pursuit, he with his followers turned back, and came where the battle had been, and found there the dead body of his brother Thorolf. He took it up, washed it, and performed such other offices as were the wont of the time. They dug a grave there, and laid Thorolf therein with all his weapons and raiment. Then Egil clasped a gold bracelet<ref>'''clasped a gold bracelet''': „I think it is underestimating some of the deeper roots of his character, as a man and as a poet, to ascribe to him a meanness such as evoked by the word avarice. The conflict in his mind – if there ever was one – did not arise out of material, but of spiritual interests. Is it in keeping with this supposed vice, when Egill puts a gold ring on both Þórólf’s arms before burying him?“ [[Bouman, Ari C. Egill Skallagrímsson‘s Poem Sonatorrek]] (p. 23).</ref> on either wrist before he parted from him; this done they heaped on stones and cast in mould. Then Egil sang a stave:

'Dauntless the doughty champion 
Dashed on, the earl's bold slayer: 
In stormy stress of battle.<ref>'''in stormy stress of battle''': "Haukr [Valdísarson] apparently knew Egill’s verse in Egils Saga about the battle in Vínheiðr. ‘Helt, né hrafnar sultu,/ Hringr á vápna þingi,’ says Egill, and ‘þreklundaðr fell Þundar/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ which should be compared with: ‘Hrings fell á því þingi/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ in the [Íslendinga]drápa." [[Jónas Kristjánsson. Íslendingadrápa and Oral Tradition]] (p. 90).</ref> 
Stout-hearted Thorolf fell. 
Green grows on soil<ref>'''Green grows on soil''': "In one and the same verse the
impassive re-growing or, better said, the endless growing in nature is opposed to […]
the personal revolt, in a cry that is soon broken off and taken up again after a wide gap
of almost two verses «en vér verðum […] hylja harm»." [[Koch, Ludovica. Gli scaldi]] (p. 11).</ref> of Vin-heath<ref>'''of Vin-heath''': "It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937;
what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an
English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse
form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham." [[Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse]] (p. 88).</ref> 
Grass o'er my noble brother: 
But we our woe - a sorrow 
Worse than death-pang must bear.' 

And again he further sang:

'With warriors slain round standard 
The western field I burdened; 
Adils with my blue Adder 
Assailed mid snow of war. 
Olaf, young prince, encountered 
England in battle thunder: 
Hring stood not stour of weapons, 
Starved not the ravens' maw.' 

Then went Egil and those about him to seek king Athelstan, and at once went before the king, where he sat at the drinking. There was much noise of merriment. And when the king saw that Egil was come in, he bade the lower bench be cleared for them, and that Egil should sit in the high-seat facing the king. Egil sat down there, and cast his shield before his feet. He had his helm on his head, and laid his sword across his knees; and now and again he half drew it, then clashed it back into the sheath. He sat upright, but with head bent forward.

Egil was large-featured, broad of forehead, with large eyebrows, a nose not long but very thick, lips wide and long, chin exceeding broad, as was all about the jaws; thick-necked was he, and big-shouldered beyond other men, hard-featured, and grim when angry.<ref>'''narrative tool''': “This technique is used most effectively in chapter 55 of ''Egils saga'' where Egill finally takes over centre stage after the death of Þórólfr at the battle of Vínheiðr. All action seems to halt while the author skilfully builds the tension by giving a long description of Egill sitting across from the king, still in his armour, violently pulling his sword halfway out of its scabbard and slamming it back in.” [[Blaney, Benjamin. The Narrative Technique of Character Delineation in Egils saga]] (s. 344).</ref> He was well-made, more than commonly tall, had hair wolf-gray and thick, but became early bald. He was black-eyed and brown-skinned,

But as he sat (as was before written), he drew one eye-brow down towards the cheek<ref>'''one eye-brow down towards the cheek''': "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down." [[Speidel, Michael P. Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”]] (p. 260).</ref>, the other up to the roots of the hair.<ref>'''up to the roots of the hair''': "In many ways this scene is reminiscent of the confrontation between Heiðrekr and Gestumblindi in Hervarar saga, and also of a scene in Grímnismál that was probably the prototype. The presence of fire, the face-to-face encounter between the kind and a newcomer, and the fact that Egill closes one eye as if in imitation of Óðinn, who occupies the role that Egill occupies in the two other episodes, can be viewed as allusions to these scenes, which, as we have seen, are both bound up with the motif of fratricide". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (p. 255).</ref><ref> '''he drew one eye-brow down towards the cheek, the other up to the roots of the hair''': "Oppsummert er tolkingsforslaget mitt altså at auga skal oppfattast som eit våpen parallelt til sverdet, og augnebryna (og augnelokka) som ein parallell til slira. Å sperre opp og knipe att annakvart auge blir dermed ein parallell til å dra sverdet halvt og så smelle det nedi slira att." [[Heide, Eldar. Auga til Egil: ei nytolkning av ein tekststad i Egilssoga]] (p. 123).</ref> He would not drink now, though the horn was borne to him, but alternately twitched his brows up and down. King Athelstan sat in the upper high-seat. He too laid his sword across his knees. When they had sat there for a time,<ref>'''sat there for a time''': "Þessi óviðjafnanlega smámynd úr Egils sögu ber snilld höfundarins fagurt vitni. Hann nær hinum sterkustu áhrifum með algerðu þagnarspili milli tveggja leikenda. [...] Ekki veit ég, hvað konungi hefur búið í hug, er hann horfðist í augu við Egil um hallargólf þvert, en mig grunar, að honum hafi þá skilizt, að það var sómi Þórólfs, hins fallna höfðingja, en ekki ágirnd ein, sem var um að tefla." [[Kristján Eldjárn. Kistur Aðalsteins konungs]] (pp. 97-98).</ref> then the king drew his sword from the sheath, and took from his arm a gold ring large and good, and placing it upon the sword-point he stood up, and went across the floor, and reached it over the fire<ref>'''reached it over the fire''': "When the king puts a gold ring on the tip of his sword and hands it across the fire to Egill, who receives it in like fashion, it is not just a sign of fear or mistrust, but also - symbolically - an act of social recognition. The exact symmetry in the way the two men are presented is more important than the gift involved; it shows Egill and Athelstan as equals. ... The imaginary vision of an English court where justice and generosity prevail is in stark contrast with the less favorable impression which the saga offers of the Norwegian courts of King Harald and his sons. From this point of view the author hardly included the Vínheiðr episode to relate an event in the history of Anglo-Saxon England but as a literary counterpoint with a thinly veiled political message." [[Magnús Fjalldal. A Farmer in the Court of King Athelstan]] (pp. 29-31).</ref> to Egil. Egil stood up and drew his sword, and went across the floor. He stuck the sword-point within the round of the ring, and drew it to him; then he went back to his place. The king sate him again in his high-seat. But when Egil was set down, he drew the ring on his arm, and then his brows went back to their place. He now laid down sword and helm, took the horn that they bare to him, and drank it off. Then sang he:

'Mailed monarch, god of battle, 
Maketh the tinkling circlet 
Hang, his own arm forsaking, 
On hawk-trod wrist of mine. 
I bear on arm brand-wielding 
Bracelet of red gold gladly. 
War-falcon's feeder meetly 
Findeth such meed of praise.' 

Thereafter Egil drank his share, and talked with others. Presently the king caused to be borne in two chests; two men bare each. Both were full of silver.

The king said: 'These chests, Egil, thou shalt have, and, if thou comest to Iceland, shalt carry this money to thy father; as payment for a son I send it to him: but some of the money thou shalt divide among such kinsmen of thyself and Thorolf as thou thinkest most honourable. But thou shalt take here payment for a brother with me, land or chattels, which thou wilt. And if thou wilt abide with me long, then will I give thee honour and dignity such as thyself mayst name.'

Egil took the money, and thanked the king for his gifts and friendly words. Thenceforward Egil began to be cheerful; and then he sang:

'In sorrow sadly drooping 
Sank my brows close-knitted; 
Then found I one who furrows 
Of forehead<ref>'''furrows of forehead''': "No doubt the wry sense of humour and jesting pleasure in his own ugliness, shown by Egill Skallagrímsson in his poems and verses, also owes something to tradition. On the other hand, the author is probably to be credited with some of the comic elements in Egill’s character. These arise mainly from one of the basic vices of heroic society – he is incurably avaricious. Since Egill is also essentially unselfconcious the author can make the avarice humorous by the casual air with which at various times he makes the point." [[Wilson, R.M. Comedy and Character in the Icelandic Family Sagas]] (p. 121-22).</ref> could smooth. 
Fierce-frowning cliffs that shaded 
My face a king hath lifted 
With gleam of golden armlet: 
Gloom leaveth my eyes.' 

Then those men were healed whose wounds left hope of life. Egil abode with king Athelstan<ref>'''Egil abode with king Athelstan''': "Wood includes Egill Skallagrímsson among the learned men who visited Athelstan’s court, but I dare say Egill was more at home with Eric Bloodaxe." [[Keynes, Simon. King Athelstan’s Books]] (p. 145).</ref> for the next winter after Thorolf's death, and had very great honour from the king. With Egil was then all that force which had followed the two brothers, and come alive out of the battle. Egil now made a poem about king Athelstan, and in it is this stave:

'Land-shielder, battle-quickener, 
Low now this scion royal 
Earls three hath laid. To Ella 
Earth must obedient bow. 
Lavish of gold, kin-glorious, 
Great Athelstan<ref>'''Great Athelstan''': "In these verses by Egill, the naming of the king in the poetic text, along with … indications of its performance context, combine to reinforce the statement of the prose that the poem from which they are taken was indeed composed for performance in England, in the presence of King Æthelstan." [[Jesch, Judith. Skaldic Verse in Scandinavian England]] (p. 316).</ref> victorious, 
Surely, I swear, all humbled 
To such high monarch yields.' 

But this is the burden in the poem:

'Reindeer-trod hills obey 
Bold Athelstan's high sway.' 

Then gave Athelstan further to Egil as poet's meed two gold rings, each weighing a mark, and therewith a costly cloak<ref>'''costly cloak''': "Rewarded poets become part of a relationship of service and payment for helping royal reputations. Egill composes a verse in praise of his new armband and produces another stanza iin praise of Aðalsteinn himself. The king further rewards him with gold and skikkja dýr, er konungr sjálfr hafði áðr borit... This kind of gift absorbs a poet and makes him into what the sovereign wants him to be: dressed for court; visibly in the king's debt; obviously a member of an individual lord's retinue." [[Waugh, Robin. Literacy, Royal Power, and King-Poet Relations in Old English and Old Norse Compositions]] (p. 301).</ref> that the king himself had formerly worn.<ref>'''the king himself had formerly worn:''' "But recherché: METTRE EN VALEUR au double sens du mot: - valeur littéraire (on dit que le poème qu'on va citer est "un rondelet moult bon", par exemple). (Méliador, v. 7275); - valeur financière (l'insertion est payée par le commanditaire)… - "Goal (i.e. of the poetic insertion): VALORISE in both senses of the term: - literary value (one says that the poem one quotes is "a very good rondelet" for example). (Méliador, v. 7275); - financial value (the insertion is paid by the sponsor)… " [[Cerquiglini, Jacqueline. Pour une typologie de l'insertion]] (p. 12).</ref>

But when spring came Egil signified to the king this, that he purposed to go away in the summer to Norway, and to learn 'how matters stand with Asgerdr, my late brother Thorolf's wife. A large property is there in all; but I know not whether there be children of theirs living. I am bound to look after them, if they live; but I am heir to all, if Thorolf died childless.'

The king answered, 'This will be, Egil, for you to arrange, to go away hence, if you think you have an errand of duty; but I think 'twere the best way that you should settle down here with me on such terms as you like to ask.'

Egil thanked the king for his words.

'I will,' he said, 'now first go, as I am in duty bound to do; but it is likely that I shall return hither to see after this promise so soon as I can.'

The king bade him do so.

Whereupon Egil made him ready to depart with his men; but of these many remained behind with the king. Egil had one large war-ship, and on board thereof a hundred men or thereabouts. And when he was ready for his voyage, and a fair wind blew, he put out to sea. He and king Athelstan parted with great friendship: the king begged Egil to return as soon as possible. This Egil promised to do.

Then Egil stood for Norway, and when he came to land sailed with all speed into the Firths. He heard these tidings, that lord Thorir was dead, and Arinbjorn had taken inheritance after him, and was made a baron. Egil went to Arinbjorn and got there a good welcome. Arinbjorn asked him to stay there. Egil accepted this, had his ship set up, and his crew lodged. But Arinbjorn received Egil and twelve men; they stayed with him through the winter.

==References==

<references />

==Kafli 55==

'''Egill jarðaði Þórólf'''

Aðalsteinn konungur sneri í brott frá orustunni en menn hans ráku flóttann. Hann reið aftur til borgarinnar og tók eigi fyrr náttstað en í borginni en Egill rak flóttann og fylgdi þeim lengi og drap hvern mann er hann náði. Síðan sneri hann aftur með sveitunga sína og fór þar til er orustan hafði verið og hitti þar Þórólf bróður sinn látinn. Hann tók upp lík hans og þó, bjó um síðan sem siðvenja var til. Grófu þeir þar gröf og settu Þórólf þar í með vopnum sínum öllum og klæðum. Síðan spennti Egill gullhring á hvora hönd<ref>'''gullhring á hvora hönd''': "I think it is underestimating some of the deeper roots of his character, as a man and as a poet, to ascribe to him a meanness such as evoked by the word avarice. The conflict in his mind – if there ever was one – did not arise out of material, but of spiritual interests. Is it in keeping with this supposed vice, when Egill puts a gold ring on both Þórólf’s arms before burying him?" [[Bouman, Ari C. Egill Skallagrímsson‘s Poem Sonatorrek]] (s. 23).</ref> honum áður hann skildist við, hlóðu síðan að grjóti og jósu að moldu. Þá kvað Egill vísu:

Gekk, sá er óaðist ekki 
jarlmanns bani snarla, 
þreklundaðr féll, Þundar, 
Þórólfr, í gný stórum.<ref>'''í gný stórum''': "Haukr [Valdísarson] apparently knew Egill’s verse in Egils Saga about the battle in Vínheiðr. ‘Helt, né hrafnar sultu,/ Hringr á vápna þingi,’ says Egill, and ‘þreklundaðr fell Þundar/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ which should be compared with: ‘Hrings fell á því þingi/ Þórólfr í gný stórum,’ in the [Íslendinga]drápa." [[Jónas Kristjánsson. Íslendingadrápa and Oral Tradition]] (s. 90).</ref> 
Jörð grær, en vér verðum,<ref>'''Jörð grær, en vér verðum''': "In one and the same verse the
impassive re-growing or, better said, the endless growing in nature is opposed to […]
the personal revolt, in a cry that is soon broken off and taken up again after a wide gap
of almost two verses «en vér verðum […] hylja harm»." [[Koch, Ludovica. Gli scaldi]] (s. 11).</ref> 
Vínu nær of mínum, 
helnauð er það, hylja 
harm, ágætum barma. 

Og enn kvað hann:

Valköstum hlóð eg vestan 
vang fyr merkistangir. 
Ótt var él það er sóttag 
Aðils blám Naðri. 
Háði ungum við Engla 
Ólafr þrimu stála. 
Hélt, né hrafnar sultu, 
Hringr á vopna þingi. 

Síðan fór Egill með sveit sína á fund Aðalsteins konungs og gekk þegar fyrir konung er hann sat við drykkju. Þar var glaumur mikill. Og er konungur sá að Egill var inn kominn þá mælti hann að rýma skyldi pallinn þann hinn óæðra fyrir þeim og mælti að Egill skyldi sitja þar í öndvegi gegnt konungi.

Egill settist þar niður og skaut skildinum fyrir fætur sér. Hann hafði hjálm á höfði og lagði sverðið um kné sér og dró annað skeið til hálfs en þá skellti hann aftur í slíðrin. Hann sat uppréttur og var gneyptur mjög. Egill var mikilleitur, ennibreiður, brúnamikill, nefið ekki langt en ákaflega digurt, granstæðið vítt og langt, hakan breið furðulega og svo allt um kjálkana, hálsdigur og herðimikill, svo að það bar frá því sem aðrir menn voru, harðleitur og grimmlegur þá er hann var reiður.<ref>'''narrative tool''': “This technique is used most effectively in chapter 55 of ''Egils saga'' where Egill finally takes over centre stage after the death of Þórólfr at the battle of Vínheiðr. All action seems to halt while the author skilfully builds the tension by giving a long description of Egill sitting across from the king, still in his armour, violently pulling his sword halfway out of its scabbard and slamming it back in.” [[Blaney, Benjamin. The Narrative Technique of Character Delineation in Egils saga]] (s. 344).</ref> Hann var vel í vexti og hverjum manni hærri, úlfgrátt hárið og þykkt og varð snemma sköllóttur. En er hann sat, sem fyrr var ritað, þá hleypti hann annarri brúninni ofan<ref>'''annarri brúninni ofan''': "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down." [[Speidel, Michael P. Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”]] (s. 260).</ref> á kinnina en annarri upp í hárrætur.<ref>'''annarri upp í hárrætur''': "In many ways this scene is reminiscent of the confrontation between Heiðrekr and Gestumblindi in Hervarar saga, and also of a scene in Grímnismál that was probably the prototype. The presence of fire, the face-to-face encounter between the kind and a newcomer, and the fact that Egill closes one eye as if in imitation of Óðinn, who occupies the role that Egill occupies in the two other episodes, can be viewed as allusions to these scenes, which, as we have seen, are both bound up with the motif of fratricide". [[Torfi H. Tulinius. An Attempt at Application: Interpreting Egils saga]] (s. 255).</ref><ref>'''þá hleypti hann annarri brúninni ofan á kinnina en annarri upp í hárrætur''': "Oppsummert er tolkingsforslaget mitt altså at auga skal oppfattast som eit våpen parallelt til sverdet, og augnebryna (og augnelokka) som ein parallell til slira. Å sperre opp og knipe att annakvart auge blir dermed ein parallell til å dra sverdet halvt og så smelle det nedi slira att." [[Heide, Eldar. Auga til Egil: ei nytolkning av ein tekststad i Egilssoga]] (p. 123).</ref> Egill var svarteygur og skolbrúnn. Ekki vildi hann drekka þó að honum væri borið en ýmsum hleypti hann brúnunum ofan eða upp.

Aðalsteinn konungur sat í hásæti. Hann lagði og sverð um kné sér. Og er þeir sátu svo um hríð,<ref>'''sátu svo um hríð''': "Þessi óviðjafnanlega smámynd úr Egils sögu ber snilld höfundarins fagurt vitni. Hann nær hinum sterkustu áhrifum með algerðu þagnarspili milli tveggja leikenda. [...] Ekki veit ég, hvað konungi hefur búið í hug, er hann horfðist í augu við Egil um hallargólf þvert, en mig grunar, að honum hafi þá skilizt, að það var sómi Þórólfs, hins fallna höfðingja, en ekki ágirnd ein, sem var um að tefla." [[Kristján Eldjárn. Kistur Aðalsteins konungs]] (s. 97-98).</ref> þá dró konungur sverðið úr slíðrum og tók gullhring af hendi sér, mikinn og góðan, og dró á blóðrefilinn, stóð upp og gekk á gólfið og rétti yfir eldinn<ref>'''rétti yfir eldinn''': "When the king puts a gold ring on the tip of his sword and hands it across the fire to Egill, who receives it in like fashion, it is not just a sign of fear or mistrust, but also - symbolically - an act of social recognition. The exact symmetry in the way the two men are presented is more important than the gift involved; it shows Egill and Athelstan as equals. ... The imaginary vision of an English court where justice and generosity prevail is in stark contrast with the less favorable impression which the saga offers of the Norwegian courts of King Harald and his sons. From this point of view the author hardly included the Vínheiðr episode to relate an event in the history of Anglo-Saxon England but as a literary counterpoint with a thinly veiled political message." [[Magnús Fjalldal. A Farmer in the Court of King Athelstan]] (s. 29-31).</ref> til Egils. Egill stóð upp og brá sverðinu og gekk á gólfið. Hann stakk sverðinu í bug hringinum og dró að sér, gekk aftur til rúms síns. Konungur settist í hásæti. En er Egill settist niður dró hann hringinn á hönd sér og þá fóru brýnn hans í lag. Lagði hann þá niður sverðið og hjálminn og tók við dýrshorni er honum var borið og drakk af. Þá kvað hann:

Hvarmtangar lætr hanga 
hrynvirgil mér brynju 
Höðr á hauki troðnum 
heiðis vingameiði. 
Rítmeiðis kná eg reiða, 
ræðr gunnvala bræðir, 
gelgju seil á gálga 
geirveðrs, lofi að meira. 

Þaðan af drakk Egill að sínum hlut og mælti við aðra menn.

Eftir það lét konungur bera inn kistur tvær. Báru tveir menn hvora. Voru báðar fullar af silfri.

Konungur mælti: „Kistur þessar Egill skaltu hafa og, ef þú kemur til Íslands, skaltu færa þetta fé föður þínum, í sonargjöld sendi eg honum. En sumu fé skaltu skipta með frændum ykkrum Þórólfs þeim er þér þykja ágætastir. En þú skalt taka hér bróðurgjöld hjá mér, lönd eða lausaaura, hvort er þú vilt heldur, og ef þú vilt með mér dveljast lengdar þá skal eg hér fá þér sæmd og virðing þá er þú kannt mér sjálfur til segja.“

Egill tók við fénu og þakkaði konungi gjafar og vinmæli. Tók Egill þaðan af að gleðjast og þá kvað hann:

Knáttu hvarms af harmi 
hnúpgnípur mér drúpa. 
Nú fann eg þann er ennis 
ósléttur<ref>'''ennis ósléttur''': "No doubt the wry sense of humour and jesting pleasure in his own ugliness, shown by Egill Skallagrímsson in his poems and verses, also owes something to tradition. On the other hand, the author is probably to be credited with some of the comic elements in Egill’s character. These arise mainly from one of the basic vices of heroic society – he is incurably avaricious. Since Egill is also essentially unselfconcious the author can make the avarice humorous by the casual air with which at various times he makes the point." [[Wilson, R.M. Comedy and Character in the Icelandic Family Sagas]] (s. 121-22).</ref> þær rétti. 
Gramr hefir gerðihömrum 
grundar upp um hrundið, 
Sá er til ýgr, af augum, 
armsíma, mér grímu. 

Síðan voru græddir þeir menn er sárir voru og lífs auðið.

Egill dvaldist með Aðalsteini<ref>'''Egill dvaldist með Aðalsteini''': "Wood includes Egill Skallagrímsson among the learned men who visited Athelstan’s court, but I dare say Egill was more at home with Eric Bloodaxe." [[Keynes, Simon. King Athelstan’s Books]] (s. 145).</ref> konungi hinn næsta vetur eftir fall Þórólfs og hafði hann allmiklar virðingar af konungi. Var þá með honum lið það allt er áður hafði fylgt þeim báðum bræðrum og úr orustu höfðu komist. Þá orti Egill drápu um Aðalstein konung og er í því kvæði þetta:

Nú hefir foldgnár fellda, 
fellr jörð und nið Ellu, 
hjaldrsnerrandi, harra, 
höfuðbaðmr, þrjá jöfra. 
Aðalsteinn of vann<ref>'''Aðalsteinn of vann''': "In these verses by Egill, the naming of the king in the poetic text, along with … indications of its performance context, combine to reinforce the statement of the prose that the poem from which they are taken was indeed composed for performance in England, in the presence of King Æthelstan." [[Jesch, Judith. Skaldic Verse in Scandinavian England]] (s. 316).</ref> annað. 
Allt er lægra, kynfrægi, 
hér sverjum þess, hyrjar 
hrannbrjótr, konungmanni. 

En þetta er stefið í drápunni:

Nú liggr hæst und hraustum 
hreinbraut Aðalsteini. 

Aðalsteinn gaf þá enn Agli að bragarlaunum gullhringa tvo og stóð hvor mörk og þar fylgdi skikkja dýr<ref>'''fylgdi skikkja dýr''': "Rewarded poets become part of a relationship of service and payment for helping royal reputations. Egill composes a verse in praise of his new armband and produces another stanza iin praise of Aðalsteinn himself. The king further rewards him with gold and skikkja dýr, er konungr sjálfr hafði áðr borit... This kind of gift absorbs a poet and makes him into what the sovereign wants him to be: dressed for court; visibly in the king's debt; obviously a member of an individual lord's retinue." [[Waugh, Robin. Literacy, Royal Power, and King-Poet Relations in Old English and Old Norse Compositions]] (s. 301).</ref> er konungur sjálfur hafði áður borið.

En er voraði lýsti Egill yfir því fyrir konungi að hann ætlaði í brott um sumarið og til Noregs og vita hvað títt er um hag Ásgerðar „konu þeirrar er átt hefir Þórólfur bróðir minn. Þar standa saman fé mikil en eg veit eigi hvort börn þeirra lifa nokkur. Á eg þar fyrir að sjá ef þau lifa en eg á arf allan ef Þórólfur hefir barnlaus andast.“

Konungur sagði: „Það mun vera Egill á þínu forráði að fara héðan á brott ef þú þykist eiga skyldarerindi en hinn veg þykir mér best að þú takir hér staðfestu með mér og slíka kosti sem þú vilt beiðast.“

Egill þakkaði konungi orð sín „eg mun nú fara fyrst svo sem mér ber skylda til en það er líkara að eg vitji hingað þessa heita þá er eg kemst við.“

Konungur bað hann svo gera. Síðan bjóst Egill brott með liði sínu en margt dvaldist eftir með konungi. Egill hafði eitt langskip mikið og þar á hundrað manna eða vel svo. Og er hann var búinn ferðar sinnar og byr gaf þá hélt hann til hafs. Skildust þeir Aðalsteinn konungur með mikilli vináttu. Bað hann Egil koma aftur sem skjótast. Egill kvað svo vera skyldu.

Síðan hélt Egill til Noregs og er hann kom við land fór hann sem skyndilegast inn í Fjörðu. Hann spurði þau tíðindi að andaður var Þórir hersir en Arinbjörn hafði tekið við arfi og gerst lendur maður. Egill fór á fund Arinbjarnar og fékk þar góðar viðtökur. Bauð Arinbjörn honum þar að vera. Egill þekktist það. Lét hann setja upp skipið og vista lið. En Arinbjörn tók við Agli við tólfta mann og var með honum um veturinn.

==Tilvísanir==

<references />
==Links==

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga. Efnisyfirlit]]
[[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-12T12:14:34Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''': 1-115
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse:'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''': place-names, Skaldic poetry, poetry

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Egla,_55|Chapter 55]]: '''Vínu nær''': It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-12T12:01:32Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''': 1-115
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse:'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''': place-names, Skaldic poetry, poetry

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[[Egla,_55|Chapter 55]]: '''Vínu nær''' It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-12T11:28:24Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''': 1-115
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse:'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''': place-names, Skaldic poetry, poetry

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[https://wikisaga.hi.is/index.php?title=Egla,_55Chapt. Chapt. 55] It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Fox, Denton. Njáls Saga and the Western Literary Tradition

2016-01-12T10:55:57Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Denton Fox
* '''Title''': Njáls Saga and the Western literary tradition.
* '''Place, Publisher''': Eugene, University of Oregon
* '''Year''': 1963
* '''Pages''': 289-310
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Fox, Denton. “Njál’s Saga and the Western literary tradition.” Comparative Literature XV/4 (1963): 289-310
----
* '''Key words''': epic, structure

==Annotation==
Fox begins this article by comparing Njáls Saga with the other great epics of western literature, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Song of Roland. Beyond specific small similarities, such as knowledge of characters’ eventual fates, Fox focuses on the structure of the saga, how its make-up and more importantly its break-up mirrors the broken structures of the other epics. The structure of the saga helps the plot move by interrupting up the protagonists’ movements and mirroring their progress with the overall progress of medieval Icelandic culture from an honor-centered pagan past to law-focused and orderly Christian future.
==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[https://wikisaga.hi.is/index.php?title=Njála,_159 Chapt. 159]: “We see Kári as the final hero, uniting in himself the figures of the heroic individual, Gunnar, and the man of justice and Christianity, Njál, but finding for himself a new solution, and on which involves life, not death.” (p. 309)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Lindow, John. Skald Sagas in their Literary Context

2016-01-12T10:49:45Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Lindow, John
* '''Title''': Skald Sagas in their Literary Context 1: Other Icelandic Genres
* '''Published in''': ''Skaldsagas. Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets''
* '''Editor''': Russell Poole
* '''Place, Publisher''': Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter
* '''Year''': 2001
* '''Pages''': 218-31
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Lindow, John. "Skald Sagas in their Literary Context 1: Other Icelandic Genres." ''Skaldsagas. Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets,'' pp. 218–31. Ed. Russell Poole. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2001.

----
* '''Key words''':
Icelander, travel, skald, poets

==Annotation==
This article is part one of a three-part discussion of skalds in their literary contexts. In it, Lindow describes two very basic plot patterns involving Icelandic poets. The first and more familiar is the feud pattern in which the skald becomes tangled in the conflicts we have to come to associate with the family sagas. The second pattern, which Lindow calls the “travel pattern,” involves an Icelandic poet traveling to the court of a king, usually to seek admittance to his entourage or to talk himself out of disfavor. A poet needed a royal audience and these sagas explore the relationship between skald and king. Egils Saga contains elements of the “travel pattern,” yet is one of the few sagas that breaks with the tradition and creates a more complex picture of the relationship in the “king and Icelander” pattern since Egil never joins the king, nor are the two ever fully reconciled.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[https://wikisaga.hi.is/index.php?title=Egla,_60 Chapt 60]: “Egill’s travels to and encounters with royalty are of course even more disruptive of the pattern. The best example is doubtless the head-ransom episode in York. Instead of planning to visit the king, perhaps to present a drápa, Egill is driven to him by shipwreck and only composes the poem at the very last minute. Instead of being
taken into the hirð, he is cast out of the land pardon-less, with his life alone as the reward for passing the implicit test.’” (p. 226)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-12T10:41:41Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse:'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''': place-names, Skaldic poetry, poetry

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[https://wikisaga.hi.is/index.php?title=Egla,_55Chapt. Chapt. 55] It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-12T10:40:57Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse.'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''': place-names, Skaldic poetry, poetry

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
[https://wikisaga.hi.is/index.php?title=Egla,_55Chapt. Chapt. 55] It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-09T18:36:05Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse.'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''':

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==
Chapt. 55 “It is widely agreed that this battle [Vínheiðr] should be identified with the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; what is disputed, however, is whether the name Vínheiðr preserves an English name behind it—to be specific, whether it represents a Norse form of the name preserved as We(o)dune is Symeon of Durham.” (p. 88)

==Links==

* ''Written by:'' Zachary Melton
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]

Townend, Matthew. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse

2016-01-09T18:32:23Z

Zachary Jordan:

* '''Author''': Townend, Matthew
* '''Title''':
* '''Published in''': ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse''
* '''Series''': English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1
* '''Place, Publisher''': Nottingham: English Place-Name Society
* '''Year''': 1998
* '''Pages''':
* '''E-text''':
* '''Reference''': Townend, Matthew. ''English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse.'' English Place-Name Society Extra Series 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 1998.
----
* '''Key words''':

==Annotation==
This monograph focuses solely on English place-names that were presumably passed through verbal contact and into skaldic verse, which would have been later written down in Iceland. Townend attempts to circumvent sagas in this study because he is trying to focus solely on the spoken word rather than the written, which survives in the ancient skaldic poetry. The best examples of place names come from the poets known to have travelled to England, such as Sigvtar or the skalds at the court of Knútur inn ríki. Townend places the death of Þórólf, Egill’s brother, in England rather than Russia, challenging the long-standing work of Alistair Campbell, breaking down just how certain places- names could have mutated through Old Norse translations.

==Lýsing==

==See also==

==References==

==Links==

* ''Written by:''
* ''Icelandic/English translation:''

[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]]