Þórður Harðarson & Elisabet Snorradóttir. Egil’s or Paget’s disease

• Author: Þórður Harðarson & Elisabet Snorradóttir
• Title: Egil’s or Paget’s Disease
• Published in: British Medical Journal 313/7072
• Year: 1996
• Pages: 1613-14
• E-text:
• Reference: Þórður Harðarson & Elisabet Snorradóttir. "Egil’s or Paget’s Disease." British Medical Journal 313/7072 (1996): 1613-14.

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• Key words: medicine (læknisfræði)

Annotation

While Egil’s saga was written some 250-300 years after his death, the account of his exhumation takes place only around a hundred years prior to the saga being written. The description of what is believed to have been Egil’s skull tallies well with textbook descriptions of Paget’s disease (osteitis deformans), as do descriptions of Egil in old age. Based on Þórður Harðarson’s article in the journal Skírnir (1984).

Lýsing

Egils saga er skrifuð um 250-300 árum eftir fráfall Egils. Höfuðbein sem talin eru vera Egils eru þó grafin upp um 100 árum áður en sagan er skrifuð og lýsingar sögunnar á höfuðkúpunni og á Agli í ellinni koma heim við lýsingar á manni sem þjáist af Pagets heilkenni (osteitis deformans). Byggt á grein Þórðar Harðarsonar í 'Skírni' (1984).

See also

• Byock, Jesse L.. Egil’s Bones
• Byock, Jesse L.. Hauskúpan og beinin í Egils sögu
• Byock, Jesse L.. The Skull and Bones in Egils saga
• Örnólfur Thorlacius. Hjálmaklettur Egils
• Þórður Harðarson. Sjúkdómur Egils Skallagrímssonar

References

Chapter 89: allur báróttur utan: "A corrugated and irregular bone surface hardly seem to add to the lustre of a great warrior and poet. It is, however, a common description in medical textbooks. A curious and observant twelfth century Icelander noticed the same irregular corrugated features that twentieth century medical students are taught to look for as signs of Paget’s disease" (p. 1614).

Links

• Written by: Katelin Parsons
• Icelandic/English translation: Katelin Parsons