Holtsmark, Anne. On the Werewolf Motif in Egil’s saga Skallagrímssonar

• Author: Holtsmark, Anne
• Title: On the werewolf motif in Egil‘s saga Skallagrímssonar
• Published in: Sciantia Islandica 7-8
• Year: 1968
• Pages: 7-9
• E-text:
• Reference: Holtsmark, Anne. "On the werewolf motif in Egil‘s saga Skallagrímssonar." Sciantia Islandica 7-8 (1968): 7-9.

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• Key words: literary elements, motifs, characterization, poetry, authorship (bókmenntaleg einkenni, persónusköpun, sagnaminni, kveðskapur, höfundur)

Annotation

Sketches the early history of the concept of the wolf and werewolf in Iceland and traces the development of the werewolf motif in Egils saga. Using examples from the saga, Holtsmark looks at characters whose names derive from úlfur (wolf) but focuses on Egil’s wolf-like traits in terms of his appearance, personality and behaviour. She also suggests that certain verses describing wolf-like behaviour may derive from episodes that took place in Norway, but that Egill may have composed them nevertheless.

Lýsing

Holtsmark fjallar um úlfa og varúlfa á Íslandi fyrr á tímum og rekur þróun varúlfsminnisins í Eglu. Í ljósi dæma úr sögunni ræðir hún um persónur sem draga nafn sitt af úlfum en hún leggur þó höfuðáherslu á varúlfseinkenni Egils, eins og þau koma fram í lútliti hans, persónuleika og hegðun. Hún bendir líka á að viss kvæði sem lýsa úlfslegri hegðun kunni að eiga upptök sín í atburðum sem gerðust í Noregi, en Egill kunni engu að síður að hafa ort þessi kvæði.

References

Chapter 67: beit í sundur: "Here Egill is in action as a werewolf, using the wolf’s attacking technique of biting the victim’s throat" (p. 9).

Links

• Written by: Jane Appleton
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason