McTurk, Rory. Lot’s wife, Agni Dagsson and Egill Skalla-Grímsson

• Author: McTurk, Rory
• Title: Lot’s Wife, Agni Dagsson and Egill Skalla-Grímsson
• Published in: Þjóðlíf og þjóðtrú. Ritgerðir helgaðar Jóni Hnefli Aðalsteinssyni
• Editors: Jón Jónsson et al.
• Place, Publisher:Reykjavík, Þjóðsaga
• Year: 1998
• Pages: 215-31
• E-text:
• Reference: McTurk, Rory. "Lot’s Wife, Agni Dagsson and Egill Skalla-Grímsson." Þjóðlíf og þjóðtrú. Ritgerðir helgaðar Jóni Hnefli Aðalsteinssyni, pp. 215-31. Eds. Jón Jónsson et al. Reykjavík, Þjóðsaga, 1998.

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• Key words: literary elements (bókmenntaleg einkenni)

Annotation

The motif of immobilisation as it appears in three narratives: the story of Lot's wife in the Old Testament, who turns into a pillar of salt; the account of King Agni Dagsson's death by hanging in Ynglinga saga; and the Höfuðlausn episode in Egils saga, where a swallow's twittering at Egill's window impedes him from composing his poem, immobilising him as a poet. The immobilisation of Lot's wife is mythical; the transfixion of King Agni has both mythical and legendary elements and exhibits a greater degree of realism. Immobilisation in Egils saga is still more realistic. While all three narratives have in common a mythical structure, "the stories of King Agni and of Egill's encounter with King Eiríkr at York, when considered in relation to the story of Lot's wife, may be seen as representing different stages in the gradual displacement of myth by increasing realism that Frye sees as generally characteristic of the development of Western literature" (p. 230).

Lýsing

Hér er fjallað um magnleysi eins og það birtist í þremur frásögnum; sögunni um konu Lots í Gamla testamentinu, sem breytist í saltstólpa, lýsingin á hengingu Agna konungs Dagssonar í Ynglinga sögu og loks Höfuðlausnar-senunni í Egils sögu þar sem klak svölunnar við glugga kemur í veg fyrir að Egill geti ort kvæðið. Í því tilviki lamast skáldgáfa Egils. Stirðnun konu Lots er goðsöguleg; frásögnin af magnleysi Agna hefur bæði goðsöguleg og þjóðsöguleg einkenni en er þó á sinn hátt raunsæisleg. Hugarlömun Egils er enn raunsærri. Þó að allar frásagnir hafi goðsöguleg einkenni, þá er mögulegt að líta svo á að sögunar um Agna og Agli séu, í samanburði við frásögnina af konu Lots, dæmi um önnur stig í þeirri þróun frá goðsögu til raunsæis sem Northrop Frye telur einkannandi fyrir sögu vestrænna bókmennta.

References

Chapter 63: Eiríkur konungur sat uppréttur: "In Egils saga the motif of immobilisation … is perhaps even less easy to recognise because of the still greater element of realism in the narrative, the main characters of which, incidentally, are readily identifiable as historical. Reminders of the mythical character of the motif are nevertheless present in the text, as appears when the situation in which Eiríkr sits upright, staring at Egill, is seen in relation to the latter's placing of the decapitated head of a horse … and also in relation to the centrally placed motif of Egill's father being found dead in a sitting position." (p. 229).

Links

• Written by: Katelin Parsons
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason