Final Thoughts

All in all, I found this class to be very interesting. I learned a lot and I have definitely learned to appreciate the Viking culture more than I did before. There were a lot of Sagas we read this semester. Some were more enjoyable than others, but for the most part, they were very interesting. Of the sagas we read, my favorite was the Saga of Ref the Sly, a fitting one to end the year on. And in this saga, can be found my favorite character, the protagonist, Ref. I found his cunning and outlandish nature to be very fascinating. Many of the scenes were very cinematic, making great entertainment.

The Saga of Ref the Sly

This is truly a great saga to end the year on, definitely my favorite so far.

The Saga of Ref the Sly, to me, stands far above the other sagas we have read. Constant action, an interesting plot, and in stark contrast with many of the other sagas we have read. This saga is universal. I may be wrong, but I felt like every proper noun in the story could have been replaced with another to make the saga pertain to some other culture, and no one would know the difference. Clearly, there are some stylistic quirks that only the viking orators and writers instate, such as poetry and heavy foreshadowing, but that aside, this story is an action adventure that can be told in so many ways. The scene I like the best is the scene in which Gunnar and Bard cut off Ref's water supply and attempt to burn his fortress down. Out of nowhere, the wall falls down and out comes a huge boat, in which they sail away and escape. The visual images I get when reading this are really cool. Great stuff!

The Vinland Sagas

I fund these two sagas very interesting. I found the first saga more interesting though. It definitely seemed more to the point. In the first saga, there is very little delay before people start heading to this new land, which I assume is America. In Eirik the Red's saga, it takes almost three quarters of the saga before they leave. One thing I found funny Eirik's saga, is when he takes back his bedstead boards from Thorgest and they become at odds with one another. In a following scene, Eirik and Thorgest duel, Eirik loses, and then they make peace. This seemed atypical of duels at the time, having a survivor, that is, and then becoming friends of sorts after.

Egil's Saga: Part 2

I found the entirety of Egil's Saga to be very entertaining. In retrospect, my reasoning for this would have to be that we finally get to see almost every aspect of a human. Let me explain. In most of the sagas we have read so far, we are introduced to a character, he does something, and the saga is over. It seems that many of the sagas we have read are concerned with events, more than the people in them. In Egil's Saga, we have Egil, who is definitely a multi-faceted individual. The enjoyable part of this saga was that we got so see almost all of his facets. And although it may not seem like it at a glance, but upon examination, it is clear that he is like any other person with real, raw emotion. He has a clear sense of right and wrong, he is passionate, yet reasonable, and has considerable motivation for anything he does that could be considered a wrongdoing. As Arinbjorn states, "...But as much as Egil has wronged you, you should consider the losses he has suffered at the hands of your kinsmen. Your father king Harald had his uncle Thorolf, a fine man, put to death solely on the grounds of slander by evil men. You broke the law against Egil yourself, King, in favour of Berg-Onund, and moreover you wanted him put to death, and you killed all his men and stole all his wealth. And then you declared him an outlaw and drove him out of the country. Egil is not the sort of man to stand being provoked. Every case should be judged in light of the circumstances."

Egil's depth of emotion and realism as a character are portrayed in many places throughout the saga. However, I feel that one of the best examples of this can be found on page 89, stanza 17, where Egil speaks a verse lamenting the death of Thorolf. It is very fitting.

Egil's Saga: Part 1

I was a bit troubled throughout most of this saga, continually asking myself, where's Egil? That aside, I still enjoyed reading it very much. The character of Thorolf I found particularly intriguing. I definitely sympathized with him as he repeatedly paid for not giving Hildirid's sons any of the inheritance. I found myself wondering how a king could be so easily swayed to believe something that came from people who had motive to slander Thorolf, and without ever consulting Thorolf or others to hear the other side of the story. I enjoyed the scene about King Harald burning down the building and all Thorolf's men running out to fight. It wasn't a long scene but was very descriptive.

Prologue to the Prose Edda

I found this to be a very interesting sort of story. Initially, I was reminded of the first few books of the bible: creation, the flood, etc. However, after the first few paragraphs, things deviated from the traditional biblical story. People such as Thor, Odin, and Baldr are introduced. I also noticed the large incorporation of other historical elements like Troy and the Aesir. Initially, the ideas that Snorri spouts seem far-fetched and unbelievable. But as he progresses on, he begins to incorporate Troy, Turkland, Sweden, and other places we know exist or existed. This, to the casual uninformed reader, would in a sense validate Snorri's previous claims. Snorri's reasoning for attempting to make everything more believable can only be speculated at. Perhaps he thought that by relating the very Christian creation story to Norse mythology, he could in a sense validate Christianity and slander the old beliefs, claiming they were derived from Christianity to begin with. Or perhaps he really believed everything he wrote, although I have a hard time believing that. But maybe he just enjoyed a good story. After all, as they say, the best stories are the ones we weave ourselves.

Norse Mythology

This introduction to Norse Mythology, as many have already stated, was a very tedious read. There was a lot more history than I had originally anticipated, which I generally find rather boring. Unfortunately, this was no exception. However, even though I did not enjoy most of the introduction, there were some parts that I found enlightening. I found it interesting that there are so many takes on Norse Mythology. It seems that there isn't a standard "the way it was." We are even presented with two authors, Snorri and Saxo Grammaticus, contemporaries of one another, who present several differing ideas regarding Norse mythology. Something else I found interesting was the pervasiveness of euhemerism. I will admit that I had to look this word up, having no idea of its meaning. For those of you who know what this is, congratulations, for everyone else, euhemerism is the theory that mythology is derived fro history. Both the authors we are presented with, Snorri and Saxo, apparently make numerous attempts at this. From the tone of the author of this book and the context of the reading, to me it seems that at times Snorri and Saxo are grasping at straws. Attempting to make mythology more relevant by extrapolating information that might have nothing to do with anything and applying it to the myth, rather than accepting it for what it is, myth. Granted, it would seem that there is definite potential that some myths are based on history, and Snorri and Saxo were much greater scholars on the subject than I, so instead of spending the rest of my life validating there facts, I will just accept them. Sorry for the digression.

Anyway, regarding the other entries. Of the ones everyone read, I found the section on Baldr the most interesting. The section gave a lot of interesting information about Baldr, primarily his murdering by Loki. I found it odd that the only thing Baldr was not protected from was mistletoe. It was one of the first times I have seen mistletoe used with a negative connotation, after growing so accustomed to the whole "kiss under the mistletoe" tradition.

Of the other sections, I found the section regarding Buri and Audhumla the most interesting. The idea that the first being in the world was a cow is mind blowing. And then the cow creates Buri, the first god out of a block of salt by licking it. What?!! Ok, thats all.