Egils saga is an
epicAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
Icelandic saga possibly by
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
(1179-1241 AD), who may have written the account between the years 1220 and 1240 AD. It is an important representative of the sagas and has much to say about the end of the
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
era. The saga is centered on the life of
Egill SkallagrímssonEgill Skallagrímsson was an Icelandic skald and the great anti-hero of Icelandic literature.Several accounts tell of him slaughtering as many as 20 or more armed men single-handedly and even dispatching a feared berserker with relative ease...
, an Icelandic farmer,
vikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
, and
skaldThe skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
. It is generally referred to as "Egla" by Icelandic scholars.
The saga covers a long period of time, starting in Norway in 850 AD, with the life of Egil's grandfather Úlfr, called Kveldúlfr ("Evening Wolf") and his two sons, Þórólfr, a great warrior who had a complicated relationship with
King HaraldrHarald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , was the first king of Norway....
of Norway, and Egil's father
Skalla-GrímrSkalla-Grímr Kveldulfsson was a Norwegian, who was forced to emigrate to Iceland in the days of his enemy Harald Fairhair. His main claim to fame is that he was the father of Egill, but he also deserves a footnote in the history of Nordic literature for having composed the following stanza:...
Kveldúlfsson .
Egils saga is an
epicAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
Icelandic saga possibly by
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
(1179-1241 AD), who may have written the account between the years 1220 and 1240 AD. It is an important representative of the sagas and has much to say about the end of the
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
era. The saga is centered on the life of
Egill SkallagrímssonEgill Skallagrímsson was an Icelandic skald and the great anti-hero of Icelandic literature.Several accounts tell of him slaughtering as many as 20 or more armed men single-handedly and even dispatching a feared berserker with relative ease...
, an Icelandic farmer,
vikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
, and
skaldThe skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
. It is generally referred to as "Egla" by Icelandic scholars.
The saga covers a long period of time, starting in Norway in 850 AD, with the life of Egil's grandfather Úlfr, called Kveldúlfr ("Evening Wolf") and his two sons, Þórólfr, a great warrior who had a complicated relationship with
King HaraldrHarald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , was the first king of Norway....
of Norway, and Egil's father
Skalla-GrímrSkalla-Grímr Kveldulfsson was a Norwegian, who was forced to emigrate to Iceland in the days of his enemy Harald Fairhair. His main claim to fame is that he was the father of Egill, but he also deserves a footnote in the history of Nordic literature for having composed the following stanza:...
Kveldúlfsson . Kveldúlfr is said to be a
shape-shifterShapeshifting is a common theme in mythology and folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is when a being undergoes a transformation. Commonly the transformation is purposeful, and not a curse or spell...
, and earned his name from the fact that he became a wolf after sunset. The
genealogyGenealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
at the opening of the saga states that the family carry some
ogreAn ogre is a large, cruel and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and no folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature. In art, ogres are often depicted with a large head,...
descent, giving a violent temper in later descendants. After Þórólfr's death, due to his broken allegiance to King Haraldr (although not Þórólfr's fault), Skalla-Grímr and his father Kveldúlfr flee Norway to settle in Iceland. Skalla-Grímr settles in peace as a farmer and blacksmith at Borg, where his sons Egill and Þórólfr (named after his uncle) grow up.
The story continues with the childhood of Egill, which foreshadows his future rebelliousness. His family's peace is again lost as the social order is threatened by Egil's dangerous attitude. He stirs up trouble with his first murder with an axe at the age of six. The story goes on to tell the tales of Egil's voyages to
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
and
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and his personal
vendettaA feud is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often, through guilt by association, groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
against King
Eric BloodaxeEric Haraldsson , nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ , was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as the second king of Norway and as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria Eric Haraldsson (Erik, anglicised form of ; died 954), nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’...
. There are also vivid descriptions of his other fights and friendships, his relationship with his family (highlighted by his jealousy, as well as fondness for his older brother Þórólfr), his old age, and the fate of his own son Þorsteinn (who was baptized once Roman Catholicism came to Iceland) and his children who had many children of their own. The saga ends around the year 1000 AD and spans many generations.
The saga follows Egill through the various stages of his life, most of which are surrounded by battle, and Egill virtually narrates his own life story with his frequent segments of poetry. Before Egill died he allegedly concealed his
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
treasure near
MosfellsbærMosfellsbær is a town in western Iceland, situated some 10.6 miles north of the country's capital, Reykjavík. It has a total area of 76.1 square miles and its population as of July 1, 2008 was 8,479....
, giving birth to the legend of silfur Egils ("Egil's Silver").
The character of Egill is highly ambiguous. His multi-faceted nature reflects the ambivalent qualities of his family, a family of men who are either ugly or astoundingly handsome; a family with a history of "shapeshifters" who become suddenly mad, violent and cruel, though they may at other times be deliberate and wise; a family which neither submits to the will of kings, nor stands in open rebellion. His character is also reflected in the storytelling conventions of the text, a highly ambivalent tale populated by characters with similar or identical names, living out various permutations of very similar stories. The two handsome Þórólfrs die heroic deaths, while their brothers Skallagrímr and Egill both die in old age after spitefully burying their wealth in the wilderness. The descendents of Kveldúlfr find themselves involved in two complicated inheritance feuds, at one time rejecting the claims of illegitimate children of a second marriage, and at another time claiming land on behalf of another illegitimate child born to similar circumstances.
As a work of literature,
Egil's Saga is generally considered to be amongst the best of the Icelandic sagas, along with Njáls saga and Laxdæla saga.
Sources for this article
- Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings. 1968.
- Thorsson, Örnólfur, et al. :The Sagas of the Icelanders: a selection, "Egil's Saga: Egils saga" trans: Bernard Scudder (Penguin Classics, 2000).
External links