Egil's Saga Essay Example

Egil's Saga was written in the Thirteenth Century by Snorri Sturluson to describe the occurrence occurrences that had happened about 300 years after the Christianization of Iceland. Since then, it has been preserved in form of the manuscript. It is an Icelandic saga that narrates the interesting and vibrant life of Egil Skallagrimsson, who was a tenth-century poet, warrior and farmer. Egil's Saga aims at bringing to book the origin of the Icelanders and develop a unique identity. The saga facilitates the reader with further comprehension of the view of the Icelanders as well as the heroic perceived actions. Like most sagas in Iceland, the Egil's saga had an oral tradition aspect thus, was transferred from one generation to the next through the story retell. The story created the saga to fit the culture, beliefs and norms of the people living at that particular time (Tulinius, 2015). The characters used to develop the saga facilitate the painting of a picture of not only how the people were but also the identity as well as the origin of the Icelanders at that particular period by means of the view of the Icelanders.

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The saga started in Norway, about 150 years with most activities taking place in both Iceland and Norway with the major themes founded against the merciless unification regime of King Harald Fair-hair. The story revolves around the lives of Egil's grandfather known as Kveldulf, who had two sons THorolfr Thorolf and Egil's father, Skallagrimr (Oskarsdottir, 2015). He had accumulated a lot of wealth as a result of his braveness and strength through the raids conducted on the Vikings. Both Egil's father and grandfather object the king's regime, whereas Egil's brother Thorolf subjects himself to the king and is killed on account of false accusation. The strife between them and the king leads to their drive away out of the country, consequently settling in Iceland. Egil attempts to get back the property back in Norway which he considers as his wife's inheritance; however, this fails as he faces objection by the king. As a result, he builds up a personal vengeance against the king for blocking his strive in getting back the wealth.

The saga tells the progress made by Egil as progress from the savagery youngness to maturity accompanies by wisdom, the struggles he undergoes to avenge the exile from Norway by his father, fighting for his honour in regards to counter King Erik Bloodaxe of Norway, and battle in favor of the King Athelstan of England in the battles against Scotland. Additionally, the saga also makes an exploration of the varying opinion of loyalty, the powers held by poetry, and the two brother's relationship that are attracted and have affection towards the same woman. Similarly, it also expounds on the family relations as Egil is jealous and fond of his Thorolf, his older brother.

Snorri Sturluson, the author of the Egil's saga, having been born in Egil's Icelandic saga, he attempts to outline the culture of the Vikings which was highly valued. The saga story is a complete narration of the struggle by the Vikings and the significance of the legacy to the culture. The story presents the Egil as a hero who shows his life stands as a traditional Viking by leaving a mark on the society of Iceland. Throughout the saga, Egil wanted to cause an impact to the later generation on account of Scandinavian medieval that would see him as the hero inhibiting the age at that period. Although the government of the day centralized the power by attempting to subject all the Vikings to be his subjects by use of all the necessary force, he defied the rules indicating the value of the freedom. The Elgil family rather prefers to relocate to another nation with the guarantee of their freedom.

Conclusion

Egil's saga presents the significance of the accord and belief in the society of Vikings. The saga characters are developed and enhanced by the virtuousness in the Vikings in their attempt to ensure continuity of the family's name. This is the core reason as to why Skallagrim refuses to subject himself to the king even after his brother is killed (Egil, the Viking Poet. 2015). He became more agitated to challenge the king which causes a feud, leading to his emigration to Iceland. In contrast to his former setting area, Iceland was based on award and affinity that united the people and ensured a peaceful and stable environment. Extensively, the author exhibits the theme of courage and intelligence that the Vikings possess. It took boldness for Egil's family to escape from their native land to a completely new environment where they had to encounter numerous challenges throughout the journey (Poole, 2015). The author further exhibited the importance of the escape by Egil's family as the determination and acceptance of what the characters stood for therefore able to make something as a result of the migration. The emigration helped them escape an environment where they were subjects to the king, settling and colonizing a new area that was plentiful and uninhibited. Egil is, therefore, a real Viking as depicted by the story of the saga.

References

Egil, the Viking Poet. (2015). doi:10.3138/9781442621237

Oskarsdottir, S. (2015). Egil Strikes Again: Textual Variation and the Seventeenth-Century Reworkings of Egil's Saga. Egil, the Viking Poet, 175-196. doi:10.3138/9781442621237-011

Poole, R. (2015). Introduction: Egil, the Viking Poet: New Approaches to Egil's Saga. Egil, the Viking Poet, 3-20. doi:10.3138/9781442621237-002

Tulinius, T. H. (2015). The Construction of Egil's Saga. Egil, the Viking Poet, 23-39. doi:10.3138/9781442621237-003