What a Saga! - Iceland Day 2

Today was dedicated entirely to studying the Sagas. My mind is filled with a ton of information in a language that my mind is having difficulty grasping (the brain's translation between what my English-speaking ear hears in Icelandic vs. how words are actually spelled is not exactly smooth yet). So, here's what I've learned today...

Stop 1: The Saga Museum

The Saga Museum is set up as a brief history of Iceland's settlement through from Naddoddr's exploration of Iceland in ~860 AD to the reformation era. The first settlement and exploration of Iceland is fascinating - it seems a major miracle that the Vikings were able to sail from the Scandinavia countries to Iceland repeatedly.

The first Viking to actually establish a residence and stay through the winter in Iceland was Flóki Vilgerðarson. Floki (and Vikings in general) used ravens as navigational tools, since they did not have access to compasses. The idea was that ravens dislike landing on water, thus will fly to the nearest land and settle. Floki released the three ravens with him; the first flew back to the Faro Islands, the second flew up and then right back down to the ship, and the third flew into the air and headed straight to Iceland.

The Saga Age in Iceland lasted from 860 AD to 1056 AD (when the first Christian church was established). During that time, there were lots of battles between families, and lots of tales told of heroic feats that, much like Beowulf, included lots of bragging. Like Grettir the Strong, who lifted the heavy stone from the bottom of the ocean that was needed for iron-forging. He was friendless, ugly, "dark" and bald in his mid-20s. He was also an outlaw, and thus an anti-hero. Most Greek and Old English epics only celebrate heroic deeds, but Grettir is far more fascinating since he does commit some heroic acts, but is also prone to being ill-tempered, starting fights just for fun, and generally having bad luck.

At the end of the Saga museum tour, we talked to two of the teenage boys who were selling the tickets to see which Saga was their favorite. One of them turned out to be Danish and had never read any of the Sagas, although he did know that several original manuscripts were stored in Denmark and then the buildings in which they were stored burnt down (I can only imagine the Icelandic people's reaction to that). The other museum attendant is from Iceland and, when I asked him which was his favorite Saga, he reacted the same way that I imagine MFS sophomores react when asked about Beowulf, that is to say: not favorably. He seemed to resent being forced to read the Sagas in school, but when I pushed, he admitted that he liked Gisla Saga, which is about an outlaw. So, whether there were actual parts of it he enjoyed or if it was the only one that came to mind when asked, there must be something about Gisla Saga worth looking into.

Stop 2: Reykjavik 871 +/-2 The Settlement Exhibition

In 2001, in the middle of Reykjavik, a construction site uncovered the walls of a Viking dwelling from 871 (+/- 2 years). A ton of artifacts were found, including glass beads, tools, and even a cow or horse skeleton buried under the wall (perhaps as an omen to ward off evil-doers). Now, the settlement site is preserved in an exhibition in a large room. On the walls of the room are a computer-generated panoramic view of what Reykjavik would have looked like at the time with smaller, glass-enclosed artifacts. Basically, it was nerd heaven.

Not! The real nerd-heaven was the Saga room. The Saga room has manuscripts from the Saga era and

the deed of sale from a widow in Reykjavik to the King of Norway in the 1600s (it sold for 60 cows! What a deal!). The manuscripts are incredible to see in person. And they include... annotations! And the annotations are incredibly important for scholars today! So there.

We talked more with the Museum attendant at the end of the tour, who is a Medieval scholar - great luck! And she recommended Egil's Saga (which has come up in my research several times as the most beautiful, though complex, of the Sagas) and Gisla Saga again. After talking with her, I finally understood that the word "Saga" does not always denote a plot-based story. It could just as well refer to a family history/genealogy (which can be incredibly boring). So, now I most certainly know to look for the plot-based Sagas!

Eddas, on the other hand, tend to be mythologies and would include the old gods, which is definitely intriguing. The Sagas were written down between 1200 and 1500 and thus are heavily influenced by Christianity and tend to leave out the old gods, except for Odin who appears every once in a while before a battle.

Stop 3: Icelandic Sagas: The Greatest Hits

This show featured two incredibly talented, hilarious actors who went through all 40 sagas in 75 minutes at Harpa

(Reykjavik's gorgeous concert hall/conference center that's designed to look like an iceberg). Very impressive! This was helped quite a bit by the fact that 15 or so sagas follow the same basic plot: a sheep boy is killed, then the person who killed the sheep boy gets killed, then that person's death is avenged, then the other family gets vengeance and so on and so forth.

Here are outlines of the three sagas that really stuck with me:

1. Gisla Saga (since that one has been coming up all day): Apparently during the Viking age, it was common for Vikings to become blood brothers by digging up some turf and sticking it on the end of a spear to create a turf umbrella, cutting one's arm underneath said turf umbrella, and then smooshing the blood together. Then, you had to share everything, like wealth, honor, etc., but most importantly you had to avenge your blood brother's death, should he ever die. In Gisla Saga, four Vikings (one of which is Gisla) were going to become blood brothers, but then after splitting into pairs, one Viking from each pair didn't want to become a blood brother with the one from the other pair. Then Gisla's blood brother is killed by the other set of blood brothers and he has to choose between killing his brother or his brother-in-law. He kills his brother-in-law but then Gisla ends up dying too. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more drama packed in there that I'm forgetting, but that's the idea.

2. A Saga with a Heroine! Can't figure out the name of this Saga at the moment, but essentially a woman is left a widow on an island and knows that it's only a matter of time before someone comes to kill her and her two sons. So, she takes her two sons, an 8-year-old and a 4-year old who is strapped to her back, and starts to swim off the island to Iceland. The 8-year-old can't make it so gives up, but the mom swims to shore, then returns to get the 8-year-old, and saves him from drowning. Then, she gets to Iceland, picks up both of her sons, and carries them over a mountain to her sister's farm where they will be safe. Ow ow!

3. Saga of Burnt Njal: This saga is incredibly long and complicated, but ends with Njal and his family trapped in his house being burnt alive because of a bad guy (whose name sounds like murder). He hides himself and his family under some animal skins and no one is burnt! (Except for his son who burnt his finger off when he stuck it outside of the skins.) This saga was saved for the end, and it's clear its an Icelandic favorite and the sort of lore that's weaved into the national identity here.

#Saga #Edda #Iceland #GrettirtheStrong #Floki #IcelandicSagas