note: Ignore my first discussion post on this page.
Checkpoint #3
Reflection: There were a few interesting trends that seem to be common for not just Egil’s Saga specifically, but for the majority of saga-based academic journals. Primarily what occurred to me through consistent digging, was a few common names appearing in the field of academic articles in relation to the sagas. Jesse Byock’s name appeared fairly often and at the same time, often had the most interesting paper topics. I found the ones I cited in my annotated bibliography by Byock to be of particular interest, because I feel his topics are more in vogue than the majority of other scholars on the topic of Egil and the various protagonists of the different Icelandic Sagas. The conversation of editorializing and oral history of texts prior or during their written period is particularly fascinating, and Byock seems to be the only author who repeatedly brings up these interesting conversations. In comparison to Byock, many scholars are discussing the history surrounding the Icelandic Sagas, the time period they were written in, why they’re important to Icelandic culture and history, and so forth. However, as Byock himself mentions in one of his scholarly articles, these types of frames are extremely traditional for scholarly research and study. Traditional frames of study and analysis are quite fine. There’s nothing wrong with analyzing something through traditional methods. However, I find that Byock’s unique framework for analyzing the Icelandic Sagas to be unique in comparison, and therefore if nothing else, much more interesting to read. I also noticed that in comparison to other scholars on the various Icelandic Sagas, Byock’s name comes up repeatedly regardless of which saga I look at. His work is also cited by dozens and dozens of other scholarly papers, suggesting that he’s extremely influential in research regarding the Icelandic Sagas.
Query: As previously discussed in the reflection section of this text, Byock by far introduces and discusses the more interesting concepts and queries in his academic articles discussing the Icelandic Sagas. In comparison to other scholars I’ve dug through in the JSTOR database, Byock’s articles not only discuss concepts and ideas in the Icelandic Sagas through interesting lenses, but he also manages to make his articles extremely readable for anyone with a basic background of the various Icelandic Sagas. In the beginning of Byock’s article “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context”, it brings up a particularly interesting point about the framework of the Icelandic family sagas regarding how they’re written. That the Icelandic sagas aren’t grand epics or romances, but extremely plausible and realistic stories about [often] real people who lived during the 980s in or around Iceland. It’s the kind of statement that’s brought up that’s extremely obvious, but you still might not think about it in a class where romances, epics, and stories about superhuman characters reign in the majority of literature during the period. Byock’s statement made me consider the idea of just why these sagas were then written, and what might have been so appealing, that someone would consider writing these stories in the 13th and 14th century. In an age of Arthurian romance and Christian-influenced literature, it makes me wonder what was appealing about the lives of Icelanders to a people who were largely Christian or influenced by Christian customs. I wonder then what might have been omitted from these Icelandic sagas in order for them to be supported in a primarily Christian landscape at the time. That then makes me wonder perhaps, if these stories were written partially in an ironic musing. Perhaps in some ways, to make or poke fun at the brute-like and wild behaviors that some Icelanders exhibited or where known to exhibit. While the texts themselves weren’t confusing, I think the idea of them being written in a very Christian world, makes the history around the Icelandic sagas to be just as interesting if not more so, than the sagas themselves.
Egil's Saga Summary Egils Saga is an Icelandic saga about the lives of the clan known as “Egill Skallagrimsson”, following Egil and his ancestors. Interestingly to note, Egil himself isn’t introduced into the story, until later on. The story of Egils Saga, begins in the medieval world of Norway around 850 AD, starting off with Egil’s grandfather Kveldulf, which means “evening wolf”, and his two sons Skallagrim and Thorolf. Thorolf is then killed by the king, and Skallagrim and Kveldulf fled to Iceland. Skallagrim demands compensation from the King for his brother’s death, but offends the king and leaves empty handed. After recapturing a boat of his (now dead) brother’s, Skallagrim and Kveldulf sent a poem taunting the king of Norway.
From this point, the title character Egil, and his brother Thorolf are born. Egil was the son of Skallagrim. Egil participated in viking raids, and was also a well-spoken poet. Egil wrote his first skaldic verse at age three in the story. By the age of seven, Egil axe-killed a boy who was better than him in a certain sport. After a fit regarding a lie about running out of ale during a feast, Egil wrote sarcastic poetry about Bard. Bard attempts to poison Egil, but the plan failed after egil inscribed the horn that held the poisoned drink, with runes. Egil receives countless gifts from the king of Anglo-Saxons, Aethelstan, and the king pledges friendship to Egil. But, Erik Blood-Axe despises Egil, the ruler of Viking Norway, despises Egil, and outlaws him from Norway. While serving Aethelstan in a battle against Olaf the Red of Scotland, Egil’s brother Thorolf dies in battle.
Egil later would return to Iceland. From there, egil would live to old age, becoming a close adviser to Harald Eiriksson, who Egill wrote a poem for. Egil’s son dies in a shipwreck, and Egil writes a poem to honor him. Egil’s son Thorsteinn has feuds with the son of Onund Sjoni over lad. Egil ends up becoming blind and weak. Egil later walked alone to the Althing, and tossed silver that he had received from king Aethelstan.
Checkpoint 4:
Abstract: Examinations of the literacy text of the Sagas of Icelanders reveals the the history of the various families that lived during the 9th to 11th century. Whether they tell the story of the founder of the first settlement in Greenland Erik the Red, or the story of a warrior-poet. The saga “Egil’s Saga” reveals the story of Egil Skallagrimsson, a Viking, farmer, and poet in the early to late 10th century. Beyond the structured narrative of the saga, further and more analytical analysis of Egil’s Saga reveal a complex world of physical issues and psychological trauma that faces not only Egil in Egil’s Saga, but also faces his father Skalla-Grímr Kveldúlfsson, his grandfather Kveld-Úlfr or “Night Wolf”, and his great-grandfather Hallbjorn. The text of Egil’s Saga reveals the troubles that Egil faced both physically and psychologically, particularly so in his later life. While the focus of the story isn’t Egil and his disorders, rather the focus of the story is on Egil himself, dialogue is still given in order to bring up the physical and mental issues that plagued Egil and some of his family, inferring that it has some purpose or usefulness to the saga. By examining how the physical and mental issues are dealt with and thought of by both the society at the time and families at the time, we can examine and extrapolate the information by using Egil’s Saga as a framework to determine how these physical and mental issues Egil and parts of his family faced would have been dealt with during the period, and how Egil and parts of his family deal with these physical and mental issues that differs from how society might have thought of or dealt with them during the period.. By examining the text and articles in relation to the text, we can better analyze both the issues that faced Egil and part of his family, as well as how the psychological and physical aspects might have affected Egil and parts of his family in Egil’s Saga. This argument is significant because it’s important to give a critical analysis both to how a society would normally deal with issues, and how an individual deals with issues, as well as how society might have viewed psychological and physical issues during the period the text takes place in compared to today.
Argument Against a Scholarly Article: I will be using the journal article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” by Thordur Hardarson and Elisabet Snorradottir from my work cited as my article choice. The article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” goes intosimilar topic as the article “Skull and Bones in Egils Saga: A Viking, A Grave, and Paget’s Disease” by Jesse Byock. The article discusses the possible connection between Egil Skallagrimsson and Paget’s disease, stating that “ No physician seems to have made the obvious connection between this description of his bones and a well known and well documented disease” (Hardarson). This isn’t an argument that needs a citation from the text of Egil’s Saga, but rather an argument about methodology. I brought up Byock and his focus of a possible connection to Paget’s Disease for the reason that both papers discuss and bring up the same connection. While it is true that indeed no physician seems to have made the “obvious” connection between the two, this paper was written three years after Byock’s article previous mentioned and yet, Byock isn’t credited by Hardarson. Furthermore for a physician of a fairly credited institution, Hardarson fails to bring up the problem between the connection of Paget’s Disease and Egil. In the beginning of Hardarson’s article, he brings up the story about how Egil’s skull was hit with an axe “Trying to break the skull. But the skull neither broke nor dented on impact” (Hardarson). Hardarson uses this story as one of the main points for his argument, which is a problem because that story is almost certainly false. An article written by Peter Stride of Redcliffe Hospital in the article “Egill Skallagrimsson: The First Case of Van Buchem Disease?” concluded his paper rebutting that “However, PBD is a disease of thickened but weakened bone, which is much more likely to break when struck with an axe. Paget’s rarely involves the mandible and is not commonly found in young men” (Stride). The appendix for the previously mentioned Byock paper even admits that “pressure on the spine may deform the weakened base of the skull” (Byock), which admits that the skull wouldn’t have been strong enough to sustain being hit with an axe, and this paper was published three years before Hardarson’s paper was published. Perhaps Hardarson’s paper was indeed not influenced by Byock and his research, but that seems unlikely. Combine that with the fact that the only citation provided by Hardarson’s paper is from a German textbook about general pathology and anatomy, leaving less value to his opinion. Between Stride’s research and Byock’s research, Hardarson’s research lacks more thought-provoking and insightful evidence to make such a clear determination about the connection between Paget’s Disease and Egil that Hardarson seems more than willing to make. His research of course is still useful because Hardarson is a medical professional and that helps frame a new perspective on the discussion, but he doesn't cite enough information for his conclusion to work.
Annotated Bibliography Byock, Jesse L. “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context.” New Literary History, vol. 16, no. 1, 1984, pp. 153–173. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/468780. Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.
The article “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context” by Jesse Byock, discusses the history surrounding the Icelandic Sagas regarding their prehistory oral contexts, and how much of these stories were from oral retellings versus editorialization by the author of the anonymous works. This journal article was found within the work cited section of the article “Social Memory and the Sagas: The Case of Egils Saga”, also by Jesse L. Byock. Byock teaches viking history and archaeology, early Icelandic society, medieval feuds, and Old Norse saga literature. He directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project, and is a professor at the University of California. This article is valuable to my research, because it gives me for information surrounding the context of Egil’s Saga, and it’s possible oral history predating it that led to the popularity of sagas for a time.
Byock, Jesse L. “Social Memory and the Sagas: The Case of ‘Egils Saga.’” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 76, no. 3, 2004, pp. 299–316. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40920570. Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.
The article “The Skull and Bones in Egils Saga” A Viking, A Grave, and Paget’s Disease” by Jesse Byock, is an article that explores and discusses the historical aspects of Egil’s Saga through the lens and context of social memory and disease. By going beyond the traditional tools of analyzing individual characters in Icelandic sagas, Jesse Byock attempts to frame Egil and his story under a new narrative by examining it through the lens of sociology and psychology. Jesse Byock teaches viking history and archaeology, early Icelandic society, medieval feuds, and Old Norse saga literature. He directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project and is a professor in the Scandinavian Studies section at the University of California. The information and lens that Byock uses to analyze Egil’s Saga and Egil, is valuable to my research because it examines Egil through a different view compared to the majority of analysis texts on Egil and his saga. Hardarson, Thordur, and Elisabet Snorradottir. "Egil's Or Paget's Disease?" BMJ : British MedicalJournal, vol. 313, no. 7072, 1996, pp. 1613, Biological Science Database, doi:dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.313.7072.1613. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
The article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” by Thordur Hardarson and Elisabet Snorradottir is an academic journal article discussing the topic of Paget’s Disease in Egil’s Saga in Egil skallagrimsson. The article discusses the background of the story, the evidence for and against Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease, whether or not Egil’s bones are the bones that have been found, and whether or not Egil suffered from Paget’s Disease. While the article doesn’t directly state whether they hold a conclusion to the idea of Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease, the authors of the article do conclude that he at least suffered from various symptoms of osteitis deformans. Thordur Hardarson works as a professor at the Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland and has accreditation to nine journal articles, while Elisabet Snorradottir’s education and background was unavailable. This article is useful for a few reasons. The first reason is that this article as compared to the other articles cited, comes from a medical journal from an MD. This is useful because it gives me a different perspective on thoughts of Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease from the perspective of someone well-versed in the field of medicine. The second reason this is useful, is because Hardarson doesn’t cite Jesse Byock who has a few different articles published discussing Paget’s Disease in conjunction with Egil’s Saga. This would lead me to believe that either Byock’s work wasn’t cited accidently, or that Hardarson came up with the article topic on his own. This would mean that Byock’s work was of little influence to Hardarson, which would be useful to get not only a perspective from a different field on the topic of Paget’s Disease and Egil, but to also achieve a perspective that has had little influence from Byock’s articles on the topic.
Jakobsson, Ármann. “The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 104, no. 3, 2005, pp. 297–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27712510. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.
The journal article originally published in July of 2005, “The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders” by Ármann, goes over the grotesque visuals of the characters in a collection of sagas, including Egil’s Saga. The primary topic of the article is the visuals of a multitude of protagonists in different Icelandic Sagas, what the visuals represent both to the author and the narrative, and how the description as grotesque malformed creatures, might give them a more human or interesting appeal. Ármann is a professor in medieval Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland, and specializes in medieval literature, cultural studies, and folklore. This article is valuable to my research due to the specific focus on visual natures of the protagonists to various Icelandic sagas, including Egil and his family in Egil’s Saga.
Nolcken, Christina von. “Egil Skallagrimsson and the Viking Ideal.” Oct. 2000.
“Egil Skallagrimsson and the Viking Ideal”, is an article published by Christina von Nolcken, and was delivered in the form of a speech as a lecture in October of the year 2000 at the Humanities Open House at the University of Chicago. Nolcken’s credibility for her article can be found in her education. She is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Chicago, and is chair of the committee on Medieval Studies there. The article discusses the Viking Ideals of the time period where Egils Saga takes place. The article also contains information regarding Egil himself, what the author knows about Egil both inside and outside the contextual reference of Egil’s Saga, and information regarding the Viking ideals that can be asserted from conflicts Egil faces with the saga. This source is particularly helpful for research and understanding Egil’s Saga, because it grants a better understanding into conflicts Egil and his family face beyond what the text itself says in it’s literal stance.
Nordal, Guðrún. “The Art of Poetry and the Sagas of Icelanders.” Learning and Understandingin the Old Norse World, 2007, pp. 219–237.
“The Art of Poetry and the Sagas of Icelanders”, is an essay which is a part of the book “Learning and understanding in the Old Norse World”, which was published in 2007. Guðrún Nordal, the author of the essay, was born in Iceland, received her doctorate from Oxford University in 1988, and is the current director of Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies. Nordal is also a professor in Medieval Icelandic Literature. This essay discusses the importance of early Skaldic literature, it’s place in history, how it ties into the growth of saga writing, and how this growth aided in assisting to bridge the gap between Pagan traditions, and Christian education and learning. The essay also discusses the art of Skaldic writing, and it’s crucial place in early literature, specifically referencing Egil's Saga multiple times. This essay is useful for research purposes, because it gives a much more broad understanding of saga writing and Skaldic literature from the time, which is important to better understand Egil's Saga and it’s contextual purpose and popularity in literature at the time.
Olsen, Alexandria Hennessey. “The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English ‘RimingPoem.’” Pacific Coast Philology, Oct. 1979, pp. 51–58.
“The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English Riming Poem”, is part of the academic journal “Pacific Coast Philology”, written by Alexandra Hennessey Olsen, which was published by Penn State University. The credibility of this source, is through the academic journal in question. This source, in regards to the topic and theme of the paper, is about the Riming Poem, how it may or may not have been founded based on the “head-Verse” which Egil Skalla-Grimsson composed in 936, and how the Riming Poem may in fact be a part of and inspired by something entirely different, such at early Latin hymns of the eighth century. This is an excellent text that will, contextually, allow reading and research of Egils Saga to be more efficient and thorough. By looking at a lesser known work with a similar literacy scheme to that which Egil himself composed, research can be done to compare and contrast the differences more easily, and understand literature at the time in a more thorough manner.
Ross, Margaret Clunies. “Conjectural Emendation in Skaldic Editing Practice, with Reference to ‘Egils Saga.’” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 104, no. 1, 2005, pp. 12–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27712475. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
The article “Conjectural Emendation in Skaldic Editing Practice, with Reference to ‘Egils Saga’” by Margaret Ross is a journal article published by the University of Illinois Press. This journal article takes a particular focus on editing and translations of Icelandic works, the issues that face editing Old Norse texts, and the critical reconstruction of the original Old Norse texts that are either corrupt, damaged, nonsensical, or fragmented in format with a particular focus on Conjectural Emendation in Egil’s Saga and the lack of dialogue that goes on about the issue of editing fragmented, damaged, or older texts through conjectural emendation. The article also discusses some of the principles which have guided those who have edited Old Norse texts, and how complex the situation is. Margaret Ross is a medievalist who taught as a Professor of English Language and Early English Literature at the University of Sydney. She was also the director the director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. Ross has four books published in the field of Norse and Icelandic literature and history, and has five published journal articles. This text is useful and valuable to my research because it offers particular insight into the world of conjectural emendation, it’s practices, and uses Egil’s Saga as a particular example. The idea of critical reconstruction based on otherwise incomplete works is fascinating in regards to Icelandic Sagas, and will serve as good background information about the field that analyzes and studies the Icelandic Sagas and Egil’s Saga.
Ross, Margaret Clunies. “The Development of Old Norse Textual Worlds: Genealogical Structure as a Principle of Literary Organisation in Early Iceland.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 92, no. 3, 1993, pp. 372–385. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27710853. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
The journal article “The development of Old Norse Textual Worlds: Genealogical Structure as a Principle of Literacy Organization in Early Iceland” by Margaret Ross is a journal article which describes the construction and development of old Norse works through geological means, and how genealogy and family development was an important literacy tool to help in organization of a literacy text in Early Iceland, with a particular focus on the Icelandic Sagas. Born in 1942, Margaret Ross is a medievalist who taught as a Professor of English Language and Early English Literature at the University of Sydney. She was also the director the director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. This article is useful to my research because this journal article focuses on the topic of genealogical structure, how it’s used to further the narrative in the sagas, and its impact on the varies sagas. This information is useful due to the particular focus Egil’s Saga uses for the saga, which starts not with the title character of Egil, but with his grandfather. Since the idea of the paper will be to discuss medical and psychological issues portrayed in Egil’s Saga, this information is valuable to hypothesize on why certain common issues are present from father to son in the story.
Critical Analysis and Close Reading
“My head bobs like a bridled horse, it plunges badly into woe. My middle leg both droops and drips, while both my ears are dry.” (Smilely 180)
In this particular quote, Egil describes the difficulties he faces at an old age. The quote discusses his problems with movement, and his difficulty with hearing. In textual discussion, a group of women see Egil fall, and precede to comment that he’s finished if he falls when not even being pushed, with his son-in-law Grim commenting that the women didn’t laugh so much when they were much younger. The quote is important to the development of the character Egil, because it shows the reader that the once-proud viking warrior poet, has now become frail and old. This is useful to understand in a larger observation about Egil’s aging, and how poorly he’s aged over the course of his part in the saga. It could also, in a larger frame, be viewed as a sign of Paget’s disease, as a swinging head and deformed skull (as is hinted at in pretext prior to this quote) are both major signs of the disease. It also helps the reader in understanding Egil, in which we can clearly see that Egil, in his old age, does not dispute his condition, but is more than willing to turn it into limerick and verse for his (or others, perhaps) amusement. This quote could then, in turn, raise the question if he really did have Paget’s disease, and, if so, how society as a whole might have understood the disease back then.
“Time seems long in passing as I lie alone, a senile old man on the king’s guard. My legs are two frigid widows, those women need some flame.” (Smilely 180)
In this quote, Egil is sitting by a fire to keep himself warm during the winter time. Egil is discussing his condition, and his seeming lack of family or friends to sit by the fire with him. By this point in the story, Egil is blind. The quote comes in regards to when someone asks him if he was cold, and tells him to not put his legs too close to the fire. Egil’s verse comes into play after, exclaiming that he’s alone, and his legs are cold and need warmth. This quote can be used to make up a few observations. The first and primary one, being contextually. His blindness, despite otherwise being quite debilitating, has clearly not stopped Egil’s literacy abilities considering that he put the quote into verse. This is useful to understand that, despite his condition, he’s still moderately active for his age, in which, by this point, he’d be somewhere over the age of 80. The quote could also be viewed in a way, that perhaps he’s not feeling the heat in his legs, despite being rather close to the flames of the fire. Again, this could come into play regarding Paget’s disease if he’s just not feeling the heat. It could also signify other disorders revolving around the loss of feeling in the hands or feet.
“My tongue is sluggish for me to move, my poem’s scales ponderous to raise. The god’s prize is beyond my grasp, tough to drag out from my mind’s haunts...Yet I will first recount my father’s death and mother’s loss, carry from my word-shrine the timber that I build my poem from, leafed with language. Harsh was the rift that the wave hewed in the wall of my father’s kin; I know it stands unfilled and open, my son’s breach that the sea wrought. The sea-goddess has ruffled me, stripped me bare of my loved ones: the ocean severed my family’s bonds, the tight knot that ties me down...Myself I know that in my son grew the makings of a worthy man, had that shield-tree reached manhood, then earned the claim of war’s arms. Always he prized his father’s words highest of all, though the world said otherwise...My lack of brothers often enters my thoughts, where the winds of moon-bears rage, I think of the other as the battle grows...He who does battle and tackles the hell-wolf gave me the craft that is beyond reproach, and the nature that I could reveal those who plotted against me as my true enemies. Now my course is tough: Death, close sister of Odin’s enemy, stands on the ness, with resolution and without remorse I will gladly await my own.” (Smilely 152-158)
Admittedly, this is an extremely long quote, and I one I wouldn’t throw into an essay ‘less I threw it in piecemeal. However, as this is one of the last large poems Egil writes in the story, and considering how much the poem tells, I couldn’t leave the poem out. The poem also discusses quite a few aspects of the story itself and his emotional stance, which again, simply couldn’t be ignored. It’s largely the most memorable piece in the entire saga, and with good reason. This poem is in regards to and remembrance of his sons, in which one of whom had died, while the other drowned. This poem helps take the reader into Egil’s mind, and helps us to better understand him and his position. The poem discusses how Odin had stolen away his son, while in the same breath, giving Egil some compensation by giving him his poetic talents and prowess, which Odin was known for. The quote can also show us some bigger observations about Egil’s views on his children, and life itself. Such as the phrase “Myself I know that in my son grew the makings of a worthy man, had that shield-tree reached manhood.” (Smilely 154), is suggesting that, despite Viking culture, Egil still considers his son worthy and a worthy man. With lines like “Death, close sister of Odin’s enemy, stands on the ness, with resolution and without remorse I will gladly await my own.” (Smiley 158), we can see that Egil doesn’t see suicide or self-murder as a means of escape, and that, despite that he understands he’ll largely live the rest of his life more and more lonely, he’ll still wait out his life regardless. That particular mentality is more in line with Viking culture of the time, and yet, has a kind of prowess to it that’s hard to ignore. I suppose a valuable question from this, could then be asked by wondering just how much Egil subscribed to and against contemporary cultural norms of the time period. If nothing else, this quote (and poem) aids the reader, and helps us understand more about Egil’s lifestyle, and the complex feelings he had as he traveled through is life.
Smilely, Jane. The Sagas of the Icelanders (World of the Sagas). 2005. Kindle.
Checkpoint #1
I declare my chosen text to be "Egils Saga"
Checkpoint #2
note: Ignore my first discussion post on this page.Checkpoint #3
Reflection:
There were a few interesting trends that seem to be common for not just Egil’s Saga specifically, but for the majority of saga-based academic journals. Primarily what occurred to me through consistent digging, was a few common names appearing in the field of academic articles in relation to the sagas. Jesse Byock’s name appeared fairly often and at the same time, often had the most interesting paper topics. I found the ones I cited in my annotated bibliography by Byock to be of particular interest, because I feel his topics are more in vogue than the majority of other scholars on the topic of Egil and the various protagonists of the different Icelandic Sagas. The conversation of editorializing and oral history of texts prior or during their written period is particularly fascinating, and Byock seems to be the only author who repeatedly brings up these interesting conversations. In comparison to Byock, many scholars are discussing the history surrounding the Icelandic Sagas, the time period they were written in, why they’re important to Icelandic culture and history, and so forth. However, as Byock himself mentions in one of his scholarly articles, these types of frames are extremely traditional for scholarly research and study. Traditional frames of study and analysis are quite fine. There’s nothing wrong with analyzing something through traditional methods. However, I find that Byock’s unique framework for analyzing the Icelandic Sagas to be unique in comparison, and therefore if nothing else, much more interesting to read. I also noticed that in comparison to other scholars on the various Icelandic Sagas, Byock’s name comes up repeatedly regardless of which saga I look at. His work is also cited by dozens and dozens of other scholarly papers, suggesting that he’s extremely influential in research regarding the Icelandic Sagas.
Query:
As previously discussed in the reflection section of this text, Byock by far introduces and discusses the more interesting concepts and queries in his academic articles discussing the Icelandic Sagas. In comparison to other scholars I’ve dug through in the JSTOR database, Byock’s articles not only discuss concepts and ideas in the Icelandic Sagas through interesting lenses, but he also manages to make his articles extremely readable for anyone with a basic background of the various Icelandic Sagas. In the beginning of Byock’s article “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context”, it brings up a particularly interesting point about the framework of the Icelandic family sagas regarding how they’re written. That the Icelandic sagas aren’t grand epics or romances, but extremely plausible and realistic stories about [often] real people who lived during the 980s in or around Iceland. It’s the kind of statement that’s brought up that’s extremely obvious, but you still might not think about it in a class where romances, epics, and stories about superhuman characters reign in the majority of literature during the period. Byock’s statement made me consider the idea of just why these sagas were then written, and what might have been so appealing, that someone would consider writing these stories in the 13th and 14th century. In an age of Arthurian romance and Christian-influenced literature, it makes me wonder what was appealing about the lives of Icelanders to a people who were largely Christian or influenced by Christian customs. I wonder then what might have been omitted from these Icelandic sagas in order for them to be supported in a primarily Christian landscape at the time. That then makes me wonder perhaps, if these stories were written partially in an ironic musing. Perhaps in some ways, to make or poke fun at the brute-like and wild behaviors that some Icelanders exhibited or where known to exhibit. While the texts themselves weren’t confusing, I think the idea of them being written in a very Christian world, makes the history around the Icelandic sagas to be just as interesting if not more so, than the sagas themselves.
Egil's Saga Summary
Egils Saga is an Icelandic saga about the lives of the clan known as “Egill Skallagrimsson”, following Egil and his ancestors. Interestingly to note, Egil himself isn’t introduced into the story, until later on. The story of Egils Saga, begins in the medieval world of Norway around 850 AD, starting off with Egil’s grandfather Kveldulf, which means “evening wolf”, and his two sons Skallagrim and Thorolf. Thorolf is then killed by the king, and Skallagrim and Kveldulf fled to Iceland. Skallagrim demands compensation from the King for his brother’s death, but offends the king and leaves empty handed. After recapturing a boat of his (now dead) brother’s, Skallagrim and Kveldulf sent a poem taunting the king of Norway.
From this point, the title character Egil, and his brother Thorolf are born. Egil was the son of Skallagrim. Egil participated in viking raids, and was also a well-spoken poet. Egil wrote his first skaldic verse at age three in the story. By the age of seven, Egil axe-killed a boy who was better than him in a certain sport. After a fit regarding a lie about running out of ale during a feast, Egil wrote sarcastic poetry about Bard. Bard attempts to poison Egil, but the plan failed after egil inscribed the horn that held the poisoned drink, with runes. Egil receives countless gifts from the king of Anglo-Saxons, Aethelstan, and the king pledges friendship to Egil. But, Erik Blood-Axe despises Egil, the ruler of Viking Norway, despises Egil, and outlaws him from Norway. While serving Aethelstan in a battle against Olaf the Red of Scotland, Egil’s brother Thorolf dies in battle.
Egil later would return to Iceland. From there, egil would live to old age, becoming a close adviser to Harald Eiriksson, who Egill wrote a poem for. Egil’s son dies in a shipwreck, and Egil writes a poem to honor him. Egil’s son Thorsteinn has feuds with the son of Onund Sjoni over lad. Egil ends up becoming blind and weak. Egil later walked alone to the Althing, and tossed silver that he had received from king Aethelstan.
Checkpoint 4:
Abstract:Examinations of the literacy text of the Sagas of Icelanders reveals the the history of the various families that lived during the 9th to 11th century. Whether they tell the story of the founder of the first settlement in Greenland Erik the Red, or the story of a warrior-poet. The saga “Egil’s Saga” reveals the story of Egil Skallagrimsson, a Viking, farmer, and poet in the early to late 10th century. Beyond the structured narrative of the saga, further and more analytical analysis of Egil’s Saga reveal a complex world of physical issues and psychological trauma that faces not only Egil in Egil’s Saga, but also faces his father Skalla-Grímr Kveldúlfsson, his grandfather Kveld-Úlfr or “Night Wolf”, and his great-grandfather Hallbjorn. The text of Egil’s Saga reveals the troubles that Egil faced both physically and psychologically, particularly so in his later life. While the focus of the story isn’t Egil and his disorders, rather the focus of the story is on Egil himself, dialogue is still given in order to bring up the physical and mental issues that plagued Egil and some of his family, inferring that it has some purpose or usefulness to the saga. By examining how the physical and mental issues are dealt with and thought of by both the society at the time and families at the time, we can examine and extrapolate the information by using Egil’s Saga as a framework to determine how these physical and mental issues Egil and parts of his family faced would have been dealt with during the period, and how Egil and parts of his family deal with these physical and mental issues that differs from how society might have thought of or dealt with them during the period.. By examining the text and articles in relation to the text, we can better analyze both the issues that faced Egil and part of his family, as well as how the psychological and physical aspects might have affected Egil and parts of his family in Egil’s Saga. This argument is significant because it’s important to give a critical analysis both to how a society would normally deal with issues, and how an individual deals with issues, as well as how society might have viewed psychological and physical issues during the period the text takes place in compared to today.
Argument Against a Scholarly Article:
I will be using the journal article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” by Thordur Hardarson and Elisabet Snorradottir from my work cited as my article choice. The article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” goes into similar topic as the article “Skull and Bones in Egils Saga: A Viking, A Grave, and Paget’s Disease” by Jesse Byock. The article discusses the possible connection between Egil Skallagrimsson and Paget’s disease, stating that “ No physician seems to have made the obvious connection between this description of his bones and a well known and well documented disease” (Hardarson). This isn’t an argument that needs a citation from the text of Egil’s Saga, but rather an argument about methodology. I brought up Byock and his focus of a possible connection to Paget’s Disease for the reason that both papers discuss and bring up the same connection. While it is true that indeed no physician seems to have made the “obvious” connection between the two, this paper was written three years after Byock’s article previous mentioned and yet, Byock isn’t credited by Hardarson. Furthermore for a physician of a fairly credited institution, Hardarson fails to bring up the problem between the connection of Paget’s Disease and Egil. In the beginning of Hardarson’s article, he brings up the story about how Egil’s skull was hit with an axe “Trying to break the skull. But the skull neither broke nor dented on impact” (Hardarson). Hardarson uses this story as one of the main points for his argument, which is a problem because that story is almost certainly false. An article written by Peter Stride of Redcliffe Hospital in the article “Egill Skallagrimsson: The First Case of Van Buchem Disease?” concluded his paper rebutting that “However, PBD is a disease of thickened but weakened bone, which is much more likely to break when struck with an axe. Paget’s rarely involves the mandible and is not commonly found in young men” (Stride). The appendix for the previously mentioned Byock paper even admits that “pressure on the spine may deform the weakened base of the skull” (Byock), which admits that the skull wouldn’t have been strong enough to sustain being hit with an axe, and this paper was published three years before Hardarson’s paper was published. Perhaps Hardarson’s paper was indeed not influenced by Byock and his research, but that seems unlikely. Combine that with the fact that the only citation provided by Hardarson’s paper is from a German textbook about general pathology and anatomy, leaving less value to his opinion. Between Stride’s research and Byock’s research, Hardarson’s research lacks more thought-provoking and insightful evidence to make such a clear determination about the connection between Paget’s Disease and Egil that Hardarson seems more than willing to make. His research of course is still useful because Hardarson is a medical professional and that helps frame a new perspective on the discussion, but he doesn't cite enough information for his conclusion to work.
Annotated Bibliography
Byock, Jesse L. “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context.” New Literary History, vol. 16, no. 1, 1984, pp. 153–173. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/468780. Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.
The article “Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context” by Jesse Byock, discusses the history surrounding the Icelandic Sagas regarding their prehistory oral contexts, and how much of these stories were from oral retellings versus editorialization by the author of the anonymous works. This journal article was found within the work cited section of the article “Social Memory and the Sagas: The Case of Egils Saga”, also by Jesse L. Byock. Byock teaches viking history and archaeology, early Icelandic society, medieval feuds, and Old Norse saga literature. He directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project, and is a professor at the University of California. This article is valuable to my research, because it gives me for information surrounding the context of Egil’s Saga, and it’s possible oral history predating it that led to the popularity of sagas for a time.
Byock, Jesse L. “Social Memory and the Sagas: The Case of ‘Egils Saga.’” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 76, no. 3, 2004, pp. 299–316. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40920570. Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.
The article “The Skull and Bones in Egils Saga” A Viking, A Grave, and Paget’s Disease” by Jesse Byock, is an article that explores and discusses the historical aspects of Egil’s Saga through the lens and context of social memory and disease. By going beyond the traditional tools of analyzing individual characters in Icelandic sagas, Jesse Byock attempts to frame Egil and his story under a new narrative by examining it through the lens of sociology and psychology. Jesse Byock teaches viking history and archaeology, early Icelandic society, medieval feuds, and Old Norse saga literature. He directs the Mosfell Archaeological Project and is a professor in the Scandinavian Studies section at the University of California. The information and lens that Byock uses to analyze Egil’s Saga and Egil, is valuable to my research because it examines Egil through a different view compared to the majority of analysis texts on Egil and his saga.
Hardarson, Thordur, and Elisabet Snorradottir. "Egil's Or Paget's Disease?" BMJ : British Medical Journal, vol. 313, no. 7072, 1996, pp. 1613, Biological Science Database, doi:dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.313.7072.1613. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.
The article “Egil’s or Paget’s Disease” by Thordur Hardarson and Elisabet Snorradottir is an academic journal article discussing the topic of Paget’s Disease in Egil’s Saga in Egil skallagrimsson. The article discusses the background of the story, the evidence for and against Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease, whether or not Egil’s bones are the bones that have been found, and whether or not Egil suffered from Paget’s Disease. While the article doesn’t directly state whether they hold a conclusion to the idea of Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease, the authors of the article do conclude that he at least suffered from various symptoms of osteitis deformans. Thordur Hardarson works as a professor at the Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland and has accreditation to nine journal articles, while Elisabet Snorradottir’s education and background was unavailable. This article is useful for a few reasons. The first reason is that this article as compared to the other articles cited, comes from a medical journal from an MD. This is useful because it gives me a different perspective on thoughts of Egil suffering from Paget’s Disease from the perspective of someone well-versed in the field of medicine. The second reason this is useful, is because Hardarson doesn’t cite Jesse Byock who has a few different articles published discussing Paget’s Disease in conjunction with Egil’s Saga. This would lead me to believe that either Byock’s work wasn’t cited accidently, or that Hardarson came up with the article topic on his own. This would mean that Byock’s work was of little influence to Hardarson, which would be useful to get not only a perspective from a different field on the topic of Paget’s Disease and Egil, but to also achieve a perspective that has had little influence from Byock’s articles on the topic.
Jakobsson, Ármann. “The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 104, no. 3, 2005, pp. 297–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27712510. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.
The journal article originally published in July of 2005, “The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders” by Ármann, goes over the grotesque visuals of the characters in a collection of sagas, including Egil’s Saga. The primary topic of the article is the visuals of a multitude of protagonists in different Icelandic Sagas, what the visuals represent both to the author and the narrative, and how the description as grotesque malformed creatures, might give them a more human or interesting appeal. Ármann is a professor in medieval Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland, and specializes in medieval literature, cultural studies, and folklore. This article is valuable to my research due to the specific focus on visual natures of the protagonists to various Icelandic sagas, including Egil and his family in Egil’s Saga.
Nolcken, Christina von. “Egil Skallagrimsson and the Viking Ideal.” Oct. 2000.
“Egil Skallagrimsson and the Viking Ideal”, is an article published by Christina von Nolcken, and was delivered in the form of a speech as a lecture in October of the year 2000 at the Humanities Open House at the University of Chicago. Nolcken’s credibility for her article can be found in her education. She is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Chicago, and is chair of the committee on Medieval Studies there. The article discusses the Viking Ideals of the time period where Egils Saga takes place. The article also contains information regarding Egil himself, what the author knows about Egil both inside and outside the contextual reference of Egil’s Saga, and information regarding the Viking ideals that can be asserted from conflicts Egil faces with the saga. This source is particularly helpful for research and understanding Egil’s Saga, because it grants a better understanding into conflicts Egil and his family face beyond what the text itself says in it’s literal stance.
Nordal, Guðrún. “The Art of Poetry and the Sagas of Icelanders.” Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World, 2007, pp. 219–237.
“The Art of Poetry and the Sagas of Icelanders”, is an essay which is a part of the book “Learning and understanding in the Old Norse World”, which was published in 2007. Guðrún Nordal, the author of the essay, was born in Iceland, received her doctorate from Oxford University in 1988, and is the current director of Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies. Nordal is also a professor in Medieval Icelandic Literature. This essay discusses the importance of early Skaldic literature, it’s place in history, how it ties into the growth of saga writing, and how this growth aided in assisting to bridge the gap between Pagan traditions, and Christian education and learning. The essay also discusses the art of Skaldic writing, and it’s crucial place in early literature, specifically referencing Egil's Saga multiple times. This essay is useful for research purposes, because it gives a much more broad understanding of saga writing and Skaldic literature from the time, which is important to better understand Egil's Saga and it’s contextual purpose and popularity in literature at the time.
Olsen, Alexandria Hennessey. “The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English ‘RimingPoem.’” Pacific Coast Philology, Oct. 1979, pp. 51–58.
“The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English Riming Poem”, is part of the academic journal “Pacific Coast Philology”, written by Alexandra Hennessey Olsen, which was published by Penn State University. The credibility of this source, is through the academic journal in question. This source, in regards to the topic and theme of the paper, is about the Riming Poem, how it may or may not have been founded based on the “head-Verse” which Egil Skalla-Grimsson composed in 936, and how the Riming Poem may in fact be a part of and inspired by something entirely different, such at early Latin hymns of the eighth century. This is an excellent text that will, contextually, allow reading and research of Egils Saga to be more efficient and thorough. By looking at a lesser known work with a similar literacy scheme to that which Egil himself composed, research can be done to compare and contrast the differences more easily, and understand literature at the time in a more thorough manner.
Ross, Margaret Clunies. “Conjectural Emendation in Skaldic Editing Practice, with Reference to ‘Egils Saga.’” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 104, no. 1, 2005, pp. 12–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27712475. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
The article “Conjectural Emendation in Skaldic Editing Practice, with Reference to ‘Egils Saga’” by Margaret Ross is a journal article published by the University of Illinois Press. This journal article takes a particular focus on editing and translations of Icelandic works, the issues that face editing Old Norse texts, and the critical reconstruction of the original Old Norse texts that are either corrupt, damaged, nonsensical, or fragmented in format with a particular focus on Conjectural Emendation in Egil’s Saga and the lack of dialogue that goes on about the issue of editing fragmented, damaged, or older texts through conjectural emendation. The article also discusses some of the principles which have guided those who have edited Old Norse texts, and how complex the situation is. Margaret Ross is a medievalist who taught as a Professor of English Language and Early English Literature at the University of Sydney. She was also the director the director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. Ross has four books published in the field of Norse and Icelandic literature and history, and has five published journal articles. This text is useful and valuable to my research because it offers particular insight into the world of conjectural emendation, it’s practices, and uses Egil’s Saga as a particular example. The idea of critical reconstruction based on otherwise incomplete works is fascinating in regards to Icelandic Sagas, and will serve as good background information about the field that analyzes and studies the Icelandic Sagas and Egil’s Saga.
Ross, Margaret Clunies. “The Development of Old Norse Textual Worlds: Genealogical Structure as a Principle of Literary Organisation in Early Iceland.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 92, no. 3, 1993, pp. 372–385. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27710853. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
The journal article “The development of Old Norse Textual Worlds: Genealogical Structure as a Principle of Literacy Organization in Early Iceland” by Margaret Ross is a journal article which describes the construction and development of old Norse works through geological means, and how genealogy and family development was an important literacy tool to help in organization of a literacy text in Early Iceland, with a particular focus on the Icelandic Sagas. Born in 1942, Margaret Ross is a medievalist who taught as a Professor of English Language and Early English Literature at the University of Sydney. She was also the director the director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. This article is useful to my research because this journal article focuses on the topic of genealogical structure, how it’s used to further the narrative in the sagas, and its impact on the varies sagas. This information is useful due to the particular focus Egil’s Saga uses for the saga, which starts not with the title character of Egil, but with his grandfather. Since the idea of the paper will be to discuss medical and psychological issues portrayed in Egil’s Saga, this information is valuable to hypothesize on why certain common issues are present from father to son in the story.
Critical Analysis and Close Reading
“My head bobs like a bridled horse, it plunges badly into woe. My middle leg both droops and drips, while both my ears are dry.” (Smilely 180)
In this particular quote, Egil describes the difficulties he faces at an old age. The quote discusses his problems with movement, and his difficulty with hearing. In textual discussion, a group of women see Egil fall, and precede to comment that he’s finished if he falls when not even being pushed, with his son-in-law Grim commenting that the women didn’t laugh so much when they were much younger. The quote is important to the development of the character Egil, because it shows the reader that the once-proud viking warrior poet, has now become frail and old. This is useful to understand in a larger observation about Egil’s aging, and how poorly he’s aged over the course of his part in the saga. It could also, in a larger frame, be viewed as a sign of Paget’s disease, as a swinging head and deformed skull (as is hinted at in pretext prior to this quote) are both major signs of the disease. It also helps the reader in understanding Egil, in which we can clearly see that Egil, in his old age, does not dispute his condition, but is more than willing to turn it into limerick and verse for his (or others, perhaps) amusement. This quote could then, in turn, raise the question if he really did have Paget’s disease, and, if so, how society as a whole might have understood the disease back then.
“Time seems long in passing as I lie alone, a senile old man on the king’s guard. My legs are two frigid widows, those women need some flame.” (Smilely 180)
In this quote, Egil is sitting by a fire to keep himself warm during the winter time. Egil is discussing his condition, and his seeming lack of family or friends to sit by the fire with him. By this point in the story, Egil is blind. The quote comes in regards to when someone asks him if he was cold, and tells him to not put his legs too close to the fire. Egil’s verse comes into play after, exclaiming that he’s alone, and his legs are cold and need warmth. This quote can be used to make up a few observations. The first and primary one, being contextually. His blindness, despite otherwise being quite debilitating, has clearly not stopped Egil’s literacy abilities considering that he put the quote into verse. This is useful to understand that, despite his condition, he’s still moderately active for his age, in which, by this point, he’d be somewhere over the age of 80. The quote could also be viewed in a way, that perhaps he’s not feeling the heat in his legs, despite being rather close to the flames of the fire. Again, this could come into play regarding Paget’s disease if he’s just not feeling the heat. It could also signify other disorders revolving around the loss of feeling in the hands or feet.
“My tongue is sluggish for me to move, my poem’s scales ponderous to raise. The god’s prize is beyond my grasp, tough to drag out from my mind’s haunts...Yet I will first recount my father’s death and mother’s loss, carry from my word-shrine the timber that I build my poem from, leafed with language. Harsh was the rift that the wave hewed in the wall of my father’s kin; I know it stands unfilled and open, my son’s breach that the sea wrought. The sea-goddess has ruffled me, stripped me bare of my loved ones: the ocean severed my family’s bonds, the tight knot that ties me down...Myself I know that in my son grew the makings of a worthy man, had that shield-tree reached manhood, then earned the claim of war’s arms. Always he prized his father’s words highest of all, though the world said otherwise...My lack of brothers often enters my thoughts, where the winds of moon-bears rage, I think of the other as the battle grows...He who does battle and tackles the hell-wolf gave me the craft that is beyond reproach, and the nature that I could reveal those who plotted against me as my true enemies. Now my course is tough: Death, close sister of Odin’s enemy, stands on the ness, with resolution and without remorse I will gladly await my own.” (Smilely 152-158)
Admittedly, this is an extremely long quote, and I one I wouldn’t throw into an essay ‘less I threw it in piecemeal. However, as this is one of the last large poems Egil writes in the story, and considering how much the poem tells, I couldn’t leave the poem out. The poem also discusses quite a few aspects of the story itself and his emotional stance, which again, simply couldn’t be ignored. It’s largely the most memorable piece in the entire saga, and with good reason. This poem is in regards to and remembrance of his sons, in which one of whom had died, while the other drowned. This poem helps take the reader into Egil’s mind, and helps us to better understand him and his position. The poem discusses how Odin had stolen away his son, while in the same breath, giving Egil some compensation by giving him his poetic talents and prowess, which Odin was known for. The quote can also show us some bigger observations about Egil’s views on his children, and life itself. Such as the phrase “Myself I know that in my son grew the makings of a worthy man, had that shield-tree reached manhood.” (Smilely 154), is suggesting that, despite Viking culture, Egil still considers his son worthy and a worthy man. With lines like “Death, close sister of Odin’s enemy, stands on the ness, with resolution and without remorse I will gladly await my own.” (Smiley 158), we can see that Egil doesn’t see suicide or self-murder as a means of escape, and that, despite that he understands he’ll largely live the rest of his life more and more lonely, he’ll still wait out his life regardless. That particular mentality is more in line with Viking culture of the time, and yet, has a kind of prowess to it that’s hard to ignore. I suppose a valuable question from this, could then be asked by wondering just how much Egil subscribed to and against contemporary cultural norms of the time period. If nothing else, this quote (and poem) aids the reader, and helps us understand more about Egil’s lifestyle, and the complex feelings he had as he traveled through is life.
Smilely, Jane. The Sagas of the Icelanders (World of the Sagas). 2005. Kindle.