Reading Response #6

I found this saga enjoyable. It was interesting to “watch” as Ofeig used the power of persuasion and manipulation against the very confederates that were trying to manipulate and ruin his son. Again, the importance of familial ties and loyalty is demonstrated at the lengths Ofeig goes to clear his son of a wrongful charge. It states at the beginning that Ofeig “treated Odd coldly most of the time and cared little for him,” but yet Ofeig still tries to obtain justice for his son (465).

Another element of previous sagas, advice, is also present in this saga. Ofeig tries to give Odd advice or hints at the right thing to do numerous times as the story unfolds, but Odd generally ignores him and learns his lesson the hard way.

The fact that this saga was written after the saga age can be seen in a few ways. First, there is no poetry. While poetry served to give insight into characters’ emotions and explanations for events in past sagas, this absence of emotional presence is made up for through a large amount of conversation between characters. Conversation was never a big aspect of prior sagas, but in this saga it allows the reader to follow the characters, understand their actions, and observe personality traits.

Another way this saga differs from others written during the saga age is the detailed attention it gives to the law and system of justice. Prior sagas, like “Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi,” mentioned the law system and even described it slightly in a few passages, but none went into the depth found in this saga. Much of it takes place during a hearing at the Allthing, showing us how this process worked as well as the corruption of its confederates at the prospect of money.

Reading response #5

One of the things I first noticed about this saga was the concept of letting your child be reared by another, a topic we’ve discussed in previous classes. On p.440, Einar is told he must find his own work because his father Thorbjorn can no longer support him. At this point, he goes out and finds a job on Hrafnkel’s farm, working and living on his own. I thought it pretty impressive that Einar would take his burden in stride and promptly go out to find work at presumably still a somewhat-young age. I can see this concept of taking on responsibility in response to family need as another timeless idea that can be traced to our culture today. Although in America now it’s not really the norm to send a kid out to find work on their own, if a family is struggling to make ends meet, it’s almost an unspoken understanding that the kid will work for the family business however they can or at least start work elsewhere when they turn 16.

As the story of Einar continued, I was reminded a little of the Greek story of Icarus, when he fell to his death after not heeding the caution of his father to stay away from the sun. Einar didn’t see how anyone would find out about riding the stallion and was pleased with how well the horse rode. Thus he didn’t heed Hrafnkel’s warning and met his death. And, just as Einar didn’t listen to Hrafnkel, neither did Sam listen to anyone who tried to give him advice about seeking vengeance against Hrafnkel. First, Thorbjorn told him to give up the case against Hrafnkel, but Sam became stubborn and took it on as some sort of personal sacrifice. Then, everyone else Sam asked to help him out told him how stupid his mission was, but he still didn’t listen. His final act of thoughtlessness came when he refused to kill Hrafnkel, a move which pretty much ensured his own death.

Reading Response #4

I found this saga to be pretty interesting. I enjoyed finding that the Icelanders pretty much valued the same things we try to in our culture today. While reading, I couldn't help but be reminded of the 7 deadly sins that we try to avoid today. I think they're pretty much all represented in some form or another in this poem: gluttony and greed were addressed with food and drink moderation, envy and lust in the admonishments against wanting another man's wife, sloth in the passages about hard work (p.40), wrath I suppose was represented more vaguely with passages the importance of being friendly and true (instead of angry and vindictive), and pride in the stanzas stressing the importance of keeping silent when necessary and not boasting (p.30-34). I found that they really stressed honesty, moderation, and wisdom, and the importance of friendship, loyalty, hard work, and living a simple life.

Most of all, though, I felt the Icelanders placed the most importance on wisdom, for a lot of the stanzas focused on this quality. The poems spoke of how important it was for a man to be in control of his mind, to think critically, and to know the right time to speak. It intrigued me that knowing how to speak and communicate well was of such importance in this culture, because a lot of the images of the vikings today show them as a violent culture instead. This poem shows that there was much more to these people.

I also found this poem used repetition as a literary device. I think its purpose was to really make the qualities they were preaching about hit home. Since this poem was told orally for a long time, saying something over and over would be an effective way to stress the important points.

My favorite stanza was 47: "Young was I once, and wandered alone / And naught of the road I knew / Rich did I feel, when a comrade I found / For man is man's delight." I really liked this because I feel the same way when I find a true friend. Friends are extremely important to me, and having a good friend by your side means you have someone you can implicitly trust, be comfortable with, rely on, and laugh with. It's nice to see that the love of a friend is a timeless concept (especially when it is expressed so well--"man is man's delight.")

Reading Reponse #3

I didn’t enjoy this saga as much as the others. It sort of felt to me like a recitation of facts, one after another, that went on for a long time. I also got confused with all the characters that popped in and out of the saga. I did, however, enjoy Gisli’s poems more than the others we’ve read so far. To me, they sounded more straightforward and flowed a little better. Perhaps this was because there wasn’t as much confusing poetic vocabulary used in reference to simple nouns (like “bearer of the ale-horn” for “women”). Also, he wasn’t using his poems to impress anyone, merely to state his dreams, which I found to be refreshing.

As in the previous saga, fate played a major role in this story. I remember in class, we talked about how often, characters learn of their fate and try to do everything in their power to change it, but by doing so, just make it happen faster. I was reminded of that comment in this story, when the four men learned that they were fated to break apart, and tried to make a blood oath in order to prevent it the split. But Thorgrim won’t bind himself to Vestein, and Gisli then won’t be tied to Thorgrim for this, and already they see their fate coming to pass.

Dreams were also very prevalent in this saga, as in the Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue. Gisli had quite a few more dreams, though, showing the importance the Icelanders placed on them. He relied heavily on his dreams, and they always turned out to be true.

I also noted how loyalty played out in this saga. It seemed to me to be an important quality. There were two examples that stuck with me: Helgi and Aun. I was kind of shocked to find that Helgi, as Ingjald’s son, would betray his father by revealing him to Gisli’s enemies (p. 536). It seemed odd to me that a son would do this when being loyal to one’s family through revenge is so heavily stressed. Also, I was impressed by Gisli and Aun’s loyalty to each other. Gisli always came back to his wife because “they loved each other greatly,” even though he was a hunted man (p.534). And Aun stayed with and helped her husband despite his dangerous status.