Last saga response

I know we just commented on him in the last class, but I really enjoyed reading about Ref the Sly. I thought he was a really interesting character because he was portrayed so negatively in the beginning, but ended up as the saga's hero in the end. He stands out to me because of his intellectual abilities. Although some of his accomplishments were potentially fabricated by the author, I still found him to be impressive as he built the boat from scratch, sailed all the way to America with his family, and then created this massive and complicated fortress that ended up saving his life. He seemed to always be calculating not only his own moves, but those of others as well and accounting for them in his actions. He also didn't really fool around with poetry, which I found a bit refreshing as a reader and made him seem more straightforward. Perhaps we would have gotten more insight into his character with poetry, however, since his whole personality seemed a little bit undeveloped.
Ultimately, after reading all the sagas, I think perhaps if one could combine the wit of Ref and the brawn of Egil, they would be left with the ultimate saga hero: a smart, cunning character who calculates his moves carefully and is good on the intellectual decisions, as well as one who knows when to fight with a high sense of compensation, loyalty, and honor, and can always win in a physical challenge.