The Saga of Hranfnkel Frey's Godi

This saga definitely differed from other sagas in how it incorporated intense imagery and realistic description which is usually absent in the stereotypical saga. While much of the writing was still very blunt and straight forward, it was obvious that the writer had gone to extra lengths to include these vivid descriptions. One area where I especially noticed this element of realism was when Sam and the Thjostarssons attacked Hrafnkel at his farm and tortured his men to humiliate him. (As a side note, I thought it a little peculiar that the character's name was Sam--I wouldn't expect to see such a common name in an Icelandic saga, especially one which isn't full of consonants.) I also thought the imagery and descriptions of the bogs and lava fields that Hrafnkel chases Eyvind through were uncharacteristically lengthy and in depth. To me, reading this saga felt much more similar to reading an early 20th century novel than your average saga.
It was interesting to me that the protagonist position in this saga seemed to shift as the writer encouraged the reader to shift his/her sympathies between opposing characters. In the beginning, I felt strongly allied with Hrafnkel's side and thought that he was not out of line for keeping his word, even if he perhaps could have been more lenient. I believed that he had made a fair offer and that Thorbjorn was simply being greedy. However, after Sam and Thorbjorn won their case with the help of the Thjostarsson brothers, I felt that they deserved it and I hoped they would be able to live on a happy life, even if they too went to extremes in getting vengence. However, once Hrafnkel finally won back his homestead and pride, I found myself rooting for him. To me, this shift of loyalties and sympathies made the saga that much more interesting because you were always involved and invested in the well being of a particular character and you could never rest easy about their well fare until the very end.

The Hovamol

I found the Hovamol very interesting in that it seemed to give a great deal of insight into the key values in Viking culture. I was intrigued by the discussion on drinking in which the stanzas seemed to stress moderation as the proper habit when enjoying alcohol. In stanza 12, lines 3-4, it states, "For the more he drinks | the less does man /Of his mind the mastery hold" warning that one is likely to act irresponsible when heavily under the influence. Stanza 19 advises, "Shun not the mead, | but drink in measure", likely good advice--to anyone. Other values which seemed to be highlighted in this poem were wisdom, honor, trust, friendship/kinship, and the importance of being a polite guest.

Of these, the stanza I found most insightful was 34:

Crooked and far | is the road to a foe,
Though his house on the highway be;
But wide and straight | is the way to a friend,
Though far away he fare.

I interpreted this to mean that while the path to making an enemy is rather tretcherous, it is nonetheless the path most traveled. Meanwhile, the road to friendship is not a difficult one, but because of investments such as time and caring, fewer people choose to take it, despite the fact that it is simpler and definitely more worthwhile.

Gisli Sursson's Saga

While there were many themes in this saga, I found the most interesting to be that of the portrayal of women. The three main women in this saga were Aud, Asgerd, and Thordis. It seemed to me, by the way they were described, that Asgerd was rather more devious than Aud, who was depicted as an honest, loyal wife. Asgerd was not only willing to lie to her husband about her affair, denying it flat out, but when he became upset with her, she threatened to divorce him and take back her dowry. She seriously had the upperhand in this situation and was not afraid to use it to her advantage. Aud, on the other hand, uses her leverage to protect her husband while he is in hiding. Instead of divulging Gisli's whereabouts and keeping the silver for herself, she not only refuses to aid the mercinaries in anyway, but blatantly humiliates Eyjolf in front of all his men. I thought this, above all, showed her amazing bravery and inner strength. Finally, there was Thordis who, while she was the one to incriminate her brother to begin with, had the courage (or perhaps foolhardiness) to attempt to avenge his death by attacking Eyjolf. These examples simply show the chutzpah that these women in this saga had, which I, personally, found rather impressive and inspiring.

The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue

In this Saga, one can make several observations which lead to insights into the cultural context of the story as well as the historical context of the period which this Saga was recorded. One of these observations is of a strong influence by Christianity in the telling of the story which seems to be more insightful to the time period this Saga was written than to the actual time which the story takes place. An example of this is on page 567 where it states, "...it was about the time that the best thing ever to have happened in Iceland occured: the whole country became Christian and the entire population abandoned the old faith." To me this particular quote stood out from the narration in that it offered a very opinionated perspective which is absent in the writing in the rest of the saga.
Another observation I made note of was the dynamics between the genders and the definitions and descriptions of masculinity vs. femininity throughout the Saga. While there is some mentioning of strong, independent women (especially Jofrid), the patriarchal rule of the Icelandic society is quite evident. More interesting, however, are the adjectives chosen to portray gender roles and characteristics. For men, masculinity is described with words like important, manly, well-respected, brave, rich, powerful, just, and well thought of. Words associated with women and their femininity, however, seem to focus on more physical attributes such as fair, beautiful, and pretty. Throughout this saga, the qualities of masculinity seem to be stressed as desirable and admirable and required in order to gain respect from all. For women though, it simply seems that their looks determine the level of femininity and don't particularly increase their influence.
As a side note, I thought it was really interesting that this saga refered to William the Conquerer of 1066 as William the Bastard--it seems to show some bias on the part of the writer of this piece.

Reading Response #2: Icelandic Tales

The six tales we read for this assignment all seemed very unique and yet there was an underlying thread that connected them all. They were all similar in the style of writing in which each person was referenced by listing his or her notorious kinsmen and the way they were written very simply yet still employed clever twists and irony. There was also a cohesiveness in the way each tale tended to describe the Icelandic characters as stubborn, rather rowdy people.
The stories themselves were interesting because they showed how big a role honor, respect, and family played in the lives of these people. In the Tale of Thorstein Staff-struck, it is evident what a large role family honor and pride played and introduced the concept of compensation for losses as a form of restoring such honor if lost. To me this idea of receiving monetary or material compensation for the loss or dishonoring of a family member was slightly bizzare because it seemed such a callous way of dealing with the situation. However, put into the context of that time period and culture, it is understandable for all practical purposes.
While these tales helped to shed light upon a softer more personal side of these people, they also helped affirm the stereotype of their violent and harsh nature to some degree.