Customer Reviews

Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Icelandic Stories (Penguin Classics)

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It's not easy to dive cold into the world of the Icelandic saga. One of the advantages of reading HRAFNKEL'S SAGA and the shorter sagas and tales in this volume is that you get a good idea of the best of the genre in less than 150 pages. According to Magnus Magnusson in his excellent book ICELAND SAGA, "it is nothing short of a masterpiece, a brilliantly wrought short novel that has been published and translated and written about more than any other saga."

Given that, what can you expect? In the strange world of the Icelandic saga, there is little mention of the deity other than in passing: To the Icelanders of the classic age, all that mattered is what strength and cunning and stamina YOU had, and whether you could rely upon any stouthearted friends of like mettle in a pinch. At the heart of every saga are one or more conflicts. The better man does not always win; justice does not always triumph. Hrafnkel is heroic, but he is no hero: In our time, he would be a convicted felon for slaughtering his shepherd Einar. In the age of the Vikings, he was a stern man of his word in whom people could rely.

Curiously, even in today's Iceland, adherence to the Judaeo-Christian tradition is seen only as an alternative, one imposed from without. The minister at the pulpit is as likely to discuss Hrafnkel and the other great Saga heroes as he is the Gospels. In a way, the sagas are taken as scripture.

The oddest thing of all is that most of them were probably written by Medieval monks: Christianity there underwent a strange sea change into something rich and strange.

So as you read these instructive tales, consider that they represent a different world view in a tiny island nation whose people know them by heart. The Icelandic language today is virtually identical to the Old Norse spoken by the first settlers of Iceland. Imagine if English were identical to the Anglo-Saxon of BEOWULF!

This short volume provides a good introduction to the area of Icelandic Saga literature. Centring around Hrafnkel's Saga, but including six other bite-size tales, the style of writing may be a little dry for some tastes. However, for me, the plain-speaking narrative reflects a harsh way of life on the North Atlantic island. The action revolves around individuals, their families and followers, and reveals a surprisingly political edge to early life in Iceland. It is not a case of epic plots - the issues are at a personal level. These tales were recorded for a later audience , perhaps as salutory tales - instructions, not just stories. The characters are often abrupt in word and deed, but I found this a refreshing, and often amusing, change from less prosaic fantasy adventures - after all, these are (mostly) real people, and real life. This book encouraged me to read more sagas, and I haven't been disappointed.

The best way to start reading the realist fiction of medieval Iceland is to read the short stories. Slowly acclimating oneself to Icelandic literature with small doses will definitely yield greater enjoyment when the you decide to tackle the sometimes lengthy and tedious masterpieces of the genre (Njal's Saga, Egil's Saga, Laxdaela Saga, The Saga of the Volsungs, Gisli's Saga, etc). These stories are from thirteenth century, the Golden Age of Saga writing, and explore the key themes and values of Medieval Icelandic culture. Often, Icelandic stories describe actual historical events (with liberal use of the imagination). The seven stories in this volume can be divided into two groups. "Hrafnkel's Saga", "Thorsteein the Staff-Struck", and "Ale-Hood" are set in the native Iceland. While "Hreidar the Fool", "Halldor Snorrason", "Audun's Story", and "Ivar's Story" describe the adventures of Icelanders at the royal courts of Norway and Denmark (8). This volume has extensive and useful footnotes, a wonderful introduction, lists of characters (for even the short stories have tons of names), and maps.

"Hrafnkel's Saga" is the longest story in the volume and is structured similarly to the longer sagas. It follows the actions of Chief Hrafnkel (a real historical person) and the conflict that emerges between him and Bjarni. The fued begins when Hrafnkel's kills Bjarni's kinsman who rode Hrafnkel's special horse. This story introduces key features of Icelandic society: the Althing, the Law-Rock, lawyers, and lengthy family feuds.

The story of "Thorstein the Staff Struck" follows similar lines. A vicious feud begins at a horse fight when Thorstein does not avenge his honor when Thord (a servant of another man named Bjarni) strikes him with a horse goad. This time women play a major role in manipulating their husband to continue the feud. Bjarni's wife Rannveig prods her husband into fighting a duel with Thorstein. The key feature of this lengthy feud is the conflict that arises over new and Old Icelandic traditions. Bjarni and Thorstein clearly doe not want to fight to the death, which should normally happen in this situation. Thorstein's father who adheres to the older values prods him on.

The short story "Ale-Hood" centers on a central point of conflict in many Icelandic sagas, the breaking of the law. Ale-Hood, a poor carpenter and blacksmith, accidentally burns down a forest (more like a few shrubs considering Iceland has no real trees). Thorstein decides to defend Ale-Hood against the property owners of the forest and the rest of the story describes the exchange of insults and eventual reconciliation.

"Hreidar the Fool" is the first of the stories in the volume that take place primarily abroad. The plot follows events at the court of King Magnus of Norway with Thord and his brother Heidar the Fool the main characters. Thord continually attempts to keep Heidar from messing up his own relation ship with the King. However, the King is interested in the "big-built man, ugly and with the look of a criminal, and immensely strong; but [...] very even-tempered" (97). This story illuminates for the reader the importance of traveling away from Iceland and the relations between Icelanders (who had no Kings) and the kings of the lands of their ancestors. Travel was a way to become immensely wealthy and respected.

"Halldor Snorrason" furthers the exploration of the conflicts that arise between Kings and Icelanders who have chosen to travel to their courts and become liegemen. Here, a man name Bard spreads false accusations against Halldor (an Icelander) about his disloyalty to King Harald of Norway.

"Audun's Story" is by far the most entertaining and interesting. The main character, Audun, decides to travel to Greenland and spend all his money on a massive exotic polar bear. He then decides to give this amazing gift to the King of Denmark - stopping along the way at the court of the King of Norway who is at war with the Danish sovereign. Audun's gift giving transcends the personal animosities between the two Kings and eventually brings about the return to a semblance dialogue between them. This story is a mere 7 pages but has extraordinary depth and a very interesting (and unique) subject matter.

The last story, "Ivar's Story" (3 pages long) describes without much conflict Ivar's relationship with King Eystein of Norway and his desire to return to his native country.

Hrafnkel's Saga is one of the classics of Icelandic literature, and for good reason. It tells the story of a man with a not-too-pleasant character who must endure--and learn from--the misfortune caused by his own actions. Hrankel's Saga is very rich in terms of the insight it gives into Old Icelandic society and its understanding of honor and justice.

As is usual for the family saga genre, the writing style is spare and terse. Much is implied rather than stated outright, and a close reading is often necessary to catch the subtleties of characterization. Because of its short length, Hrafnkel is a great place to begin saga reading, even better in my opinion than the similarly short but more "romantic" Gunnlaug's saga which is often the first saga assigned to beginning students. I've read both several times, both in English and in Old Icelandic, and I find Hranfkel's Saga much more complex and satisfying.

The word "saga" doesn't necessarily mean a long story. This book collects seven of the Icelandic classics into about a hundred pages, plus some historical commentary by the translator.

Iceland around 1000 AD was a remarkable place. It was a rough, Norse culture, but had an effective democracy and system of courts. Many sagas, including most of these, are dramatic stories of pride and revenge. That still leaves room for courtroom manueverings (as in the Ale-Hood story), for protection by powerful lords (as in Hreidar the Fool), and for several kinds of uneasy peace (as in Halldor Snorrason).

Hrafnkel's Saga is by far the longest in the collection, and the widest ranging. Fortunes are made, upset, and reversed again. Revenge is hot and bitter. It's almost a soap opera, with tales of adventure mixed in. That's probably why these stories have lasted through all those centuries when story-telling was the form for recalling history and for passing the long Nordic winters.

The translations are smooth and readable, and the stories are exciting. This is a brief, enjoyable, and thought-provoking read. It's also an enjoyable introduction to this wonderful tradition of stories.

//wiredweird

This anthology of short sagas and stories is rich, both from a literary and a historical sense. Although the sagas were generally written as something similar to historical fiction, the general consensus is that they provide a great deal of information which would have been otherwise lost in terms of practices and the like.

Hrafnkel's Saga is interesting in part because it is likely to preserve a number of important pieces of information relating to the worship of Freyr, but it is also a good literary work.

Most of the other stories are simpler, with more literary and less historical value.

All in all, I think this is a great little anthology and would recommend it to all saga-lovers.