Sagas of Icelanders
Introduction
Everything in the history of Icelandic culture was not like in the culture of other European countries. However, the Icelandic people also felt the influence of other peoples' culture. And this influence gave completely unique results. Everywhere in Europe, the introduction of Christianity was accompanied by the elimination of folk heathen traditions. In Iceland, the introduction of Christianity led to the careful preservation of this traditions. All literary movements and all the literary genres in Iceland were peculiar. But a unique genre of Icelandic literature and at the same time the most peculiar prose genre of world literature - was, of course, family sagas also known as Sagas of Icelanders. Saga is called every prose narrative in Iceland. The word is derived from the verb that means 'to speak' or 'to talk' (segja). Initially, in preliterate times, it meant "oral prose narrative." However, since the only known written ancient Icelandic prose narrative, usually, they are called 'sagas'. Such narrative began writing in Iceland during the second half of the XII century.
Meanwhile, these works tell of Icelanders of the sagas' period, or about the people who lived in the first century of the Icelandic "democracy", i.e. from about 930 to 1030 Thus, the 'family sagas' tell about people who lived in two, three or even four centuries before these sagas were written. The first century of "democracy" - is the heroic age of the Icelandic people, the era of the undivided rule of heathenism and barbarian morality known to us by the ancient Icelandic epic poetry. Though 'family sagas' were written more than two hundred years after the introduction of Christianity, the influence of Christian ideology in them is negligible. Most of the characters in 'family sagas' do not show any influence of Christian ideology. The fate of characters in sagas was described through the doctrine of fatalismб typical for the pagan religion. Happiness, in the 'family sagas', is treated as a kind of life force inherited by a man, and misfortune - its absence, leads man to the crime, troubles and death.
Themes
In 'family sagas' much attention was paid to the bloodlines, ancestors and descendants of the person, and in general to all the family ties. The attachment to a kinsman, apparently, seemed something far more important than the attachment to the representative of the opposite sex. That is why "family sagas" pay very little attention to the theme of love. Marriages, in the sagas, as a rule, are made not as a result of love but as a result of an agreement between the parents or relatives. Love is mentioned most frequently as a feeling that has arisen between husband and wife as a result of marriage. Sometimes, however, we can conclude that the character described experienced a romantic sense of love. For instance, in Egil's Saga, we can see the behavior of Egil during the wedding of his brother and Asgerd, whom he married after the death of the brother. We can conclude that Egil was passionately in love with Asgerd from early childhood. But, apparently either the author did not understand the psychological meanings of Egil's action or he wasn't interested in romantic feelings of Egil. The facts in 'family sagas' - is just what can be available to sensory organs. Therefore, there is nothing said about the emotions of characters or their unspoken thoughts in these sagas. We can judge their feelings from their actions or words mentioned in the saga. The faith in the supernatural is often shown in the saga. They explained natural calamities by giving them a supernatural explanation. The bad weather, epidemics, shipwreck explained, for example, as witchcraft.
Egil's Saga
Egil's Saga - Icelandic saga of the XIII century. One of the most prominent and well-written "family sagas". The saga, which tells about the life of Icelanders, their history, and their relationship. As other sagas, it was written to commemorate a king and a family. The saga tells the story of skald Egill. At the beginning, it describes the ancestor of Ulf and his sons.
There are a lot of poetry during the saga and Egil is a master of the art. Taking into account the facts of the saga we can assume that Egil started to compose poetry at the age of three. In his poems, he marked memorable moments of his life, like the first time he stood against his father wishes (ch. 31). His father, Skallagrim, forbade him to go to the feast because of drinking (Egil was only 3 at that time), but Egil found a horse and didn't obey his father. He went to Yngvar and then praised him in one of his poems as a generous host and 'heroic man' (W. C. Green). At that time, they used poetry to show person's inclination to evil or good. Poets had the power to make or break a person in their poems. They can make their fame immortal. That is why Egil was so influential and valuable.
Egil is described as a constant troublemaker. He committed the first murder when he was seven. Egil is a very controversial figure. It is underlined by the ambivalence of his family, in which men are born either beautiful (Thorolf and his son) or ugly (Skallagrim, Egil). Also, Egil's grandfather was a werewolf that is why, sometimes, we can clearly see an absolute change of his emotions. He can fly into a rage or succumb to childlike joy, then he'll sit in silence in complete sorrow (Jane Smilely, 2001). The describing of the emotional state of the character is strange for Icelandic saga, they negotiated the emotions of characters. The story and facts were the only importance of saga. Despite his unreasonable mood changes, he was a man of honor, respect, and loyalty.
The Saga of the Confederates
The Saga of the Confederates is a unique work. This saga is one of the most sophisticated in style 'family sagas'. Every dialogue and every phrase in The Saga of the Confederates is thought over to the smallest details. At the same time, the author openly mocks the entire foundation of sagas. He exposes to shame not only the violation of law but the notion of law and justice that existed in Iceland in the era of independence. That independence that was so lovely described by the majority of 'family sagas'. Still, this saga gives us a unique opportunity to peep at Icelanders political and social system. Different parts of saga help us to understand the values of that time. The saga provides us with two different views. There is a view of 11th-century community and writer's 13th-century contemporary view.
Also, the saga is unique because of its humor that was rare since all the sagas described conflicts and tragedy. The Saga of the Confederates is an exception, it describes honor, reciprocity, and law but through the prism of humor. As it was mentioned above, author mocks that society. Chieftains are greedy more that fair, law is based on the extortion and not on justice and material wealth stands above honor. The author believes that chieftains destroyed commonwealth with their irresistible desire for the power. This saga is a backlash against that society, law, and chiefs.
Conclusion
We chose two controversial and completely different sagas for our discussion. On the one hand, we have Egil's Saga that was written to commemorate its characters. It was meant to praise the king, to show the value of a family relationship and the role of poets in that time society.
On the other hand, The Saga of the Confederates the author of which makes fun of all the values of that times. We can feel the difference in the mood of these sagas. The notion of wealth and power stands in the first place in the Saga of the Confederates. The main characters are not described as noble people but as the ones who gave in to material welfare. While, in Egil's Saga even Egil, with all his unreasonable anger and complicated character, is valuable and influential personality.
Still, we also found some similarities in both sagas. The authors did not care about describing the emotional state of the characters. Brevity and restraint, with the help of which the inner world and emotions of characters is depicted, prevent the modern reader from realizing the full depth of the tragedy that main characters of the tragedy experienced.
Works cited
W. C., Green. "Egil's Saga - Icelandic Saga Database". Sagadb.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
Smiley, Jane, and Robert Kellogg. The Sagas Of Icelanders. New York: Penguin, 2001. Print.
