Week Five Reactions

This week we read The Saga of Gisli Surrson, and Njal’s Saga. The Saga of Gisli Surrson was very long and complicated, with way too many characters having the same names, especially all of those derived from ‘Thor’. For me, one of the most perplexing points in this saga was the inclusion of slaves. The slave in chapter 1, Kol, is given as part of a marriage dowry, and even owns his own sword that people have to ask to borrow. Later in the story, Gisli forces a dim-witted slave to die so he can escape. In another instance, he frees two slaves who help him, even though they have to do so at their master’s bidding. I am very curious about who these slaves were- descendants of people captured in war? People too poor to care for themselves? The slave in chapter 1, Kol, is given as part of a marriage dowry, and even owns his own sword that people have to ask to borrow.

This was the first saga we have read with an actual sorcerer, a human with supernatural powers. His curse on Gisli was very wise, but I found it odd that his magic only pertained to men who tried to help Gisli on the mainland. It was also interesting to see how far outside the main four men who first were involved in this conflict the story spread. By the end, I forgot who Eyjolf was or why he cared so much about killing Gisli.

Njal’s Saga, which is centered on Thangbrand, raises some interesting questions as well. The Christianity of the tenth century, of course, was very different from our version of Christianity today, but still many elements of this story were bizarre. The Christian missionaries killed some men who opposed them. They still believed the old Norse Gods existed, but only because the Christian God allowed them to. They believed in the power of sorcery. They lied to the King Olaf to force the conversion of Iceland. All of these small details combined make the conversion seem like a very different process than what I typically imagine, based on the Bible and stories of conversion in eastern Europe, especially Rome.