Egill Skallagrímsson
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Egill Skallagrímsson (sometimes given as Egil Skallagrimsson) was a Viking and a skald. He was born in Iceland in the year 910 and died some time around the year 990. Egils saga (attributed to Snorri Sturluson, 1178–1241 by some scholars) tells the tale of his deeds. Egill is the great anti-hero of Icelandic literature, in many ways resembling his god, Odin, breaking his oaths, killing for trifles, and practicing sorcery. Many historians[citation needed] consider Egill to be one of the deadliest men that ever lived in bladed combat- several accounts tell of him slaughtering as many as 20 or more armed men singlehandedly, and even dispatching a feared berserker with relative ease. In spite of this, he was considered a great healer, and his saga tells of him curing a girl who had been ill for quite some time where all other efforts had proven futile.
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[edit] Life
Egill was the son of Skalla-Grímr Kveldúlfsson ("Bald Grim") and Bera Yngvarsdóttir, and the grandson of Kveld-Úlfr ("Evening Wolf"). When Grímr arrived in Iceland, he settled at Borg, the place where his father's coffin landed. Grímr was a famous warrior and an enemy of Harald Fairhair of Norway.
Egill wrote his first poem at the age of three years. He exhibited berserk behaviour, and this, together with the description of his large and unattractive head, has led to the theory that he might have suffered from Paget's disease; at the age of seven, Egill was cheated in a game with local boys. Enraged, he went home and procured an axe, and returning to the boys, split the skull of the one who cheated him, to the teeth.
After Berg-Önundr refused to allow Egill to claim his wife Ásgerðr's share of her father's inheritance, he challenged Önundr to a holmgang.
Egill killed Bárðr of Atley, one of the king's retainers, thus making an enemy of Queen Gunnhildr, who never forgave him and did everything within her power to take revenge. Gunnhildr ordered her two brothers to kill Egill and Egill's older brother Þórólfr, who had been on good terms with both her and the king before. However, this plan did not go well, as Egill killed the pair with ease when they confronted him.
That same summer, Harald Fairhair died, and in order to secure his place on the throne, Eirik Bloodaxe killed his two brothers. He then declared Egill an outlaw in Norway. Berg-Önundr gathered a company of men to capture Egill, but was killed in his attempt to do so. Escaping from Norway, Egill killed Rögnvaldr Eiríksson and then cursed his parents, setting a horse's head on a pole (níðstöng) and saying,
- "Here I set up a níð-pole, and declare this níð against King Eiríkr and Queen Gunnhildr," — he turned the horse-head to face the mainland — "I declare this níð at the land-spirits there, and the land itself, so that all will fare astray, not to hold nor find their places, not until they wreak King Eiríkr and Gunnhildr from the land." He set up the pole of níð in the cliff-face and left it standing; he faced the horse's eyes on the land, and he rist runes upon the pole, and said all the formal words of the curse. (ch. 57) ('níð' has been translated as 'scorn' or 'curse')
Gunnhildr also put a spell on Egill, which made him feel restless and depressed until they met again.
Soon afterwards, Eiríkr and Gunnhildr were forced to flee to Northumbria by Eiríkr's brother Hakon, where he was granted land by King Aðalsteinn. Egill was shipwrecked on a nearby shore and came before Eiríkr, who sentenced him to death. But Egill composed a drápa in Eiríkr's praise in the dungeon during the night, and when he recited it in the morning, Eiríkr gave him his freedom and forgave any vengeance or settlement for the killing of Rögnvaldr. This poem, "Head Ransom".
Egill had five children with Ásgerðr Björnsdóttir: Þorgerðr Egilsdóttir, Bera Egilsdóttir, Böðvar Egilsson, Gunnar Egilsson and Þorsteinn Egilsson. Before Egill died he concealed his silver treasure near Mosfellsbær.
It must, however, be born in mind that the Icelandic family sagas, while undeniably great literature, are notoriously unreliable as sources of historical fact, and serve a greater historical value as reflections of social customs and norms, and that the above is only the version of Egill's life known to us from Egils saga.
[edit] Poems
In addition to being a warrior of immense might, Egill's poetry is also considered by many historians to be the finest of the ancient Scandinavian poetry. His poems were also the first old Norse verses to use end rhyme.
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- Höfuðlausn (the head-loosening, sometimes referred to as "Head-Ransom") with which he bought his life from Eiríkr Bloodaxe who had sentenced him to death in England.
- Sonatorrek ("son's loss") after the death of his son Böðvar who drowned during a storm
- Arinbjarnarkviða, dedicated to his companion Arinbjörn
[edit] Egill in popular culture
- Egill remains a very popular figure in Iceland, with a beer brewery, Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson, named after him.
- Some people pertaining to the Ásatrú religion consider Egill a true hero and hold a day of remembrance for him on December 9th.
- There was a talk show on Icelandic television called "Egill's Silver", named after Egil's hidden treasure.
- Egill's Silver is also the name of a song by Megas, from his first album.
[edit] External links
- Text of the saga (with modern Icelandic spelling)
- Text of the saga (English translation by Rev. W. C. Green, 1893)
- Egil Skallagrimsson and the Viking Ideal by Christina von Nolcken
- Höfundur Egill Skallagrímsson (in Icelandic)
- Egil's Bones
