Laxdaela Saga (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: One of the finer ones!
Review: As a lover of the Icelandic sagas, I can say I've had the opportunity to read quite a few. But this one, the tale of Gudrun Osvif's Daughter who marries four times, while bringing about the death of one of the most remarkable men Iceland had ever seen up to that time, out of a kind of lover's pique, is surely one of the best. Gudrun belongs to an illustrious family and soon comes into the orbit of an even more illustrious one, that of Olaf the Peacock. While this tale, like all true sagas, spans several generations, the core of the book revolves around the fair Gudrun and the men she encounters and enters into relationships with. But it's a tragic tale in the end, as well, because Gudrun, proud and unforgiving as any Norseman in the saga world, cannot give way and is thus doomed to lose the one man she may have desired most of all. It falls, finally, to her son, born after the killing of her third husband, to bring a kind of rough Icelandic justice to those who brought down the father he never knew, while Gudrun, in her old age, remains typically taciturn, unable to tell him who it was she cared for most, the man who sired him or the one whose death she sought.

SWM

Rating:
Summary: Good.
Review: I believe I own and have read almost all of the Penguin Classic Icelandic Sagas they sell on this site (Amazon.com). Njal's Saga, Eyrbyggja Saga, Egil's Saga, and this, the Laxdaela Saga. With that said, of those that I have read, I rank this the second of the best and find it entirely entertaining. Unlike Njal's or Egil's saga, it lacks a central character. This may put some off, but I find it for the better, putting the reader in an omnipotent position that allows them to distantly spectate everything happening within the tireless world presented within. Not to suggest the action of the saga is disconnected, only that the reader isn't forced to follow a single character around on their exploits. Instead, like an eye we observe the Lax River and it's people, who all encounter new and dangerous situations in their lives. As to of whether the text is romanticized or not is entirely up to the reader's interpretation and what they care to focus on. For one who simply wants to read about events and the activities of people that 'just simply are' or if you want to read about romantic tragedy and battles, you can find either one in the ambiguous texts of the Laxdaela Saga. ...

Rating:
Summary: Good.
Review: I believe I own and have read almost all of the Penguin Classic Icelandic Sagas they sell on this site (Amazon.com). Njal's Saga, Eyrbyggja Saga, Egil's Saga, and this, the Laxdaela Saga. With that said, of those that I have read, I rank this the second of the best and find it entirely entertaining. Unlike Njal's or Egil's saga, it lacks a central character. This may put some off, but I find it for the better, putting the reader in an omnipotent position that allows them to distantly spectate everything happening within the tireless world presented within. Not to suggest the action of the saga is disconnected, only that the reader isn't forced to follow a single character around on their exploits. Instead, like an eye we observe the Lax River and it's people, who all encounter new and dangerous situations in their lives. As to of whether the text is romanticized or not is entirely up to the reader's interpretation and what they care to focus on. For one who simply wants to read about events and the activities of people that 'just simply are' or if you want to read about romantic tragedy and battles, you can find either one in the ambiguous texts of the Laxdaela Saga. ...

Rating:
Summary: It transports you to another world...
Review: I read the Laxdaela Saga more than a year ago for a class I took on Viking History. I have enjoyed few books in my life as much as I enjoyed this one. I've read it three times total now. For me, it was a life-changing book (due in no small part to the professor who was teaching the class, but I digress). Because of this book, I'm now majoring in Medieval History and plan to get a Master's degree in Sweden. While you probably won't find it quite as fascinating as I did, it is a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Viking Age, Medieval Europe or just a good read. The story unfolds throughout the settlement period in Iceland and chronicles the lives of the adventurous and bold people who lived in the Lax River Dale over the course of several generations. The center-piece is the tragic love-triangle of Gudrun Osvifsdottir, Kjartan Olafsson and Bolli, his cousin. It is speculated that because of the abundance of female characters and a strong sense of their motivation that this saga may have been written by a woman. The Magnussen translation balances native terminology with modern English and the footnotes, maps and family trees are invaluable. I highly recommend this saga. If you've read the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, you probably will find the Laxdaela Saga similar in style. A tip to keep in mind while reading: Don't try to remember every character; there are way to many. Just keep track of the major ones and refer to the glossary of characters at the back of the book as needed for family connections and the like.

Rating:
Summary: Notes on Laxdaela Saga
Review: Notes on Laxdaela Saga

1.Humor

There's little discernible humor in the sagas, but there are occasional moments of grim amusement. Curiously, it seems the German film director Werner Herzog picked up a couple of such moments for use in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). In the movie, as I recall -

at one point, the doomed Spaniards on Aguirre's fleet of rafts are beset by unseen people in the forest; an arrow hits one of the soldiers, who says "Long arrows are becoming fashionable" and pitches into the water;

and elsewhere in the movie, two unhappy soldiers hunch over a dice game onshore, and, as one of them rolls, someone cuts his head off for some reason; his head rolls along the ground, comes to a stop, and says "six" or whatever it was he rolled.

In Grettir's Saga (p. 95 of the University of Toronto edition) we read that Thorbjorn dirves his spear through Atli, and Atli says, "Broad spears are becoming fashionable nowadays."

In Laxdaela Saga (p. 213 of the Penguin edition) we read:

"Audgisl was walking past at that moment, and just when Thorgils had counted 'Ten', Audgisl struck at him; and all those present thought they heard the head says 'Eleven' as it flew off his shoulders."

2.Relationships

Much of the interest of fiction depends on human configurations: lover and lover, husband and wife, mother and child, father and child, lord and vassal (or boss and employee), etc. In Laxdaela Saga there are several relationships we don't typically encounter:

--the fosterage system
--bonds of obligation between kings and people recognized as important
--slaves (including concubines) and owners

as well as a couple of arrangements that may seem unexpectedly modern, given the medieval setting:

--wives as chief authorities on an estate in the absence of their husbands
--ease of divorce and remarriage

These all have lots of potential for drama.

3.Disputes about property plus obligations to secure compensation for injuries are recurrent in the sagas.

4.Supernatural beings and events certainly are used to enhance the drama of the stories, but the authors do not "write up"

There's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas, it seems to me from my limited experience of them, do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that there's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that they were recognized as repellant - that the procedures were disgusting, as well as having consequences deleterious to the community. (So far as I know - here I am unsure - the Icelandic lords declined to make use of sorcery, even before Christianity; it was beyond the pale even for them. However, the worship offered to the gods may have been disgusting as well as wicked - interesting to think that the gods wanted things done on their behalf that were unacceptable as between people. (Human sacrifice was not unknown in the ancient Scandinavian world.)

Rating:
Summary: Notes on Laxdaela Saga
Review: Notes on Laxdaela Saga

1.Humor

There's little discernible humor in the sagas, but there are occasional moments of grim amusement. Curiously, it seems the German film director Werner Herzog picked up a couple of such moments for use in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). In the movie, as I recall -

at one point, the doomed Spaniards on Aguirre's fleet of rafts are beset by unseen people in the forest; an arrow hits one of the soldiers, who says "Long arrows are becoming fashionable" and pitches into the water;

and elsewhere in the movie, two unhappy soldiers hunch over a dice game onshore, and, as one of them rolls, someone cuts his head off for some reason; his head rolls along the ground, comes to a stop, and says "six" or whatever it was he rolled.

In Grettir's Saga (p. 95 of the University of Toronto edition) we read that Thorbjorn dirves his spear through Atli, and Atli says, "Broad spears are becoming fashionable nowadays."

In Laxdaela Saga (p. 213 of the Penguin edition) we read:

"Audgisl was walking past at that moment, and just when Thorgils had counted 'Ten', Audgisl struck at him; and all those present thought they heard the head says 'Eleven' as it flew off his shoulders."

2.Relationships

Much of the interest of fiction depends on human configurations: lover and lover, husband and wife, mother and child, father and child, lord and vassal (or boss and employee), etc. In Laxdaela Saga there are several relationships we don't typically encounter:

--the fosterage system
--bonds of obligation between kings and people recognized as important
--slaves (including concubines) and owners

as well as a couple of arrangements that may seem unexpectedly modern, given the medieval setting:

--wives as chief authorities on an estate in the absence of their husbands
--ease of divorce and remarriage

These all have lots of potential for drama.

3.Disputes about property plus obligations to secure compensation for injuries are recurrent in the sagas.

4.Supernatural beings and events certainly are used to enhance the drama of the stories, but the authors do not "write up"

There's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas, it seems to me from my limited experience of them, do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that there's a clear distinction made between people who are gifted (or burdened) with prescience, such as Gest Oddleifson, and practitioners of witchcraft such as Kotkel (Chapter 35).

The sagas do not go into details about the sorcerers' activities, but I get the impression that they were recognized as repellant - that the procedures were disgusting, as well as having consequences deleterious to the community. (So far as I know - here I am unsure - the Icelandic lords declined to make use of sorcery, even before Christianity; it was beyond the pale even for them. However, the worship offered to the gods may have been disgusting as well as wicked - interesting to think that the gods wanted things done on their behalf that were unacceptable as between people. (Human sacrifice was not unknown in the ancient Scandinavian world.)

Rating:
Summary: History or soap opera?
Review: Some of both, probably. The Icelandic sagas are a unique historical resource, a written capture of European oral history, back when the stories were still fresh. As part of the oral tradition, they had to be memorable, but also to focus on the men and women important to the clan where the stories were told.

This is really the story of Gudrun, a remarkable woman who successively married (and lost) four of the most influential men in the Lax river area. Iceland, around 1000 AD, was a male-dominated society, but with strong property rights and legal status for women. Many rose to positions of high influence and respect. This is hardly surprising, since they kept the household and lands working while men were out viking, or after the were killed in frequent vendettas. In fact the first few chapters talk about Unn and her supporters.

The narrative is a bit choppy, and lacks in character development. In that, it's not much different from other sagas I've read, and better than some. The translators have done a good job of rendering the story into modern English. They also add explanatory text that I find quite helpful. Footnotes are informative but unobtrusive, and often cross-reference the story at hand to other sagas. End matter draws the family trees, very important for understanding where loyalties lie, and indexs the dramatis personae. That's especially helpful, for example, in sorting out which of five different Thorsteins is under discussion.

The sagas are a wonderful complement to standard history. They describe history as seen by the people who made it. They put personal faces, meanings, and depth on dry facts, like "1000 AD: Iceland converts to Christianity." And, as always, they show the personal intrigues, vengeances, and triumphs of the individuals.

This saga, in particular, presents the complex, bloody, and dramatic events around a very powerful woman of the time.

//wiredweird

Rating:
Summary: Men (and Women) of Iron
Review: Whenever I confront the Icelandic sagas, as I have the urge to do from time to time, I feel anew the onrush of a different reality.

Did someone do you dirt? Then bushwhack him and and his family and put them all to the sword. There will be settlements to be paid based on your wealth and influence and that of your victim's friends and remaining family, and the desire of your neighbors to put a cap on a burgeoning intergenerational blood feud. Divorce? Tell your old man you've had it with him, march away, and lay claim to half of his estate. (This while women in mainland Europe barely had the right to breathe.)

The LAXDAELA SAGA is one of the best of the sagas, ranking with THE BURNT NJAL SAGA as one of the greatest works to come from the Viking world -- and the greatest literary works of the 12th-14th centuries from anywhere. Its numerous cast of characters (I count 189 names in the book's helpful Glossary of Proper Names, about 40 of which begin with "Thor") boggles the mind. Just remember, these were real people, and their names are enshrined in the history of Iceland by their descendents.

It takes several generations of ambushes, conniving marriages and bloody divorces, and even the introduction of Christianity around A.D. 1000 before the main story gets under way, namely the story of Gudrun Osvifs-daughter and her four marriages. This is no blushing romance: Look at Gudrun the wrong way, and start drafting your will! Her boyfriend Kjartan Olafsson dallies too long in Norway, and she marries his cousin Bolli out of spite. Then, when he returns, she does everything she can to urge Bolli to kill him and his men. A series of internecine feuds breaks out, and it takes more than twenty years for the bad blood to be drained off.

Even minor characters suddenly come to life. Here is how Vigdis Ingjalds-daughter treats a man she regards as dishonorable: "Vigdis went indoors to a chest that belonged to Thord [her husband] and there, at the bottom, she found a heavy purse. She took the purse and went out with it to Ingjald [no relation], and told him to take his money. Ingjald cheered up at this and held out his hand for it. Vigdis raised the purse and struck him on the nose with it, drawing blood; she accompanied this with a stream of derisive words, adding that he would never get the money back, and told him to clear off."

Life was cheap in medieval Iceland. The anonymous author of this saga was, however, a great writer who identified closely with the people and events that went into the making of this sometimes barbaric, always awe-inspiring masterpiece.