The Loose Structure of Democracy in the Viking Age

Throughout the sagas roaming through Viking times, there has been mention of a certain annual event called the Althing. This is some sort of country wide happening where matters and problems are discussed, but it is usually briefly brought up and then disregarded. Grettir attends the Althing several times before he becomes an outlaw. Hrut and Hoskuld went to the Althing where Unn, Hrut’s wife, admitted to her “horrible” lifestyle with Hrut. This event was obviously very important, and unlike anything seen in different government structures throughout history. This type of system mirrors that which we have in the United States, which was rooted in equality and justice.

The Althing was a yearly event that essentially represented a government concerning all matters of Iceland. This affair could cover a number of topics, from reading over the current laws of the communities to creating new laws to addressing specific problems that occurred throughout the year. Free men from all over the country would gather there and voice their concerns and issues, where a council of specialized men would vote and decide on what kind of consequence that problem entailed. In certain instances, the penalty would be very violent while other times it would be a specific payment for the wrong doing. A large span of issues could be brought up at the Althing from acts of treachery to blood feuds. This judicial system mimics that of modern democracy in America.

Though the court system runs constantly throughout the year, it is still a very similar set up to that of the Viking age. Today, there is a set jury and judge to decide punishments for breaking the law and interrupting social balances. They are held much more often than once a year and in a variety of different places, but the basic premise is still the same. This is important because it shows a certain equalizing personality of the country, Iceland, as a whole. Most European countries near Iceland had monarchs going back hundreds of years, or a single family ruling over an area of land, but that influence did not infiltrate the people of Iceland. Those of the Viking age did not believe in a specific person being the ruler of their whole country, rather getting an opinion from several different and wise-minded individuals to encourage justice and fairness within the land.

This behavior most likely stems from the traditional nature of Iceland, where the culture around handling situations was very set in stone. They were very concerned with family and doing the correct societally normative actions. So if there was a problem that arose, not only was it noted and remembered by those involved, but it was brought up at the Althing, where a consequence would be dolled out. This system mirrors that which is America today, where wrongdoers are judged by several individuals, not just one man or one woman. The people of Iceland believe very firmly in the exposure to several opinions when determining someone’s fate, which stems from a culture buried in tradition. This attitude towards equality stands out due to the monarchial history around Europe, and made the Viking culture very distinct. 

The Valkyrie’s Role of Womanhood Within The Poetic Edda and Modern Society

The Poetic Edda consists of many diverse characters, but some are called Valkyrie. They are perceived to have divinity and are victorious in battle; other times, they find themselves falling in love with a hero. Today, the Valkyrie is seen in a cinema filled with hundreds of eager fans. Both appearances are portrayals of womanhood in patriarchal societies.

The battle for gender equality has been a continuous one for years, dating back to even before The Poetic Edda. Within The Poetic Edda women are seen as a significantly lower being than men, as specifically perceived in “Sayings of the High One” where Odin is advising his followers in poetic verse. Girls or women are mentioned numerous times, and not in an equivocal manner with men. One verse says, “At evening should the day be praised, … / the blade when it is tested, the girl when she is married” (23). Odin, the god of all gods and beings, suggests the most precious time in a girl’s life is her marriage; thus, she is only valuable in her skills to obtain a man’s desire. Because Odin is ruler of all, his word is informative to others. In another line he says, “Praise the body of the radiant woman: / he who flatters, gets” (24). The writing proposes a male assumption that a woman’s physique is most imperative as a quality, utterly ignoring her character, intellect, and personality. More other verses prove Odin’s sexist ideology, but moreover, they also prove sexism will arise in any universe.

The Valkyrie act as a authentic warriors of Odin, although not all the time. Essentially, they are do-gooder’s, and only care to fight for justice within the universe. Some princesses will choose to live a life of strength and empowerment and will become Valkyrie (110). This is a symbol of female strength, which is unique in a world dominated by a chauvinistic Odin, who sees inferiority within the female sex. When Sigrdrifa killed Helmet Gunnar in battle, he punishes her because he sees this as an act of disrespectful disobedience, and so, she is pricked with a thorn that lusts her into a sleeping spell:“Odin pricked her with a sleep-thorn in revenge for this and said that she would never again fight victoriously in battle and said that she should be married” (163). He takes away her gift, something that is vital to who she is, and deems forced marriage as punishment. As his previous words proved he felt women were only suitable if desirable enough by a man to marry, his new comment proves that he also knows women do not see themselves in this same manner and wishes for more in life, just like a man would. Knowing this, it is suitable to hear that in the end she chooses marriage for love. The Valkyrie prove numerous times how disobedient and strong women can truly be without men dominating their lives.

Society today has made some improvement, and these supposed ethical standards for women are put into question and in some cases, finally declined. “Thor: Ragnorak” is a 2017 film part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its main hero is Thor, Son of Odin, God of Thunder; however, the audience is revealed a new character who is featured as a lone heroine: Valkyrie. The actress, Tessa Thompson portrays the last living Valkyrie in a male-dominated universe on the big screen. Viewers had only seen Black Widow within the successful movie-franchise, in a skin-tight leather suit, finely cropped hair, and with no possession of damaging personality traits to be seen in a woman (i.e. heavy drinking, swearing, or crude manner towards men). Thompson’s Valkyrie wears a loose-fitting suit with armor and a cape, ignoring the societal acceptable role of womanhood within numerous popular films by being alone, acting as a functioning alcoholic, and possessing the irredeemable quality of no dependence on men for anything or any desire to appeal to the male gender.

 In both works, the Valkyrie reject misogynistic standards, and blaze a path for feminism. Instead of remaining as simple, female figures in a male-centered story line, they forge onward and force both readers and viewers to see a female character take charge and reject stereotypical qualities that women are believed to generally possess in most works of literature and film. 

Viking Culture Vs. Western Culture

         The Saga of Grettir the Strong shows that modern western culture is much different from Viking culture. In the saga, almost from beginning to end, the plot contains violence. The amount of violence shows how contemporary people view the Vikings. Since violence is condoned and seems almost celebrated in the saga, it makes sense that Vikings are viewed as marauders and savages. In modern Western culture, people classify savages as individuals who live in a society that has behaviors that are similar to that of tribal humans. A tribal human is more likely to commit acts of violence towards others than in western culture. Since western civilization has created the idea that violence in impermissible in most cases, it makes sense that westerners would view the constant violence in the saga as barbaric. Consequently, since literature is an accurate description of culture, western civilization has viewed the Vikings as violent.

It is true that Western literature and other kinds of art includes violence, but the amount of it is much less than in the saga. For example, most Western literature includes some kind of love story. Even if the novel is dark or violent, it usually includes some form of romance. For example, even though George Orwell’s 1984 is a dark and occasionally graphic novel, there is still romance. This example shows that even if romance does not seem to fit in a novel like 1984, writers will still include it. In the saga, the only kind of significant contact between the opposite sexes is when Grettir rapes a woman. This difference shows a stark contrast in how women are viewed in Viking culture.

The difference in how women are viewed in western culture and Viking culture is stark. The amount of romance in western literature shows that western civilization has greater respect for women. By portraying women as people to be loved and not abused through romance, it can be inferred that western culture values women as humans, not objects. It can be said that women in western civilization have not always had the same social standing as men, but the status of women has improved over the years to the point where women in modern western culture are the freest in human history.

On the other hand, the saga shows how women are oppressed in Viking culture. By portraying rape instead of romance, the saga shows that women are viewed as nothing more than tools. By not including any significant women in the saga, the author showed that women do not have a major role in Viking culture. Grettir had a huge adventure with many conflicts along the way, but there was not a single important woman to help him along the way. From the Viking perspective, if no woman can help Grettir on his massive journey, how can a woman help with anything important or major?

The Saga of Grettir the Strong shows a stark difference in Viking and western culture. The violence in the saga shows the inclination for that type of behavior in Viking culture which shows why westerners view Viking culture as violent. Also, how women are portrayed in the saga shows a strong contrast between how women are treated in western and Viking culture. These differences show how powerful literature can represent a society.

Wicked, Tricksy, False: Gollum in The Saga of Grettir the Strong

The claim that J. R. R. Tolkien took inspiration from the Viking sagas to build his fantasy universe of Arda is certainly not new or outrageous. It has been mentioned in class several times, and you only have to skim the Poetic Edda to find countless parallels between the two worlds. This is particularly obvious when seeing names like Durin, Dvalin, Thorin, Bifur, Bofur, etc. pop up in the literature and being immediately reminded of the posse of Dwarves from The Hobbit.

So is this entire post going to be about the details, references, and “Easter eggs” hidden within Tolkien’s mythos behind Arda?

There certainly are countless more parallels, but I do not have enough knowledge of the lore Tolkien created to do such an analysis justice, having only seen the Peter Jackson adaptations of his work (I know, I know, you can chastise me for my grievous nerd-transgression later).

Instead of getting bogged down in a comparison between the mythologies framing both worlds, I would like to focus on The Saga of Grettir the Strong, and how Glaum (the man who accompanies Grettir and Illugi to Drangey) could be a source of inspiration for Gollum/Sméagol in The Lord of the Rings.

This is our introduction to Glaum in Grettir’s Saga, “He had a large head and was tall, slim, and poorly dressed. He greeted them and asked them their names. They told him and he said he was named Thorbjorn. He was a vagrant who could not be bothered to work, and very boastful; people made great fun of him and some even played tricks on him. He tried to impress them and told them many stories about the local people. Grettir found him highly amusing. […] Because he was boisterous and a great joker, he was nicknamed Glaum (Merrymaker)” (pg. 158-159).

From a visual aspect, Glaum and Gollum share a gaunt, disproportionate physicality. Similar to Gollum’s isolation from others, Glaum is marginalized and ridiculed by those around him. Their distance from “normal” society is certainly for vastly different reasons; however, they are both socially disconnected characters in their own way.

Frodo decides to take Gollum on as a guide; however, this is done out of mercy and pity, rather than the pure amusement Grettir feels towards his vagrant companion. Additionally, it is mentioned that people like to play tricks on Glaum; meanwhile, Gollum incessantly worries and broods over the “tricksiness” of others in his ring-induced paranoia.

On a different note, I would like to thank the author(s) of this saga for including not one, but two Thorbjorns at the same time, and having the sense to give one of them a nickname (great save there). There is certainly an argument to be made here for another parallel, as Gollum is not the character’s actual name. Much like the dark and tormented Gollum suppresses Sméagol within him, the supposed merriment and jovial personality of Glaum is not seen much at all for the rest of Grettir’s story; Glaum is portrayed as a lazy, bumbling fool on Drangey.

The two characters also share similarities in the way they are treated in their respective stories. Nearly all characters view Gollum with suspicion and predict his malicious intent. Chief among these skeptics is Samwise, who, admittedly, treats Gollum quite poorly because of it. While we cannot deny that Gollum is a scheming and untrustworthy character, most of us still feel pity and empathize with the tormented soul of Sméagol hidden beneath his darker alter-ego. It is the same with Glaum. We cannot deny that he is negligent and lazy in his duties and often doesn’t show himself to be the brightest of people; at the same time, we cannot ignore Grettir’s cruelty towards him as well as the inordinate amount of work the brothers make him do.

Overall, this analysis neither redeems nor condemns either character. It does make them more complicated and adds “greyness” to their worlds, making their stories as a whole more compelling and emotionally loaded.

Grettir the strong was born in a world of constant comparison. He was never good enough for his father, never as good as his brother, and never met up with the skewed beliefs of the religious conformity that had taken over Iceland. As Grettir grew older he accepted his own morals and beliefs. Constantly looking within or to those he respected for the right course of action. While this angered a lot of people, it gave Grettir the chance to choose his own path. In this blog I will be comparing Grettir the strong to Megatron from Transformers.

Megatron, like Grettir, also had to pave his way. He grew up as a poor low class Cybertronian who was forced to work in the mines to provide for himself. As Megatron grew older he began to understand the world around him. He could see the corruption in the Cybertronian government, those at the top who let the poor starve and die out while they sat by and drank themselves silly. He could see the stigma between class and build. How the seekers and flyers were treated like garbage because they separated themselves from the ground based Cybertronians. He could see the death and decay around him and wanted to help. So, he made a plan. First he became well established in the community by becoming the champion in the Gladiatorial rings. He then used those connections to get himself a seat on the council and began to make a plea for his case. His hope was to become the next Prime, but fortune did not lead him that way. Instead Orion Pax, now known as Optimus Prime, was given that prestige. Orion had little understanding of the world he lived in, no real will to go against the senate, and no backbone. He had spent most of his deca-cycles as a librarian assistant. Megatron was furious. He felt he deserved the Prime status, after he calmed down he tried to reason with Orion, but he didn’t believe Megatron. So, Megatron began a revolution, he acquired many warriors from he colosseums, and was close to ready to attack. He constantly tried to pull the seekers and flyers into the war, but they had no desire to join in a grounder’s coup. That is until the senate destroyed Vos, the flyers home. It was a devastating blow and it brought all remaining seekers and flyers to Megatrons team. One seeker, Starscream, ended up bombing the senate, killing all of them. Thats when the civil war began. As the eons went by and more and more died. Megatron forgot about his beginning mission. His only goal; kill Optimus Prime once and for all. 

Now to compare Grettir and Megatron. Both were born into a unfair system. Grettir, being constantly told to conform to religious ideals, and Megatron, constantly told that his place was below those that sought to do harm to the people they swore to protect. Both became renowned for their strength and fighting prowess, and both respected those that were thought of as lower class or different. Grettir respected women often, unless given a reason against those ideals. Megatron respected the seekers and flyers for their strength and beauty. Both lost their way at one point or another. Megatron lost his mind and ideals from the constant bloodshed around him, Grettir lost his compassion when he was deemed an outlaw, he began to only focus on himself and his needs. 

While this may be a weird comparison, it does connect to each other in different ways. There are many differences, mainly that ones a human man and the other an organic metal alien life form, but different doesn’t always mean incomparable. 

The Wild Hunt of Norse Magic and Creatures

From video games, movies, and literature, the Viking culture has been a major influence on all forms of media. Some aspects of the Viking culture are either undermined, false interpretations, or just expanded upon. In this case this blog will focus on the mythical, and magical aspect of the Viking culture. In particular, the magical element of Vikings has influenced greatly on the franchise the Polish franchise The Witcher. The Witcher,covers all media, starting as novels, then expanding to TV series, films, and a successful video game trilogy. The story consists of Geralt of Rivia, a “Witcher” or better said as a monster hunter, whose been bred and trained at a young age, who has supernatural powers, to fight against vicious beasts. 

In the Norse Culture, the supernatural beings explored in literature consists of Gods, trolls, supernatural warriors, mythical dwarfs, goblins, and just about anything in our current pop culture. Likewise, The Witchercontains all these creatures, also expanding on the Norse mythic creatures. In the third installment of The Witcher, called the wild hunt, derives from the mythology of supernatural hunters, passing in a wild persuit for strange, and mythical deadlhy beasts through towns, cities, or straight up the wild.

Dwarfs and Elves in game in The Witcher, inspired by Norse culture. 

 Importantly, the topic of hex’s spells, curses, and generally sorcery is important in Norse culture, as it is deemed as an illegal, down upon element. However, one of the important Norse God figures, Odin learned magic, and curses as he was interested in the knowledge potential of it, as Odin found information, knowledge and culture important. Moving to sagas, Grettir the strong was cursed with being scared of the dark, and was killed by a sorcerer. To this, the sorcerer who killed Grettir was deemed weak, and was condemned as a warrior. Thus, showing to mortals that sorcery and magic as a weak, and basically a cheat system to fighting. Moving to The Withcer, magic is essential to the books, but importantly to the video games. Magic can replenish health, shields, and overall stun enemies and creatures, which is very useful. 

            

Now Vikings in real life did not have supernatural encounters, but their literature, and Norse culture did dabble in the supernatural realm. Such as in the Saga of Grettir the Strong, which involves a cunning warrior, surviving as an outlaw in Iceland. Grettir, an outlaw, with no supernatural powers, yet cursed. Grettir is cunning, and a smart warrior must use his wits, and guts to survive enemy encounters, and the supernatural. Geralt, from The Witcher, isa supernatural warrior, who has dragon eyes, and skilled with magic, and infinite respawns in the game. However, as Grettir isn’t magic, he does seem to have the supernatural power to his side, as he is able to survive years as being an outlaw, with bounty hunters and others all betraying him, and trying to kill him. Only having magic being Grettirs weakness.

In conclusion, magic in Norse culture differs a lot to today’s pop culture, specifically The Witcher franchise. Where today people would love to have magic powers and sorcery, to Vikings, it was petty and deemed weak. But, having a respect to the creatures, as they were popular to Norse and today.

Is Grettir the Strong an anti-hero?

Preston Spivey

09/22/18

Blog Post #1

Is Grettir the Strong an anti-hero?

In The Saga of Grettir the Strong the story of a troubled boy is told, a boy who turns into a man’s man and a legend in Viking Culture yet in modern times his situation can be looked at very differently. Grettir is born strong both physically and mentally, this combination aids him in his natural calling: killing. Grettir finds great respect and recognition early in his life through his aptitude in killing yet his fame is short-lived in this story. His life is doomed to misfortune by a curse and just as his life is plagued by this curse he plagues the lives of all he interacts with.

Can Grettir in The Saga of Grettir the Strong be considered an anti hero?

Grettir’s early life is troubled just as his adult is, filled with cruelty that eventually escalates. In the beginning of The Saga of Grettir the Strong young Grettir is characterized as lazy and unhelpful, always getting into trouble and showing signs of being a sadist. When Grettir flays the skin off of the back of his father’s horse and leaves it for weeks for his father to find it is clear that he has no conscience and follows his own rules. Grettir hardly shows any heroic attributes besides strength in the early parts of his life, and the killing of Skeggi was in no way heroic. He shines brightest later on when he saves Thorfinn’s estate cleverly from the clutches of a band of infamous outlaws. At this point in the story Grettir seems to be on his way to climbing the hill on the road to being a hero maybe develop some noble values and fight for the greater

good. This is not the case.  

Grettir’s life starts to take a different turn for the worse when he is cursed by Glam. Glam dooms Grettir and his misfortune becomes a key part of his identity as a character.

After Grettir is cursed the first event that marks his misfortune is the fire in Norway, this event represents a turning point in his attitude and life. When Grettir ventures to Norway his crew finds a way to shore in a blizzard and Grettir being “The most accomplished man in Iceland” decides to take on the task of finding fire for them in the nearby village so that they may survive. Grettir’s luck takes a turn for the worst because when he reaches the village he finds an inn that seems to be glowing from fire light and when he barges in they believe he is an ice troll. I found this very ironic because the very creature that he was cursed by (Glam) was actually an ice troll. Grettir’s appearance spurs a fight which he ends up escaping with fire for his crew, yet the reader later finds out that during the fight the inn had been set on fire killing all of the people inside. This event ends up getting especially sticky because several of the men killed were a part of a well renowned family. Grettir saves his crew but the people in the inn are sacrificed. I believe that at his point in the story it can be seen that Grettir turns into an anti-hero through the readers eyes because even when doing something simply good it seems to have negative side effects.

After Grettir is outlawed in Norway for burning down the inn everything in his life spirals out of control in the Homefront of Iceland as well. It seems as though Grettir can do no good he collects food for survival and becomes a hermit living in caves and bouncing from place to place killing bounty hunters and those who get in the way of his survival. This is the lowest point in his story and he lives like this until he reaches an unnatural demise at the hands of sorcery. The reader can derive from Grettir’s actions and characteristics that he is not ordinary hero and can be characterized as an anti-hero.