Tonight we meet the most complicated hero of the sagas. Egil Skallagrímsson was ugly, violent, greedy and bad-tempered. He was also a brilliant poet, and he loved his family more than his life.
Sagas of Iceland · Part 4 · A Viking poet · B2
Egil Skallagrímsson: Viking and Poet
Part 4 of the Sagas of Iceland: Egil Skallagrímsson, the fiercest Viking and the greatest poet of the Saga Age, who saved his own life in York by composing a poem overnight for the king who wanted him dead, and who turned his grief for his drowned son into one of the great laments of world literature. Relative clauses (Egil, who was…; the poem that saved his life), would and used to for past habits, and the language of poetry and grief, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
A Viking who wrote poetry? That’s not what I expected.
SOPHIA
For the Norse, Marcos, poetry was a weapon and a treasure. Once, Egil’s enemy, King Eric Bloodaxe, had him in his power in York, and Egil had one night to save his head. He did it with a poem.
PHILO
Then we must hear how. And what a poet does when words are all he has left.
Before you read
Iceland, Norway and York, in the 10th century
Egils saga, written in the 13th century (some scholars think by Snorri Sturluson), tells the life of Egil Skallagrímsson (about 910–990), a farmer’s son from Borg in the west of Iceland who became a Viking, a warrior, and the greatest skald (court poet) of his age. Skalds composed poems in complex metres to praise kings, and a good poem was worth more than gold.
Egil had made a powerful enemy: Eric Bloodaxe, king of Norway and later king at York, and his queen, Gunnhild. Shipwrecked on the English coast, Egil went straight to York and faced the king. On the advice of his friend Arinbjörn, he spent the night composing a poem of praise for Eric, called “Head-Ransom” (Höfuðlausn), and recited it the next morning. The king let him go free.
In his old age, Egil’s son Böðvar drowned. In his grief, Egil shut himself away and refused to eat. His daughter Thorgerd persuaded him to live long enough to compose a poem for his son. The result, “The Loss of My Sons” (Sonatorrek), in which he quarrels with Odin, the god who took his son and gave him the gift of poetry, is one of the great laments in any language.
Words can save a life, and words can carry a grief we cannot carry alone.
The story
Retold for this lesson from Egils saga (13th century), with the poems Höfuðlausn (“Head-Ransom”) and Sonatorrek (“The Loss of My Sons”).
Egil Skallagrímsson was born at Borg, a farm on the west coast of Iceland. He was big and dark and ugly, with a heavy brow and a bad temper, and from the age of three he could compose verses. He grew up to be a Viking, sailing to Norway, England and the Baltic, and he made enemies wherever he went, above all King Eric Bloodaxe of Norway and his clever, dangerous queen, Gunnhild, who swore to destroy him.
Years later, Eric lost his throne in Norway and became king at York, in England. And one autumn, Egil’s ship was wrecked on the English coast, not far away. He could have run. Instead, he rode straight to York, to the house of his old friend Arinbjörn, who served the king, and the two of them went together into the king’s hall. Egil knelt and took hold of the king’s foot. “I have come to you, my enemy,” he said. Queen Gunnhild wanted him killed at once. But Arinbjörn persuaded the king to wait until morning.
That night, in Arinbjörn’s house, Egil sat down to compose a poem of praise for the king who wanted him dead: twenty verses in a difficult metre. A bird sat at the window and twittered all night long, and Egil could not concentrate; some said it was the queen in disguise. Arinbjörn sat by the window and kept the bird away. In the morning Egil stood before the king and recited the whole poem in a loud voice. When he finished, Eric sat silent for a long time. Then he said: “This poem was well spoken. Go in peace, but never let me see you again.” And the poem was called “Head-Ransom”, because it paid for Egil’s head.
Many years later, when Egil was old, his favourite son, Böðvar, drowned in a storm in the fjord. Egil buried him, and then he shut himself in his bed-closet and would not eat or drink, because he wanted to die of grief. His daughter Thorgerd came and lay down beside him, saying she too would starve. Then she gave him something to chew, so he became thirsty and drank, and when he had drunk, she said: “Now, father, compose a poem for Böðvar, and I will carve it on a staff, and then we can die.” So Egil composed “The Loss of My Sons”, in which he quarrels bitterly with Odin, who had taken his son, and ends by thanking him for the one gift that remained: poetry. And as he composed it, his strength came back, and he lived.
Read: the poet in York
PHILO
Read the story. Why was Egil in danger in York? How did he save himself? What did his daughter do when he lost his son?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
Relative clauses
MARCOS
Egil, who was a Viking, was also a poet. The poem that saved his life was called Head-Ransom. York, where Eric ruled, was a Viking city. Böðvar, whose death broke Egil’s heart, drowned at sea.
SOPHIA
who (people), which / that (things), where (places), whose (possession). With commas, the clause adds extra information, and we can’t use that.
Would and used to for past habits
DEMETRIA
As a boy, Egil used to lose his temper easily. In his old age he would sit by the fire all day. He didn’t use to like kings.
SOPHIA
used to + verb for past habits and states; would + verb for repeated past actions (not states). He used to be strong (state), not He would be strong.
The language of poetry and grief
PHILO
He composed a poem of praise. He recited it to the king. The poem is a lament for his son. He was overwhelmed with grief. Poetry gave him comfort.
SOPHIA
Words: a poet, a skald, to compose, to recite, a verse, praise, a lament, grief, to mourn, to grieve for someone, comfort, consolation.
Sophia’s comparison: David’s lament, and Orpheus
PHILO
King David was a warrior and a poet too, and when Saul and Jonathan fell in battle, he sang: “How are the mighty fallen!” Like Egil, he turned grief into a song that people still sing.
SOPHIA
And Orpheus, the greatest of our poets, sang so beautifully when his wife died that the gods of the underworld wept and let her go, almost. Poets have always sung where others could only weep.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who / which / that / where / whose | relative clauses | The poem that saved his life… |
| , who… , | non-defining clause (no that) | Egil, who was a Viking, was a poet. |
| used to + verb | past habits and states | He used to lose his temper. |
| would + verb | repeated past actions | He would sit by the fire all day. |
| compose, recite, praise, lament, grief | poetry and grief | He composed a lament for his son. |
Practice
Read the story for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · The story
Read the story and choose the best answer.
1. What was a skald?
2. Who was Egil’s great enemy?
3. How did Egil save his life in York?
4. Who helped him in York?
5. What happened to Böðvar?
6. What did Thorgerd persuade her father to do?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Egil, was a Viking, was also a poet.
8. The poem saved his life was called Head-Ransom.
9. York, Eric ruled, was a Viking city.
10. Böðvar, death broke Egil’s heart, drowned at sea.
11. As a boy, Egil used lose his temper.
12. He a lament for his son. (wrote a poem)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Egil, that was a Viking, was a poet.”
14. “The poem that saved his life is famous.”
15. “In his youth he would be very strong.”
16. “He composed a lament for his son.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
A poem of praise. In pairs, write a short poem of praise for someone you admire, then recite it to the class like a skald.
Discuss. 1. Can a person be cruel and also a great artist? 2. Why do you think poetry helped Egil survive his grief? 3. Is flattery ever justified, if it saves a life?
Write (150–180 words). Introduce Egil to a reader who has never heard of him, using relative clauses and used to / would.
Now play the gamebook: a poet who insulted the governor, a prison cell, and one night to compose a poem.Play the gamebook →