Sagas of Iceland · Part 12 · Outlaws · B2
Gísli the Outlaw
Part 12 of the Sagas of Iceland: Gísli Súrsson, a man bound by honour to avenge his wife’s brother, even though the killer was his own sister’s husband. Outlawed for thirteen years, hidden by his loyal wife Aud, haunted by two dream-women, one good and one terrible. The past perfect, past perfect continuous and narrative suspense (by the time, no sooner… than, hardly… when), and the language of loyalty and betrayal, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria. The saga includes killings, told briefly.
Tonight is the story of a man caught between his family and his honour. Gísli had a brother, a sister, a wife, and two brothers-in-law. They tried to swear an oath of blood-brotherhood, to protect each other forever. The oath failed, and so did the family.
An oath that fails before it is sworn is a bad sign.
A very bad sign, Philo. Gísli was outlawed for thirteen years. He survived because of one person, who never betrayed him even when she was offered a fortune: his wife, Aud. Tonight’s grammar is the grammar of suspense: what had already happened, and how long it had been going on.
Thirteen years? I can’t even hide for thirteen minutes.
Gísla saga (13th century) is set in the dramatic Westfjords. Gísli Súrsson lives with his brother Thorkel, his sister Thórdís and their families. Gísli’s wife Aud is the sister of his close friend Vésteinn; Thórdís is married to Thorgrím, a chieftain. The four men try to swear blood-brotherhood, mixing their blood under a strip of turf, but Thorgrím refuses to bind himself to Vésteinn, and the ceremony fails.
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