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Egil's Saga

by Anonymous, Hermann Pálsson (Translator), Paul Edwards (Translator), Hermann Palsson (Translation)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 700 ratings · 56 reviews

Demon, killer and drunkard, poet, lawyer and farmer: Egil is the most individual and paradoxical character to emerge from the Icelandic Sagas.

From the time when Egil performs his first murder at the age of six to the more peaceful years of his dotage, he dominates this panoramic Viking history. Ugly, brutal and ruthless on the one hand, intelligent and capable of great sen...more

Paperback, 254 pages

Published February 24th 1988 by Penguin Classics (first published 1240)

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Nov 11, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sagas, eye-for-an-eye

Poets, Viking ones at least, could be genuine bad asses. Egil Skallagrimsson, the subject of this saga, is Exhibit A. At the age of 7 (or 6), while playing a game of Viking ball (whatever that is), Egil gets knocked aside by a 12 year old. Egil then goes home, gets a battle axe, returns to the game, and then buries that axe in the offending 12 year old's head. (Kind of like coming in off the sidelines to make a tackle -- Viking style.) A Viking scrum of sorts erupts, with bodies, blood, etc. But...more Poets, Viking ones at least, could be genuine bad asses. Egil Skallagrimsson, the subject of this saga, is Exhibit A. At the age of 7 (or 6), while playing a game of Viking ball (whatever that is), Egil gets knocked aside by a 12 year old. Egil then goes home, gets a battle axe, returns to the game, and then buries that axe in the offending 12 year old's head. (Kind of like coming in off the sidelines to make a tackle -- Viking style.) A Viking scrum of sorts erupts, with bodies, blood, etc. But after things settle down, Mom sees that her son has real potential as a Viking!

Actually I jumped ahead a bit. Egil's Saga spans the years 850 - 1000 AD. Egil himself doesn't show up until about a third of the way (or more) into the story. What precedes Egil arrival is a complicated story about Harald the Fair-hair's conquest of Norway, and the resulting fall out that leads to various dissidents establishing themselves in Iceland. At times this can be hard to follow, as endless Thorfinns, Thorwolfs, Thorwhatevers, come and go. That can be a drag on your reading, but only if you let it. I'm sure there are all kinds of depths to be explored in the tangled relationships, but for the non-specialist, there is more than enough action to satisfy blood & guts enthusiasts. Murder, revenge, house burnings, heads chopped, eyes ripped out. It's like Deadwood with broad swords. Jacking things up considerably is the compressed, laconic prose. There is more going on in these brief chapters than sometimes happens in novels. Personally, I find the sagas to be some of the most demanding -- but also rewarding reading out there. And Egil's Saga is considered to be among the very best of the sagas.

Egil himself is a paradox. When you first meet him, you have to wonder if he's insane (see above). From early on (age 3) he's tagged as a poet (a good thing in Viking culture). He's often prone to deep depressions, so deep that it had me wondering if he wasn't bi-polar. As it turns out, he's not insane (though he does have a temper). He's well liked by many. He's also huge, a bear of a man, and ugly as hell. Honor is a big deal for Egil, especially when it comes to property disputes. On that Egil often will place himself in great personal danger in order to argue his case before the King (who has branded him an outlaw). You never feel Egil is greedy in these legal wranglings. He simply feels he's been wronged (which, when it comes to these disputes, is true). Egil can also be extremely cruel, killing a host for not being forthcoming with his ale, and later a child of the King.

And then there's the poetry. I thought most of it pretty good, with feasting ravens and wolves and swords singing (it's easy to see why Ted Hughes liked the sagas so much). One of my favorites was while(!!!) Egil was dispatching a big bully. After he finished the bully off, he sang about how he chopped off his leg. More seriously, as Egil gets older, he loses two sons in a short period of time. I found his poem to mark these losses to be very moving, and timeless in its appeal. I think this poem could have a place in any quality anthology. Overall Egil's Saga is a great read, just don't get bogged down too much with the names. The general "thrust(s)" of the story should be apparent. (less)

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May 04, 2012 Duane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Remarkable Norse saga, based on an actual person and events -- Egil, a sort of human monster/poet . . . or poet/monster, if you will. Warrior, con-man, poet, cynical devil in human form. Weaves history from five generations of Norse and Icelandic families, rivalries, and wars. Great stuff! Good book for the winter.

From The Pulp Rack: http://pulprack.blogspot.com/2012/05/...

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Roughly covering the years 858 to 990, the saga follows Egil's adventures until his old age and death. Living in his...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: iceland-medieval-viking-skaldic, nonfiction, biographical

This is story is excellent as an introduction to the Icelandic sagas as a whole. It includes the expected Viking raids, battles, feuds and brawls. However, as the protagonist is widely regarded as foremost among the skaldic poets, there is an added dimension that transcends the mindless violence and bloodshed that many readers would expect to find. Egill is a complex man- at times savage in his ability to end lives, and at other times surprisingly sentimental and sensitive (as in his poems eulog...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another great Icelandic Saga!

This saga is unique in that Egil was a poet himself, so most of the Skaldic verse is his (or at least supposed to be his). This makes the verse more relevant to the story and adds another dimension. If you read the notes, then you actually get to read two versions of each poem. The version of each poem in the main body is a straight translation, while the version in the notes attempts to capture the true alliterative nature of the ON original and includes the kenning...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Ensiform rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, old-norse

Translated and with an intro by Herman Pálsson and Paul Edwards. Like King Harald's Saga, this tale offers little in the way of morals, but evokes a harsh and violent era, where honor came through killing, no matter how unchivalrous by other terms. The story begins with Egil’s grandfather, a suspected shape-shifter, and tells of the exploits of his uncle and brother, both named Thorolf. Egil himself is a poet and killer, rather unpleasant like his father Grim, who once tried to kill his son when...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Egil's Saga is one man's journey to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before... And when he gets there to rape, pillage, and murder his way to fortune.

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Apr 04, 2013 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Egil's Saga is my introduction to the Icelandic Sagas, and as such it was an experience much different than what I am used to. It depicts the world of the Viking Age, which I have read a fair amount about recently, but from a wildly different perspective than modern history or historical fiction books. Instead the adventures and struggles of the Myrar clan's founding generations is an event of recent, and deeply personal, history. The obsession with genealogies as understood markers of time and...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Maggie added it · review of another edition

Tolkein stole the part where there's an ambush in the forrest and the two paths, one safe but slow, the other fast but dangerous. It took away some of Tolkein's magic for me. But at the same time, I wanted to yell, Gandalf! Look out! Oh wait, he's not in this one.

I liked the idea of the Norse people without kings being the ones who would stand up to the foreign kings. They were sort of rebels against the king'ed countries around them. But they were also always getting in trouble with the kings...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Isabel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Egil's Saga is not just Egil's story, as it begins with his grandfather Kveldulf. Although the chronology is a bit skewed, this is a saga that includes historical characters (such as the kings of Norway & England) and the events that happen are realistic. The Norsemen are not just violent and barbaric Viking raiders; the same men who spend some summers on Viking raids across Europe, spend other summers on respectable trading expeditions and yet others as mercenaries for foreign kings, whose...more Egil's Saga is not just Egil's story, as it begins with his grandfather Kveldulf. Although the chronology is a bit skewed, this is a saga that includes historical characters (such as the kings of Norway & England) and the events that happen are realistic. The Norsemen are not just violent and barbaric Viking raiders; the same men who spend some summers on Viking raids across Europe, spend other summers on respectable trading expeditions and yet others as mercenaries for foreign kings, whose territories they may well have raided previously. Viking raids and trading expeditions are summer activities, with winters being spent at home on their farms, or staying with friends.

Egil is also a poet and his poems occur throughout the saga. His war poetry is extremely gory, full of the clash of weapons and the wolves, eagles and ravens that prowl the battlefield feasting on the carrion.

There are not many overtly supernatural happenings in this saga, but some especially strong, violent men are suspected of being shapechangers. Egil's grandfather is nicknamed Kveldulf (Evening Wolf) because although sunny tempered during the day, he becomes bad-tempered, violent and unnaturally strong as evening falls. There is also some use of spells; for example Egil set a horse head on a pole as an insult to the spirits of the land to force them to drive Eirik and Gunnhild out of Norway.

Interestingly, when the pagan Thorulf and Egil go to England as mercenaries for the Christian King Athelstan, they are given preliminary baptism. The saga says that this allows them to mix with both Christians and heathens, but that they can still follow whatever beliefs they like. I have never heard of this practice before, but it's a very pragmatic way of going about things. Apparently it was common for viking merchants and mercenaries to undergo this preliminary baptism, as it allowed the Christians to salve their consciences about trading with heathens.

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It occurred to me while reading Egil's Saga, that Queen Gunnhild would make a fantastic Evil Overlord. If she had James Bond in her clutches she wouldn't make any of the classic mistakes that allow him to escape every time.

When Egil is shipwrecked in Northumberland, only to find that his enemies King Eirik Bloodaxe and Queen Gunnhild (the former rulers of Norway) are now in charge there, his blood-brother Arinbjorn (a close friend of the king's) takes him to the court to plead for his life. Queen Gunnhild's reaction to Arinbjorn's suggestion that Egil be allowed to compose a poem in honour of the king is to the point: "We don't want to hear his words of praise. Have him taken out and killed, Eirik. I don't want to hear him or see him". If only all Evil Overlords were so decisive!

Unfortunately, in order to succeed as an Evil Overlord, the first thing she would have to do is get rid of her husband. King Eirik agrees with Arinbjorn that killing Egil at night would be murder (?) so he tells him to come back the next day for judgment. Overnight Egil composes a long poem in honour of the king, and when he recites it the king is won over and lets Egil go (while reserving the right to take revenge if he ever sets eyes on him again), which must have infuriated the queen. I'm with Gunnhild on this; if someone had killed my son, foster-son and brother-in-law as well as many of my courtiers and servants, I wouldn't let him go just because he wrote a flattering poem about me!(less)

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Jan 13, 2013 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Epic in scope, engaging in its telling, this Icelandic / Norwegian history is worth the read. Unlike Homer's in media res, this story must be told from the beginning; and don't worry if the list of characters starts to feel like the Bible's Book of Numbers, the narrative will remind you that there really is nothing new under the sun. Humans behaved both honorably and like shits at the turn of the first millenium, just as they do at the end of the second.

This saga was read as part of The Sagas of ...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Bruce MacBain added it · review of another edition

While touring Iceland two weeks ago, we took a trip to the Snaefelnes peninsula, the area where Egil lived--the crashing sea, the black sand beaches, the towering cliffs. Our tour leader regaled us with anecdotes from the saga along the way. At one stop we viewed a modern statue of the aged, sorrowing Egil on his horse with his drowned son Bodvar across his knees. This is not ancient history to Icleanders but a living tradition bound up with the landscape. I resolved to read the saga as soon as...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: iceland, middle-ages, poetry, reread

Of all the Sagas of Icelanders, Egil's Saga, reputedly by Snorri Sturluson, differs from the others I have read in two respects. First of all, it shows one reason why Iceland was settled: Many Norse were fed up with the high-handed rule of King Harold Fine-Hair. Egil Skallagrimsson, his father Skallagrim Kvedulfsen, and his father Kvedulf all ran afoul of the king who, with his reliance on lies told by informants, outlawed them.

Secondly, the hero of the saga, Egil Skallagrimsson, spends most of...more Of all the Sagas of Icelanders, Egil's Saga, reputedly by Snorri Sturluson, differs from the others I have read in two respects. First of all, it shows one reason why Iceland was settled: Many Norse were fed up with the high-handed rule of King Harold Fine-Hair. Egil Skallagrimsson, his father Skallagrim Kvedulfsen, and his father Kvedulf all ran afoul of the king who, with his reliance on lies told by informants, outlawed them.

Secondly, the hero of the saga, Egil Skallagrimsson, spends most of his time in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, Friesland, and Ireland. Only a small fraction of the tale takes place around Egil's farm at Borg i Myrum in Borgarfjord, and that mostly at the end, when the tale moves from Egil to his son Thorstein, who has a feud with Steinar, who decides to allow his livestock to feed on the former's land.

Like many of the figures in the Sagas of Icelanders, Egil Skallagrimsson was a historical person, a poet and a warrior who frequently butted heads with the kings of Norway, and who escaped numerous attempts to kill him. At one point, he fights a Swedish berserker named Ljot and kills him. Then, being the poet he is, he memorializes his own deed:

Let's strike with a sword-flash
To shatter the shield;
To batter the blade
Till the enemy bleeds;
Play with the pale man [Ljot],
Then pitch him to earth;
Stop his mouth with steel,
And serve him up as carrion.

In general, Egil's poems in this edition are far more readable than other Viking poems that are full of kennings, those annoying (to me, anyway) circumlocutions for such simple words as "man," "woman," and "ship" that tend to predominate. After one battle in England, when Egil fought alongside King Athelstan, he ends one of his verses with the grim line: "No ravens went hungry."

Perhaps the most touching chapter is the one about Egil's old age, stumbling about the farm, blind, and being razzed by the old women of his family. It's odd to see a warrior die of old age in any Icelandic saga.

This is one of the five essential sagas that are critical for an understanding of the genre. The others are, in descending order of excellence, Njals Saga (perhaps the best of them all), Grettir's Saga, Laxdaela Saga, and Eyrbyggja Saga. All are available in Penguin editions and deserve a read.
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Mar 28, 2008 dead letter office rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

my favorite of the icelandic sagas. egil was tons of fun. he killed one of his father's friends when he was six years old, then recited a poem about it at dinner. he was constantly killing and maiming people, carrying off women, getting drunk, and making up poems, which made him very popular as a viking. i also enjoyed his friends and relatives, including one who may or may not have been a werewolf and a guy named shaggy harald who had vowed never to cut his hair. all in all the 900's sound like...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: epic-poetry, mythology

This is probably the ass-kickingest story I have ever read.

"Egil's Saga" kicks Conan's ass from one end of some stupid fictional continent to the other.

Did Conan ever get so miffed after being given sour curds and malt liquor as a guest (instead of meat and fine ale, which were being hidden by the greedy host) that he held his host against a pillar and vomited on his host's face with such force that his host's teeth were all knocked out?

Did Conan ax another boy to death at the age of six on a ba...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Darya rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: literary-minded folk

Shelves: buy-this-book

The 1st saga I read. Started it in the Icelandic Saga megavolume, but found this translation much nicer and more literary in its use of language. This is obviously a saga about a warrior etc, but what I liked most was the way old age was shown, how Egil went from hero to an old man, and the lack of compassion there. Also, his foxy character that allowed him to worm his way out of mishaps by writing poetry was cool.

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Aug 17, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Every so often I'll launch into a re-reading bender on my Norse history and myth collections. Egil's Saga is always a highlight of that process - one of the Icelandic settlement sagas, it tells the story of an ugly, violent, avaricious viking with an unmatched gift for the complex art of Norse poetry. Egil's character springs from the page even 800 years after the saga was recorded.

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Mar 06, 2010 Abi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classical-and-medieval, scandinavia, favourites

I love this one. It's the first one I read. I can remember being really excited when the Hvítá (White River) comes in because I'd just got back from Iceland and I'd been in that river.
Egil's is one of the funniest sagas, in my opinion. I love the bit when Egil kills one of his father's servants (when he's about 8) and his father doesn't say anything, 'but relations between the two were a little strained' or something like that. Plenty of viking-style hijinks (vomiting in people's faces, murderi...more

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Dec 14, 2008 Cwn_annwn_13 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-shelf-home-library

Egil was a classic anti-hero, a warrior, poet, runemaster, traveller, adventurer, took crap off of nobody, had bloodfueds and vendettas that went as high up the ladder as the King of Norway. The guy was everything an Odinist should be. I am a lover of Icelandic Sagas and have read many, if not most of them but this one is one of my favorites.

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Jan 21, 2008 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd had this recommended to me by my high school English teacher but only got around to it much later. He'd told me "It's unlike anything else you've read" and if you've never read an Icelandic saga, that is true.

The saga begins (inevitably) with a long list of genealogies, but once the action starts, it's quite a ride. Egil is a very ambiguous character, sometimes vicious and brutal, sometimes sympathetic, and always fascinating.

Egil's world is pretty alien for the modern reader. When he murde...more

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Aug 17, 2012 The Plastic Sturgeon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Its an awesome tale, with great insight into a historical culture and person. However, for many readers the language and relative obscurity of the content may be an obstacle.
But then again, there are some truly awesome moments.

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Jul 18, 2012 Colin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: great-literature, norse-stuff, scholarly-works

One of my favorite sagas, with the larger-than-life protagonist Egill, whom I've always thought a polymath on the level of most of the "universal men" of the Italian Renaissance - viking warrior, poet, magician, lawyer, farmer . . . Egill did it all!

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Nov 25, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: saga, epics, history

Egil Skallagrimsson. Skald. Berserkr. Badass. The Norse had an amazingly laconic sense of humor, and man, does it ever show in their sagas. An amazing read.

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Nov 09, 2009 Blake Owens rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Egil Skillgrimson was a badman viking. He killed his first soul when he was 5 years old. He went on to lay waste to the north sea for years to come. Go Vikings

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Jan 12, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought that Norse sagas were all like Beowulf (which I do like), but Egil's saga was even better. It's an exciting and quick read.

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Nov 14, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: primary-document, poetry

Top-notch 13th c. account of a bald dude wandering around Northern Europ vomiting on people

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Oct 19, 2012 Mikael Lind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, history

A fast-paced saga which is well worth owning and reading several times.

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Jul 26, 2009 Andrew marked it as to-read · review of another edition

It's good, historical, but steriotypical of a monks version of Vikng lands.

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Jun 01, 2007 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an excellent book, with Lord of the Rings-style adventures. It was especially good in light of my having traveled to Iceland recently. It was basically about the establishment of the country, and all the adventures leading up to it. The only problem with it was that there were a lot of names to keep track of, and, of course, they were all foreign (no Jims or Bobs or Joes). Also, I'm not quite sure why it's called "Egil's Saga". He was a main character, but not the only one, and he didn'...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Susinok rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-ancient, classics-european, scandinavian

The nastiest tempered poet you are ever likely to find.

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Sep 18, 2009 Ezekial rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

fun and interesting look on viking life

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