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Grettir's Saga
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226 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1325
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April 19, 2025I don't think I will ever tire of the story of this taciturn, fierce, but oddly heroic (when he wants to be) outlaw and monster-fighter who's afraid of the dark. Grettir is almost impossible to describe—by turns standoffish, unsociable, congenial, grim, humorous, violent, and valiant—but his character plays out in a way that is utterly convincing. He doesn't read like a set of contradictory character-traits, but as a whole personality (people in real life are, after all, full of contradictions!).
This is an example of the verisimilitude, that "true to life" feel for characterization, that Icelandic sagas are so famous for, and Grettir is an especially outstanding example of. He's an unswervingly brave and courageous fighter afraid of nighttime; he's fierce and aggressive, but also laconically wry-humored. (One of my favorite examples: Grettir, caught and tied up by a bunch of farmers he's just robbed, is asked "What are you doing here?" His response: "Everyone has to be somewhere." Fair enough!)
Not everything about Grettir is likable or enjoyable (and certainly not commendable): his violent streak is disturbing. This relates to one of the other fascinating aspects of Grettir's Saga: the monsters. This saga is haunted by monsters—trolls, semi-humans, barrow-dwellers, mysterious "evil creatures," and revenants (aptrgöngu-menn, "men who walk after," i.e. after death) recur or are alluded to all throughout the saga. And Grettir himself has something of the monster in him. No wonder he is such an ill-fit for human society—but then, he also turns out to be ill-fitted to life as an outlaw, living outside human society. He doesn't "belong" anywhere.
The monsters aren't the main focus of the story, but the sense is that they're always there, always potentially able to creep into human civilization. This, of course, only serves to enhance the spookiness of it all. (And when the author wants the monsters to take the spotlight, he really knows how to do it: for example, the story of the revenant Glámr is absolutely hair-raising, especially Grettir's encounter with him: Glám's huge glowing eyes peering down from the rafters at Grettir in his bed, the moon shining intermittently between the drifting clouds outside: all of it is superb.)
One of the pleasures of this saga is the way the quotidian, "everyday" elements—those details of real life in a medieval society—coexist with the fantastical elements: not just the monsters, but the buried treasure, the legendary swords, the wicked witch (seith-kona) and her malevolent runes and magic spells (galdrar). It's a heady, but captivating, mix.
Like I said: I don't think I could ever tire of this saga! (Probably I would rank it and Njal's Saga as my favorite long-form Icelandic sagas, with The Laxdale Saga and Egil's Saga close seconds.)
One last thing: you should absolutely read this blog post, full of pictures and descriptions of the real-life locales of the saga, alongside readingGrettir's Saga itself:
https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-wit... There's just no landscape like an Icelandic landscape.
This is an example of the verisimilitude, that "true to life" feel for characterization, that Icelandic sagas are so famous for, and Grettir is an especially outstanding example of. He's an unswervingly brave and courageous fighter afraid of nighttime; he's fierce and aggressive, but also laconically wry-humored. (One of my favorite examples: Grettir, caught and tied up by a bunch of farmers he's just robbed, is asked "What are you doing here?" His response: "Everyone has to be somewhere." Fair enough!)
Not everything about Grettir is likable or enjoyable (and certainly not commendable): his violent streak is disturbing. This relates to one of the other fascinating aspects of Grettir's Saga: the monsters. This saga is haunted by monsters—trolls, semi-humans, barrow-dwellers, mysterious "evil creatures," and revenants (aptrgöngu-menn, "men who walk after," i.e. after death) recur or are alluded to all throughout the saga. And Grettir himself has something of the monster in him. No wonder he is such an ill-fit for human society—but then, he also turns out to be ill-fitted to life as an outlaw, living outside human society. He doesn't "belong" anywhere.
The monsters aren't the main focus of the story, but the sense is that they're always there, always potentially able to creep into human civilization. This, of course, only serves to enhance the spookiness of it all. (And when the author wants the monsters to take the spotlight, he really knows how to do it: for example, the story of the revenant Glámr is absolutely hair-raising, especially Grettir's encounter with him: Glám's huge glowing eyes peering down from the rafters at Grettir in his bed, the moon shining intermittently between the drifting clouds outside: all of it is superb.)
One of the pleasures of this saga is the way the quotidian, "everyday" elements—those details of real life in a medieval society—coexist with the fantastical elements: not just the monsters, but the buried treasure, the legendary swords, the wicked witch (seith-kona) and her malevolent runes and magic spells (galdrar). It's a heady, but captivating, mix.
Like I said: I don't think I could ever tire of this saga! (Probably I would rank it and Njal's Saga as my favorite long-form Icelandic sagas, with The Laxdale Saga and Egil's Saga close seconds.)
One last thing: you should absolutely read this blog post, full of pictures and descriptions of the real-life locales of the saga, alongside readingGrettir's Saga itself:
https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-wit... There's just no landscape like an Icelandic landscape.
June 25, 2007
The saga of the outlaw Grettir Asmundarson is an unsurpassed portrait of the social isolation of a violent poet. The stark beauty of the Icelandic landscape provides some of the highlights of literature from any epoch. The moonlit march of Grettir below scudding clouds is one example of the saga's eerie atmospheres. Grettir's fated path towards increasing isolation is mediated by medieval poetry slams, violent clashes with opponents, encounters with the supernatural and the courthouse drama of the Icelandic legal system.
November 11, 2012
A guy with bad luck just fights with everybody cuz they're all assholes. There are witches and monsters and boats. Grettir just kills them all and is lonely all the time. Also a very funny story: lots of gay jokes. One of my favorite sagas and a sad story about having to change with the world and learn how to do C+ and Twitter right or lose your job. Spoiler alert: Grettir is a good swimmer!
April 18, 2008
A wonderfully readable and understandable translation. The story is fascinating for its historical and anthropological insights, and is also a good adventure story.
December 30, 2018
Most of the Icelandic sagas are realistic, and all the better for it, but this tall tale of an untameable trouble-making antihero has barrow-wights, witches, magic and the undead and still it works.
January 29, 2023
the beowulf echoes 👌😩
September 11, 2007
Many don't like this saga, as it is somewhat atypical for a "Classical Family saga"-- much more episodic, full of monsters and other supernatural creatures, and capped by a short Tristan and Isult inspired conclusion-- but it is one of my favorites. It is not as tightly structured as Gisla saga, but the supernatural is, in a sense, more natural here than in, say, Njals saga, where everything feels perfectly "normal" until a ghost suddenly shows up for a chapter or two-- and then disappears for the rest of the book. In Grettla, however, the supernatural continually crops up as part of the theme of the passing away of the old, reminiscent, perhaps, of the folktales in which the giants or trolls that inhabited Scandinavia are said to have left for other lands with the coming of Christianity-- similarly Grettir, a hero in terms of physical strength, poetic wit, and his victories over monstrous threats to human society, is, in this later day (his saga takes place shortly after the adoption of Christianity in Iceland), is an outcast, eventually dying in exile because there was no room for someone of his stature in the present.
I could write for ages on Grettla-- it was the first saga I taught, and I've taught it maybe 8+ semesters now-- but I'll let it be for the moment (I've got real work to do!). I recieved an offer to submit to a publication on Icelandic outlaws a while back-- if that's still open, I may get around to sending something in, and then you'll get an earful (or eyeful)).
I could write for ages on Grettla-- it was the first saga I taught, and I've taught it maybe 8+ semesters now-- but I'll let it be for the moment (I've got real work to do!). I recieved an offer to submit to a publication on Icelandic outlaws a while back-- if that's still open, I may get around to sending something in, and then you'll get an earful (or eyeful)).
November 24, 2020
A magnificent saga that follows the fortunes of one of the most unforgettable of all the great saga heroes: "there was never an outlaw as distinguished as Grettir the Strong." Grettir's Saga comes closer to a folktale and closer also to a novel than any of the other sagas I've read.
The edition, though it contains some excellent black-and-white photos depicting key scenes, doesn't have the full notes and family trees one has come to expect with the Penguin editions. Also, I am disappointed to see from other reviews that many readers have internalized the foreword's implication that Grettir is some sort of pagan character out of place in a new Christian world. That seems intellectually lazy to me; a clear case of, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail." It ignores the uniqueness of Grettir's character. A person who kills a flock of geese rather than watch them for his father, and who flays a horse for the same reason, is going to have trouble "fitting in" anywhere. The most fascinating aspect of the book to me is the change that takes place in Grettir's character. By the end he is likeable, humorous, and genuinely heroic (as opposed to merely antiheroic.)
The edition, though it contains some excellent black-and-white photos depicting key scenes, doesn't have the full notes and family trees one has come to expect with the Penguin editions. Also, I am disappointed to see from other reviews that many readers have internalized the foreword's implication that Grettir is some sort of pagan character out of place in a new Christian world. That seems intellectually lazy to me; a clear case of, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail." It ignores the uniqueness of Grettir's character. A person who kills a flock of geese rather than watch them for his father, and who flays a horse for the same reason, is going to have trouble "fitting in" anywhere. The most fascinating aspect of the book to me is the change that takes place in Grettir's character. By the end he is likeable, humorous, and genuinely heroic (as opposed to merely antiheroic.)
January 21, 2008
Grettir's Saga is an Icelandic saga about an outlaw, who probably really existed, although his saga contains a great deal of supernatural exploits (fighting the undead, meeting a half-troll, and so on). Grettir is an interesting character because his bad temper gets him into trouble over and over again, and although his intentions are sometimes good he just can't seem to abide by the law. So like many heroes from the sagas, he is really a bit of an anti-hero.
September 26, 2007
Like a lot of the Icelandic sagas, Grettir's saga contains a lot of family history that seems unconnected to the story, not to mention incredibly boring. However, it also contains the funny, entertaining, and sometimes crazy moments that I've only seen the like of in other Icelandic sagas.
April 5, 2007
Grettir is one of the more memorable saga heros - more superhuman than Njal or Grettir, but more synpathetic than Egil, Grettir is the Old Norse superman.
April 18, 2008
love trolls? then you will love this book. if you do not love trolls, avoid at all cost.
October 1, 2012
One of my favorite Norse sagas - this one has a story in it that parallels Beowulf, some great fantasy-type stuff, lots of cool proverbs . . . yeah, I love this saga!
October 13, 2023
Amazing. Gives me everything I wanted in a Saga. Some hilarious moments of poetry too.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews