Read Egil’s Saga Online

Authors: E. R. Eddison

Egil’s Saga (53 page)

B
YRNY-
T
WISTER
: 281

C
AITHNESS
(Katanes): 6. 270

C
HADWICK
, P
ROFESSOR
H. M.: xxii

C
HRISTIANITY
: xxii–xxiii, xxiv–xxv. 276–7

C
OAL-
B
ITER
: 267

C
OD
: 262

C
ODFIRTH
(Þorskafjörðr): Icel., on Bardarstrand 185

C
ROWNESS
(Krákunes): 268

C
URDS
: 274

C
URSE
: see Scorn

D
ALES, THE
(Dalir): Icel., mod. Dalasýsla: the Broadfirth Dales 202

D
ALES, THE
: Norw., mod. Gudbrandsdalen 150

D
ALLA
: d. of Onund Sjoni, and mother of Kormak the Skald 204

D
ALSFJORD
: 269

D
ANEWORK, THE
: 251

D
ASENT
, S
IR
G
EORGE
: 232–3

D
ASTARD
: see Scorn

D
EAVE
: see Blunting

D
ECAMERON
: xxx. 240

D
ENMARK
(Danmörk): 34, 90, 96, 159, 165, 166, 167, 183, 200

D
IGRANESS
(Digranes): Icel., 56, 73, 77, 133, 187, 268, 270, 302

D
ÍSIR
: see Goddesses

D
OUGHTY
, C
HARLES
: 240–1

D
OVRAFELL
(Dofrafjall): Norw., mod. Dovrefjaeld 148, 150, 169

D
RAGVANDIL
(Dragvandill): 146; 153; 157–8

D
RÁPA
: 283

D
RAUPNIR
: 199. 304

D
RINKING
: 259, 278

D
ROPLAUGARSONA
S
AGA
: 294

D
UBLIN
(Dyflinn): 63, 64

D
UBLIN’S SHIRE
(Dyflinnar skíði): 6

D
UFTHAK
(Dufþakr): 245

D
ULSE
: 300

D
WINA
(Vína): 71

E
ARLS
: 253–4

E
ARLSNESS
(Jarlsnes):? in Wales 106

E
AST
A
GDIR
(Austr-Agðir): Norw . 50

E
ASTAWAY
(í Austrveg): 34, 68, 87, 96. 264

E
ASTMAN
: 216. 309

E
DDA
: xxii, xxvi–xxvii. 248

E
DMUND
(Játmundr): King of England 160

E
DWARD
(Játvarðr): King of England 98, 99

E
GIL
S
KALLAGRIMSON
(Egill Skallagrímsson):youngest child of Sk. and Bera, likely to be very ugly and dark like his father; a strong child, ready of speech, rough at play 60; aet. 3 composes extemporaneous verse at a feast at his grandfather’s 61–2; a great wrestler and quarrelsome; men learn their children to give way to him; aet. 7 slays another boy 75; his mother’s pleasure at this proof of ‘viking stuff’; makes a stave (prob. the earliest genuine verses of his extant); aet. 12 plays at ball with Thord Granison against Skallagrim 76; kills a man of Sk.’s in revenge for Thorgerd Brak; worries his brother Thorolf into taking him abroad with him 77–8; stays with Thorir the Hersir, and makes friends with his s. Arinbiorn; a little coldness between him and his brother Thorolf 79; sick, and so cannot go to Thorolf’s bridal; but goes with Oliver to Atley 80; first meeting with K. Eric Bloodaxe and Q. Gunnhild; displays a boundless capacity for ale 82; the Q. and Bard seek to poison him; slays Bard 83; escapes to Sheppey, slays three men, and comes safe to Thorir’s 84–5; Thorir makes peace for him with K. Eric 86; with Thorolf, harries in Kurland 87; taken prisoner with his men and bound; breaks loose and frees his men; delivers Aki and his sons 88; his conscience pricks him at thought of stealing the bonder’s goods without telling, so turns back alone and burns the house and all the men 89–90; harries in Denmark and burns Lund 91; bandies verses with Earl Arnfid’s d. 92–3; at Arinbiorn’s invitation spends the winter at Thorir’s 93; who with some difficulty obtains the K.’s approval; the Q.’s opinion of him 94; Thorir will not have him go to the blood-offering at Gaular; he stays at home with Arinbiorn 95; harries eastaway with Thorolf 96; warned that Eyvind Braggart means to waylay him, surprises and defeats E. off Jutland Side 97; with Thorolf, goes to England and takes service with K. Athelstane 98; his stave on the Scots’ victory in Northumberland 101; his array at Winaheath 105; fights against Earl Adils 106; thanked by the K . 107; separated from Thorolf for the second day’s battle; his misgivings 108; on Th.’s fall, retrieves the day and slays Earl Adils 109; his grief 110; in K. Athelstane’s hall, his person described 111; honoured and rewarded by the K. 112; will go to Norway to see to his b.’s inheritance; stays with Arinbiorn 113; woos and weds Asgerd; by Arinbiorn’s counsel goes home to Iceland, because the Q. is all heavy towards him; he has been abroad
12 years 114–5; does not part with any of the silver K. Athelstane gave him; takes charge of household at Burg for several years; hears that Bergonund has seized all the inheritance of Biorn the Franklin 116; goes with Asgerd to Norway and claims her share; summons Bergonund to the Gula-Thing 117; K. Eric’s displeasure at this 118; pleads his suit 119; the Q.’s saying on him 120; bids Bergonund to the holmgang; defies the K. and departs by sea 121; the K. will take his life 122; his ship robbed and burnt by the K.’s men 123; he escapes in a cutter after slaying Ketil; Arinbiorn finds him a ship; he calls down the Gods’ anger on K. Eric 124; 125; made outlaw from end to end of Norway; sails 126; but puts back to land at Herdla; goes aland alone at Fenhring 127; sends boys to Bergonund with message about the bear 128; slays Bergonund, Hadd, and Frodi; robs and slays at Ask 129; slays the K.’s son Rognvald and twelve men; robs at Herdla 130; sets up a scorn-pole in K. Eric’s despite and Gunnhild’s, and sails for Iceland; his stave on the stormy sea 131; his answer to Skallagrim’s request about the silver 132; buries Sk. 133; 134; sails abroad the third time, meaning to go and see K. Athelstane; wrecked off Humber mouth 135; comes to Arinbiorn in York 136; goes with A. to K. Eric, who will make no peace with him, but lets A. keep him till morning 137–8; by A.’s advice, composes a drapa twenty staves long in K. Eric’s praise 139; speaks the drapa
Höfuðlausn
before the King next morning, getting a hearing in spite of the Q.’s egging on, mainly through A.’s readiness to lay down his own life rather than let him be slain 140–5; comes to K. Athelstane 146; goes to Norway with Thorstein Thorason; K. Athelstane would have had him stay with him and be over his war-host 147–8; goes to see K. Hakon Athelstane’s-Fosterling, who says he shall have the law in his claims against Atli the Short, but counsels him not to stay in Norway 149–50; comes to Fridgeir’s, and undertakes to back him at the holmgang 151–2; fights and slays Ljot 153–5; guests with Thord of Aurland 155; claims his wife’s inheritance of Atli the Short 156; at the Gula-Thing bids A. to the holmgang, and slays him in a strange manner; gets his estates 157–8; and goes home to Iceland where he abides for 16 years; his children named 159; goes abroad for the last time and guests with Arinbiorn in the Firths 160; presses, through A., his claim for Ljot’s estate, whom he had slain 161–2; A. pays him 163; harries with A. in Frisland and slays eleven single-handed 164–5; parts for the last time with Arinbiorn, and winters with Thorstein Thorason in the Wick 165–6; undertakes, in Th.’s stead, the hazardous journey into Vermland to gather the K.’s scat 168; treacherously deserted by the K.’s men, comes to Armod Beard’s with only three followers 169–70; his dealings with and savage punishment of Armod 171–3; guests with Thorfinn and heals his sick d. 173–5; comes through Eidwood, slaying two of Armod’s men set to waylay him, and guests with Alf the Wealthy 175–6; comes to Earl Arnvid’s court and gathers the scat; taxes the E. with the slaying of former K.’s messengers; the E.’s saying of him 177; will not be deterred by Alf’s warnings from returning through Eidwood 178–9; set upon by the E.’s men, slays eight single-handed 180; and again eleven more; the Vermlanders’ report of this to E. Arnvid 181; comes back to Thorstein’s and sends the scat to K. Hakon 182; sets his affairs in order in Norway and comes home to Burg 183; 184; gives his step-d. Thordis to Grim of Mossfell 185; and his d. Thorgerd to Olaf the Peacock; and his d. Bera to Ozur Eyvindson 186; greatly loves his s. Bodvar
ibid .;
lays Bodvar in howe; then takes to his bed and will not eat or drink; none durst speak to him 187; his life saved
by his d. Thorgerd 188–9; composes his
Sonatorrek
189–94; the manner of his life in Iceland, and why he went no more abroad; composes his
Arinbjarnarkviða
194–9; his friendship with Einar Jingle-scale 199; hears of Arinbiorn’s fall at the Neck; his stave on this 200; 201; has little love for his s. Thorstein 202; grows very old; his silken cloak, Arinbiorn’s gift, spoilt by Th.; left a widower, goes to dwell with his step-d. Thordis at Mossfell, because he loved her most of those folk that were then alive 203; composes his
Targe-Drapa
on a shield sent him by Thorstein Thorason 204; learns of his s. Thorstein’s strife with Steinar 209; rides to the Thing with eighty armed men to support Thorstein 210; treats with Onund Sjoni; the award left to him; Steinar’s and Odd-a-Tongue’s misgivings 211–2; makes a harsh, but just, award; his answer to Onund Sjoni 213–4; sets Thorgeir Blund, his sister’s s., at Anisbrent; parts with blitheness with Thorstein 214–5; disappointed at Blund’s misbehaviour 218; his deep old age and blindness 219; his last verses:
Langt þykke mér
220; wishes to ‘sow’ K. Athelstane’s silver at the Thing for sport; balked of this, buries his treasure and slays the two thralls to cover its traces 221; dies of a sickness and is laid in howe at Tiltness with his clothes and weapons; later, his body buried in the churchyard; and, generations after, his bones found; the wonderful weight and thickness of his skull; his bones laid to rest at last in the churchyard at Mossfell 222. xii, xiv–xv, xxiii, xxx, xxxiii–xxxiv. 246, 260, 265, 271, 277, 280, 282, 283, 294, 295, 296, 306, 308, 310

E
GIL
T
HORSTEINSON
(Porsteinsson): seventh s. of Thorstein Egilson 204

E
GLA
: = Egil’s Saga,
passim

E
ID
(Eið): Norw., a little isthmus near the Stad 5

E
ID
: (used in gen. pl. = Eidwood, q.v.) 169

E
IDWOOD
(Eiðaskógr): a great forest on the marches of Norway and Sweden 167, 169, 173, 177, 179

E
INAR
J
INGLE-SCALE
(Einarr skálaglamm): the skald, b. of Osvif the Wise of Laxriverdale, meets Egil at the Althing and makes friends with him; in the bodyguard of Earl Hakon the Great 199–200; two staves of his; the precious shield given him by the E. for his drapa
Gold-Lack;
he gives it to Egil 201; a life-long friend of Egil’s 202. 304

E
INAR
T
EITSON
(Teitsson): priest of Staffholt, aids Steinar in his suits against Thorstein Egilson 209–11; Egil’s saying on him 214

E
INARR
F
RIÐGEIRSSON, SÍRA
: 287

E
INARR
J
ÓNSSON
: the sculptor 266

E
INARSNESS
(Einarsnes): Icel., N.E. of Burg on Burgfirth 187. 299

E
INHERJAR
: 275

E
INKUNNIR
: Icel., a little hill N. of Burg 56, 215–6

E
LDA-
E
ID
(Eldu-eið): Norw., an isthmus in Thrandheim 38. 265

E
LF
(Elfr): see Gaut-Elf

E
LIZABETHAN
D
RAMA
: xxxi

E
LLA
(Ella): King of Northumberland, 112. 279

E
LLIDI
(Elliði): Icel., a farmstead on the S. slopes of the Snaefellsness range, the seat of Steinar in his later years 218

E
NGLAND
: Thorgils the Yeller trades there for clothes, wheat, honey and wine 30–2; position on K. Athelstane’s succession 98–9
;
invaded by the Scots 100; Egil and Thorolf with K. Athelstane 100–113; K. Eric Bloodaxe in power there 134; Egil’s second journey thither 135–148; 151; 159; 160

E
RE
(Eyrr): see Steinthor

E
RE
: in Denmark, mod. Skanör 34· 264

E
RE
-F
LEET
: 264

E
RESOUND
(Eyrarsund): in Denmark 91

E
RIC
A
LL
-W
ISE
(Eiríkr alspakr): a landed man, weds Thora d. of Thorir the Hersir; f. of Thorstein Thorason 147

E
RIC
B
LOODAXE
(blóðöx): King of Norway, s. of K. Harald Hairfair who loved him best of all his sons;foster-son of Thorir the Hersir; his friendship with Thorolf Skallagrimson 69; obtains from the K. his father peace for Thorolf 70; takes power in Hordaland and the Firths; his expedition to Biarmaland; weds Gunnhild 71; sends an axe to Skallagrim 72; receives supposed greetings and gift from Sk. in return 79; 81; holds a feast of blood-sacrifice in Atley 82; will avenge Bard’s slaying 84–5; his wrath; consents to take atonement, for Thorir’s sake, but will not have Egil staying long in the land 86; gives way on this to Thorir: his saying to Gunnhild 94; 95; offers Thorolf atonement for Thorvald’s slaying; sends Eyvind Braggart to Denmark 96; his friendship with Bergonund 116; 117; displeasure at Arinbiorn’s pleading of Egil’s cause 118; 119; at the Gula-Thing 120–1; will take E.’s life; pursues E. by sea 122–3; but fails to take him; E.’s stave upon him, that the Gods may drive him out of Norway 124; made over-king over all K. Harald’s sons; on his f.’s death, fells his brothers in Tunsberg 125; makes Egil outlaw for every man to slay 126; E.’s scorn and curse upon him 130–1; strives with his b. Hakon and flees the land; gives his d. to E. Arnfinn; harries in Scotland and England; makes peace with K . Athelstane and holds Northumberland, having his seat at York 134; 135; 136; receives Egil at York, and says he shall surely die; grants Arinbiorn’s prayer that E. shall live till morning; A. recalls his wrongs done to E. 137–8; 139; Arinbiorn’s loyalty to him 140; he consents to hear E.’s
Höjuðlausn
141; gives E. his life 145; 146; 147; his b. Hakon’s saying of him 149; 156; falls in west-viking 159; 162.
270
, 288

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