Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu
| Gunnlaugs saga ormstunga | |
|---|---|
Gunnlaugr and Helga the Fair meeting by Charles Fairfax Murray
|
Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu (
listen ) or the Saga of Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue is one of the Icelanders' sagas. Composed at the end of the 13th century, it is preserved complete in a slightly younger manuscript. It contains 25 verses of skaldic poetry attributed to the main characters.
It is an important work in both Norwegian and Icelandic literary history. Gunnlaugr is sometimes Anglicized as Gunnlaug. The cognomen can also be translated as Worm-Tongue or Snake-Tongue.
The saga has similarities to earlier sagas of poets, such as Kormáks saga and Bjarnar saga, but it is more refined and elegant with strong characterization and emotional impact. Long considered a masterpiece, the saga is often read by beginning students of Old Norse literature. Printed with a Latin translation and commentary in 1775, it was the first of the Icelanders' sagas to be published in a scholarly edition.
The saga, said to have taken place around the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, tells the story of two Icelandic poets, Gunnlaugr Ormstunga and Hrafn Önundarson. Their love of Helga the Fair, granddaughter of Egill Skallagrímsson, which results in a competition leading to a deadly duel of honor. The story opens with a prophetic dream of two eagles who fight over a swan before killing each other. A hawk then arrives to comfort the swan, foreshadowing the rest of the saga and the love triangle element of the story.
The saga then transitions to Gunnlaug and his upbringing. After Gunnlaugr has an altercation with his father, Illugi the Black, Gunnlaugr rides away to Borg where he meets a farmer, Thorstein, Son of Egil Skallagrímsson. Thorstein graciously invites Gunnlaugr to stay with him where he spends a year studying law. During this year, Gunnlaugr and Helga, Thorstein’s daughter, begin a friendship which cumulates in them taking a liking for one another. Gunnlaugr then decides to travel abroad, but before asks Thorstein for Helga’s hand in marriage—a customary practice in that day. Thorstein quickly rejects Gunnlaugr's proposal because of his decision to travel abroad, but after him and Illugi discuss the matter further, they agree that if Gunnlaugr returns in 3 years, he can have Helga as his wife.
...
Wikipedia