The Saga of Grettir the Strong

"Many people wished Grettir a safe journey, but few a safe return."

--  The Saga of Grettir the Strong (p. 33)

Roughly dated to 1400, but set in the 11th century, this Icelandic Saga tells the story of a hero/outlaw, maybe even an anti-hero, reminding us that some people just seem born hard to get along with, and it was ever so.

Young Grettir, lazy and with a cruel streak, grows into a strongman whose occasional helpful, heroic feats against human and supernatural foes alternate with periods of banditry, since he seems to unashamedly believe that his might makes right. While he has some good qualities, he keeps playing mean pranks, holding petty grudges, and generally acting like a jerk, so that as time goes on, he increasingly wears out his welcome wherever he goes.

His situation becomes increasingly melancholy: when asked "whatever drove you to want to come here and cause trouble to my thingmen?", his reply is that "I had to be somewhere" (119). On the run again later, he's told by a remaining ally that "Your only option is ... to settle down somewhere where you do not need to live in fear of your life," and the narrator drily comments "Grettir said he did not know where that might be" (154).

In an episode with symbolic resonance, his troubles greatly worsen when he defeats a ghost, and is cursed for his trouble, becoming "so afraid of the dark that he did not dare to go anywhere alone after nightfall" (86). The ghost, Glam, in life was a loner much like Grettir; when he tells his employers that "I'll be most useful to you if I am left to do as I please" (76), he sounds just like the protagonist. When he scoffs at their new Christian customs, the stage is set for his violent Christmas-time death at the hands of supernatural forces unknown, making him the revenant that Grettir is called in to put down, perpetuating a cycle of violence.

Many of the incidents in Grettir's life deal with the binds he is put in by society, albeit exacerbated by his temperament. He lives in a world defined by codes of honor and machismo, where people are scorned if they don’t seek violent vengeance for wrongs, but then are held accountable by the law when they do. This theme extends to the story of Thorbjorn Hook, a landowner who's pressured to drive Grettir away from his territory: "he found himself in a dilemma, since he did not know any way to overcome Grettir" (173). The locals want the outlaw gone at any cost, but then are quick to judge Hook and turn against him for the means he uses, when direct (supposedly more honorable) methods completely failed.

The narrative takes detours with various characters and the relating of dynastic lineages, but for the most part is sticks with Grettir and his family, giving it a more novel-like feel than some of the sagas. Oddly enough, the story concludes with a trip to Constantinople, then back to Norway, and Rome, giving it a worldly flair that seems far from the farmers and shepherds depicted earlier.

Snippets of poetry, many of them supposedly composed by Grettir in his thoughful moments, are interspersed throughout the narrative, and my favorite is this description of a battle: "The metal-Goths gave/as good as they got" (21). Ha!

I also loved various characters who are mentioned in passing. I want to know more about how they got these names! Here are a few highlights:

Eirik Ale-Eager (13)
Torfa the Poetess (28)
Thord Bellower (62)
Ulf the Squinter (63)
Thorir Autumn-darkness (172)
Thorodd Half-poem (188)

And best of all, Odd the Pauper-poet (69) 

Check out the Icelandic Saga Database, which includes Icelandic and Old Norse versions along with translations into English and some into other languages.

Örnólfur, Thorsson, and Bernard Scudder. The Saga of Grettir the Strong. London: Penguin, 2005.