Masculinity and Transformation through trauma, Egil as Witness


    In Egils saga, Egil Exemplifies masculinity, both the good and bad parts. The good parts are shown in how he treats his friends, the bad in how he treats his enemies. The natural order that Egil follows is one that repays all the deaths he has caused with the slow decay of his emotional well being and in the shift in his character from a viking hero to a shell of his former self. Egil undergoes heavy trauma both dealing with his family and with how viking society was inherently structured. He also goes through redemption in the second half of the story.


The Purpose behind Heroes of Myth and Tragedy is to draw attention to the tragic potential of the heroes in legends and myths. By setting up the hero as a tragic character, Pike would be able to analyze and compare the traumas each hero goes through as a key part of the hero psyche. Pike breaks down the characteristics that heroes from myths have in common, showing that even though they are physically strong, they are emotionally fragile. This weakness is exploited in myths as a fatal flaw. This is important to the analysis on myths because it shows another way heroes are alike as well as unique. Not every character goes through the same trauma, and the end result is different based on that character growth.(Pike) Tragic analysis plays in with Egil by outlining the trauma he experiences as part of his heroes journey. He starts out with strength and heart, but it is chipped at and taken away until he is old and frail. The main trauma factors are the societal values, his monstrous father, and the death of his brother. 


On the other side of gods and humans, there is the study of Egil as a series of actions and reactions. Taubes’ purpose in “The Nature of Tragedy” is to show that Tragedy serves as an alternative view on myths (Taubes).. This view of heroes treats them as people rather than as personified ideals. Taubes also uses a ritual view when it comes to tragic heroes, which blurs the lines betweens gods and men. In this type of story, there exists a natural order that dictates the outcome of the hero's journey. Ritual stories adhere to a very strict cause and effect relationship. This is important to this study because it shows the relationship between the characters in the story and what message they are trying to tell the audience. Since myths and legends were mostly part of oral tradition before being written, there was a reason these stories were remembered over other ones. This mostly was because of what people took from the story that made it memorable and worthwhile. 


Viking societies main conflicts revolve around constant fighting between lords and or kings. The necessity for raiding is another major concern in viking society. For both of these instances, brawn and martial ability are needed. As with most skills, starting young is invaluable, even when it comes to physical skills like fighting. The problem with this model lies in the fact that while building strength and skill are easier on younger trainees, the emotional aspect should also be considered. In Egil’s case this was not considered, as he gets into his first fight, if it can be called that, after losing to Grim in wrestling (Sturluson 67). He is labeled to be a good wrestler, but also impetuous. This can be seen when he challenges Grim to wrestle, a boy who is his senior. He falters as a wrestler here and is beaten by Grim. This shows that Grim is physically stronger and thus more masculine. Frustrated by his loss, Egil kills grim. When his mother found out she praised him saying he had the makings of a true viking. He says a poem to commemorate, it goes as such:
My mother said
I would be bought
a boat with fine oars
set off with Vikings
stand up in the prow,
command the precious craft,
then enter port,
kill a man and another.(Sturluson 68).

The connotation around killing was a positive one as he bested someone who was stronger than him and an adversary.There isn't a lack of morality here, but what morality there is, is skewed in favor of the traits that are praised in this society. Egil showcased the ability and willingness to kill, and even better is that he could do so to someone who was previously shown to be physically stronger such as Grim was. Further into his life, Egil kills scores of men. From raiding with his compatriots, to taking to the battlefield for a king, his spree of honorable killing extends up into his old age. With killing for a king, the warrior becomes a part of something greater. Killing as part of a king's company would be honorable and would grant you reputation with that king.


Sharing poems with the Earls daughter Ch.48”Egil parlays with the earls daughter sharing poems.” Egils poems showcase death and carnage. This is not seen as abnormal which again shows a societal disregard for human life other than one's own kin. In a stunning showing of morality, Egil’s sacking and subsequent burning of the farm in chapter 46 shows the hierarchy of killing and stealing. After Egil escapes with the treasure, he stops and says “This is a poor and cowardly raid” (Sturluson 81). In the end he decides to go back and kill all of the people at the farm. This makes sense from a reputation standpoint. If someone is known as a thief, they are a bad thief. If someone is known as a killer, they are a good killer. Where reputation benefits one, it degrades the other.


A succinct description of Egil’s society in how important reputation is in maintaining respect is given by Gareth Evans. His point, “In this sphere, to be passive undermines one's masculinity, while action and agency reinforce it.”(Evans1 147) Egil is mainly active in the beginning of the saga. After Thorolf dies, Egil becomes depressed and passive at times.


Egil is seemingly at odds with his father. The first instance is when his father doesn't allow him to go to Yngvar'sfeast, but Egil goes anyway. This shows a lack of respect and obedience for Skallagrim, though it should be pointed out that Egil was only three. The next momentous occasion is when Egil kills Grim. While Egil’s mother praises him for it, Skallagrim is noted as being “indifferent “. Egil has accomplished a feat but receives not a word from his father. This lack of fatherly approval will later show in Egil’s disregard for Skallagrim.


At twelve, Egil has his most emotionally harrowing experience with his father. Egil and Thord were playing ball with Skallagrim when Skallagrim went seemingly berserk. It is said his strength was heightened after having been losing for a while. Skallagrim killed Thord and grabbed Egil, showing rage in the game (Sturluson 68). When Thorgerd told him to stop trying to kill Egil, he killed her instead(Sturluson 69). A great example of imitation based learning is shown here where Egil pays blood for blood in killing Skallagrims favorite. Egil has already learned that killing is okay, and repays the violence done to him by his father by killing his fathers favorite. Egil is not reprimanded and Skallagrim is seemingly indifferent. Since the notion that Skallagrim didn't care for the man Egil killed is rendered moot by calling him Skallagrims favorite, the only answer as to why Skallagrim doesn't seem to care is that he understands that what he did in killing Thord and Brak was wrong and that Egil has taken just revenge. Skallagrim doesn't apologize and Egil doesn't press for one, which seems to be a showing of masculinity and a nonverbal relationship between the two.


Athelstan gives Egil two chests of silver, to give to Skallagrim as a way of compensating for his son's death. Egil is shown as not giving Skallagrim the money and is said that “Egil took the chests of silver that he had been given by king Athelstan and took with him everywhere.” (Sturluson 112).The reasoning is not explicitly stated, but it could be that Egil either has not been home yet, or he does not feel that Skallagrim needs it or deserves it. When asked by Skallagrim where the money is, Egil evades the question and asks Skallagrim if he needs money. Then Egil goes on to further prod him about money to the point that Skallagrim goes and buries the chests of silver he does have. This shows that the dynamic between the two has shifted, where Egil is no longer silent and knows he is more in control in that situation. This control is short lasting as Skallagrim dies shortly after this encounter, leaving everything to Egil. Skallagrim dies after stashing his money.  Egil acts with haste with returning and puts Skallagrim to rest in a promontory mound with the proper rites, though a suspicious lack of money. It is said or rather not said if money was put into the grave. This could be because Skallagrim had hidden his own and Egil and the others did not wish to chip in themselves, but alas. It should be noted that while Egil spoke poems about his childrens and friends, he does not speak one over Skallagrim.


Egil goes through a harrowing battle in which his own brother got killed. Before the battle, he said he wanted to not be split from Thorolf. During the battle he turns the tide and wins the battle because he saw Thorfinns flag retreating. Seeing the flag gives him the ominous sense that his brother had not retreated. He buries his brother and puts golden armbands on, perhaps as a means of remembering Thorolf. This loss breaks Egil and he loses some of his bloodlust. He speaks a couple of poems over the grave. It is very important that directly after this we are given a description of what Egil looks like. Other than being described as very stout in appearance, the overall feeling is one of darkness. His hair is dark, his eyes are dark and he is nonverbal during the revelry.
His thoughts shift after his brother dies, from violence and mayhem to wondering about his own future. Loss can put things into perspective. This can be seen in his sudden interest to get married when Egil asks to marry Asgerd, Arbjorn’s kinswoman and Thorolf’s widow. This is not seen as being in bad taste but as another way to ensure the dead person's affairs are taken care of after death. It is common that the widow of a dead warrior would either wed the warrior's brother or kinsmen or barring that be absorbed into the household of their family.


The next major issue is one of property and money, with Berg-Onund. Egil is worried about his land inheritance as it has passed to Berg instead of himself. Property and loss thereof is not discussed prior to Egil losing his brother. His stake in the property is not explicitly stated but commonly understood by the characters. His newfound concern with property and money extends to the two chests of silver he is given by Athelstan to give to Skallagrim. This and the property of Bjorn’s are important for the fact that prior to Thorolf dying, Egil had neither and seemingly didn't care as much for money or property as he did for raiding and going around with Thorolf.


    As Egil is not born noble, he is beholden to the enforced hierarchy of his culture. This means he must parlay with Kings and either curry favor or maintain working relationships with them. In Egil’s Saga, the three main kings that Egil interacts with are King Athelstan, King Hakon, and King Eirik. These three are unique and each have their own positives and negatives. As such, they can be easily differentiated in the amiability they treat Egil.


King Eirik is characterized by his wife’s hatred for Egil. Gunnhild uses her husbands station to try and make Egil’s life that much harder. King Eirik also generally dislikes Egil and is seen to be a barrier on Egil’s Journey. After failing to achieve a good relationship with King Eirik, Egil offers a poem to him in order to maintain the peace (Sturluson 128). He seeks equanimity between himself and King Eirik, despite his feelings against Gunnhild. He swallows his pride and uses his gift for poetry to make the third longest piece of poetry in the story, and its bestowing honor onto King Eirik. The other two poems are about honoring his friend and when he loses his son. This humility and restraint shows major growth as the younger Egil would have turned around and left, content to deal with the people King Eirik would have sent to kill him. Egil lowers himself through this act, showing the sovereignty of King Eirik. Seeing this, King Eirik cannot kill Egil or his image will suffer.


The next time Egil deals with a king it is Athelstan, who favors Egil instead of hating him like Queen Gunnhild does. King Athelstan is also the only King that has had Egil as a retainer for combat. This shows a great deal of mutual respect between the two. Also falling in with King Athelstan would allow him to be a part of a band of people that like him and don't want to kill him. This was a rare occurrence for Egil, as he made it a point to upset at least one person of importance every day. Athelstan is also older and wiser than either Eirik or Hakon, as he is their adoptive father. King Athelstan also cares greatly for Egil and comforts him with gifts after Thorolfs death. In this way, King Athelstan acts as almost a supplementary father figure.


The last of the three kings is King Hakon. After the brief respite with Thorstein, Egil is once again petitioning a king for his property. The last time he did this, he was almost killed because Gunnhild hates his guts. King Hakon acts as almost a middle ground between Athelstan and Eirik, as he does not help nor intentionally hinder. Not receiving fair treatment from the courts could drive Egil to take matters into his own hands and that is exactly what happened. 


When the courts and kings could not or would not help, Egil goes back to his roots of pillaging. He outwits Onund and kills him (Sturluson 117). Almost in retaliation, the people allied with Onund destroy all of the property Egil was keen on collecting, rendering it worthless. This compounded with Egil’s inability to reach peace in the courts is a warning against trying to brute force recompense from either. Later on, Egil has accrued more property and it is in someone elses hands again. This time, He gives Atli a choice, and attempts tact when trying to achieve a peaceful resolution. Talks break down and Egil challenges Atli, wagering the property in question(Sturluson 144). This shows that Egil has gotten wiser and more patient. He wins and claims Asgerd’s inheritance, showing that by being patient and being more forthright without outright threatening, property can be reclaimed .


Another aspect of masculinity in relationships is in the homosocial bonding between Egil and Arinbjorn. Arinbjorn is Egil’s best friend and has been since they were young. After Thorolf’s death, Egil is looking for a connection and finds it with Arinbjorn. Their friendship is best defined in the trope where one friend is crazy and the other tries to rein them in at least a little bit. He finds a steadfast friend in Arnbjorn as Arinbjorn has gone to bat with him even against his king, and afterward they give each other gifts as a way of solidifying their bond


When Egil hears of trouble befalling Arinbjorns family, he is honor bound to help. Such as when he deals with Ljot despite not having a personal vendetta against him. At Yuletide, Egil writes a poem for Arinbjorn, as Egil uses poems to express his thanks for the gift Arinbjorn gets him. The Poem goes;
From kindness alone
That noble man gave the poet
A silk gown with gold buttons
I will never have a better friend
Selfless Arinbjorn has earned
The stature of a king
-or more.A long time will pass
Before his like is born again (Sturluson 146).

The generosity of Arinbjorn is best shown after Egil fails to get recompense from King Hakon. The amount of money comes up to 40 marks of silver, which come out of arinbjorns personal coffers, because his king would not pay Egil his due (Sturluson 148). Later on Egil hears of Arinbjorns exploits and accomplishments. Bearing good tidins, Egil sends him a poem, which would turn out to be the last poem Arinbjorn would receive from Egil. However, It would not be the last poem about Arinbjorn that Egil would write. Upon hearing of Arinbjorn’s death, Egil would write one more poem about his cherished friend, sealing their friendship in forever in melancholic words.


Egil’s life meets a rather depressing end, which seems to be in contrast with his eventful youth. He is unfortunate in the fact that two of his children die before he does. That is not too uncommon in a society where people put their lives on the line in battle, yet it is still a cause for melancholy. As a balm to ease his sorrow, his daughter Throgerd spends her days trying to take his mind off of the dead. While he must mourn the untimely death of his sons, there is also the social support that is lost with them. A little of the old Egil is shown in his reaction to the shield given by Einar, when Egil says “Fetch my horse, I will ride after him and kill him.” (Sturluson 185). This is more in jest than anything, as he and Einar are friends.
At the beginning of Egil’s life, he was said to take after his father (Sturluson 54). He matches his father in looks and in apparent strength. In the end he ends up even more like his father, specifically how Skallagrim acts before he dies. Both grow visibly more concerned with money. Egil gets to the point that he debates whether he should effect a riot by dumping his money, specifically the two chests of silver, into the crowd at the meeting place called the Thing (Sturluson 202). These two chests have not left Egil’s side since he got them from King Athelstan. They take on the memory of Thorolf as they are his death dues. Egil will not give them up, so again this would seem like a jest, as doing so would mean letting go of Thorolf. Instead he does the exact same thing that Skallagrim does with his money in that he leaves and hides it so that nobody will get it. In that way, Thorolfs death doesnt benefit anyone as long as the money remains lost.


    Grimstad looks at Egil’s Saga and characterizes Egils family line with comparisonsto old and young gods. The purpose of this comparison is to show both a trend in myth that favors the morally gray over the righteous, as well as how these comparisons can give insight into the fates of these “Odinn-heroes”. Grimstad takes the character of Thorolf and likens him to Sigurdr, the young hero who dies before his time. Egil is the exact opposite, being compared to Odin, with gray hair and a penchant for poetry. Grimstad points out Egil’s lack of handsome features, going so far as to liken him to a troll or giant. This is important to the theme of heroic tragedy because of the breaking down of heroes until they become ragged and worn. Then giving them power in return. Egil was naturally powerful and naturally ugly (Grimstad).


Throughout Egil’s life, he has leaned into the traits and skills that are symbolic of Odin. The first is his great strength. He is said to be as strong at three as others would be at six or seven (Sturluson 54).  This sets Egil up as physically gifted with brawn. His strength does not exceed imagination as he is physically beaten by both Grim and his father, but he is still physically stronger than anyone his age. Another is shown in his penchant for poetry. In this saga, Egil is attributed two lengthy poems, one refrain, and over fifty solo verses. Odin was blessed with poetry when he drank the mead of poetry. This also shows that Egil is mentally quick-witted and deep in understanding. Going back to the mead of poetry, Egil takes after Odin’s relationship with alcohol, which is to say deep and rich.


At three, Egil had discovered a fascination with alcohol, primarily in how much he could imbibe. The exact line says he doesn't know how to act where there is drinking, so whether that means he drinks at three years old or is a bad drinking buddy, either way shows him to be boisterous. There are two instances where alcohol has been the cause of problems for Egil. The first is Bards lack of hospitality(Sturluson 72). The drinking of Egil in this scene is also indicative of his temperament as a drunk. As Egil gets older, his reactions become more restrained, as is the case in how Egil deals with Armod (Sturluson 157) Where earlier he had killed Bard for being a bad host, he leaves Armod alive showing that he has lost some of his unruly edge.


Egil is also shown in one instance to have a certain amount of foresight. It is when they are going over battle preparations with King Athelstan and Egil makes the comment that he himself will regret being separated from his brother Thorolf. As Thorolf would later die in the battle, Egil’s prediction came true. Odin is known for being wise and being able to glimpse the future by giving up one of his eyes. Egil may still have both eyes at this point of the story, but he still exhibits a heightened sense of perception. Finally there is Egil’s use of rune magic. One is in the scene with Bard where he inscribed runes on his cup before killing Bard. However the more important showing is when Egil heals a girl who has grown sick due to another person who used runes incorrectly (Sturluson 159). The power behind the runes is shown here, and Egil shows himself capable of runic magic.
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    Egil and his life showcase the full experience of masculinity in Snori’s times. Skallagrim’s parenthood denotes the role of the father as well as the trauma that was common among viking children. Egil’s interactions with the three kings give us a better understanding of the intricacies of the political system and the currency of reputation. The death of Thorolf symbolizes the descent into depression that goes along with the reality of living with death in viking times. This feeling is eased somewhat when it is painted over with the number of deaths that are called honorable. When Thorolf is gone, Egil finds Arinbjorn, who keeps Egil from descending any further into his depression. Egil likewise abandons Skallagrim due to both his childhood and Thorolfs death, keeping the money to himself as a means of subverting the grieving process, which ultimately fails. This saga shows masculinity to be a construct built upon the hallmarks of both mental and physical strength and certain emotional trauma.





Works Cited
Evans, Gareth Lloyd. “Masculinities in Old Norse Literature.” Google Books, Google, 2020, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zgg7EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA147&dq=egils%2Bsaga%2Bmasculitiy&ots=-uVO_5JI7N&sig=n59f-sDBnrraJuPLT-71jcQ5nNI#v=onepage&q=egils%20saga%20masculitiy&f=false. 
Evans, Gareth Lloyd. “Men and Masculinities in the Sagas of Icelanders.” Google Books, Google, 2019, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kyCDDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT11&dq=egils%2Bsaga%2Bmasculitiy&ots=NtO4Tc0Q4T&sig=-kl9Z3KQrb3AE5hu7bIMEXErIw4#v=onepage&q=egils%20saga%20masculitiy&f=false.
Grimstad, Kaaren. "The Giant as a Heroic Model: The Case of Egill and Starkađr." Scandinavian Studies 48.3 (1976): 284-298. Link.
Pike, D. L. "The heroes of myth and of tragedy." Akroterion 35.1 (1990): 33-41.Link.
Looze, Laurence. “Egil, the Viking Poet.” Google Books, Google, 2015, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6nQ2CwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=egils%2Bsaga%2Balcoholism&ots=Bt9rvrNe3F&sig=q54IJWTYfp-AM34GOYDRtDUGkJY#v=onepage&q=egils%20saga%20alcoholism&f=false. 
Sturluson, Snorri, et al. Egils Saga. Penguin Books Ltd, 2004. 
Taubes, Susan. “The Nature of Tragedy.” The Review of Metaphysics, vol. 7, no. 2, 1953, pp. 193–206. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20123367. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.Link.