Egils saga

Egil’s gift for wicked words and violent deeds saw him become the antihero of his very own popular saga

The Brutal Poet

Violent murders, royal feuds, curses and vengeance – who was Egil Skallagrímsson and what makes his story one of the most famed Icelandic sagas?

Written by Willow Winsham

he tantalising tale begins in Norway

Taround the year 850, detailing the life and times of Ulf, the titular Egil’s grandfather. Ulf, nicknamed Kveldulf or Evening Wolf, was well known for his ‘berserker’ temperament, and could, it was said, shapeshift come nightfall, imbuing the family with an air of violence from the start. When Kveldulf angered the king, Harald Fairhair, by not taking his side in the fight to unite Norway, he was given the option to go serve the king or send his son, Thorolf, in his stead. Thorolf duly became Harald’s liegeman and initially earned great honour with the king: Harald made Thorolf a baron, and he inherited great wealth. The victim of deadly gossip and his own success, however, Thorolf fell from favour, and was killed by the king himself. While attempting to obtain redress for his brother’s death, Kveldulf’s other son, Grim – later known as Skallagrim due to his baldness – offended the king further by refusing to take Thorolf’s place, and both Kveldulf and Skallagrim fled the country. Before they did so, however, they had their revenge: they recaptured a ship that had been Thorolf’s and killed everyone on board, with Kveldulf unleashing his infamous maddened frenzy. This vengeance came at a price, though: Kveldulf died during the voyage, leaving Skallagrim to settle in Iceland alone.

Skallagrim had two sons, Thorolf (named after his uncle) and Egil. The focus of the saga then shifts to Egil, following the twists and turns of his life and that of his brother. Dark, tall and brooding, Egil was the opposite of his fair, handsome, people-pleasing brother. Contradictory, often morally ambiguous, from the start of his life Egil displayed great physical prowess. A violent temper was also evident from his early years: when an older boy humiliated him during a ball game, Egil attacked the offender with an axe, cleaving down to the brain. His physical strength, however, led to tragedy: when Egil was 12 years old, he and a friend dared challenge Egil’s father, Skallagrim, only for the chief to smack Egil’s friend into the ground, killing him. Skallagrim went further still and murdered Egil’s old nurse. Enraged in his grief, Egil killed one of his father’s men, further souring the relationship between father and son.

The rift between Skallagrim and Egil was so great, that when his brother, Thorolf, returned to Iceland from Norway (where he had been visiting his father’s friend and was on friendly terms with the newly crowned Eric Bloodaxe), Egil announced that when his sibling went back to Norway, he would be going with him. Thorolf reluctantly agreed. It was a momentous journey, for Thorolf had another companion: Asgerdr, who he was returning to her family and also asking of them permission to marry.

The match was agreed to, and a wedding date set. Egil did not attend, however – illness was the pretext, but the more likely cause was that he could not bear to see Asgerdr wed to another, even one so close as his brother. To take his mind off matters, Egil travelled with Asgerdr’s uncle, Thorir, becoming good friends with his son, Arinbjorn, who would become a lifelong friend and counsellor. Egil’s ire was raised when Bard, the king’s steward, declared there was no