The Medieval Hero

Although it takes 14 chapters until the central hero is introduced to us and in the beginning he seems too ill tempered and lazy to be the hero in The Saga of Grettir the Strong, the literary hero does turn out to be our favourite outlaw Grettir. The Icelandic people put a heavy emphasis on their national identity through literature so by looking at the traits that Grettir exemplifies we can gather the values that Icelandic communities valued.

 

Honour: The trait of being honourable towards your host reoccurs time and time again within this saga. For instance when he defeats the Bezerk for the farmer because the farmer is no longer a young man (Grettir 95). By showing the literary hero very conscious about being honourable towards their hosts, it reinforces this trait within Icelandic society. Living on land that’s settlements are spaced far apart with large amounts of farming in between them, someone travelling would have to take refuge with others. Just traveling around the country or visiting family could take weeks, therefore it was often people sought refuge within others houses. Therefore the text would want to underline the importance of honouring a host within the idealized hero, since many people were staying or taking in travellers.

 

Vengeance: The concept of vengeance is very closely linked to the idea of honour within this text. Most often vengeance is sough out, and normally allowed, on behalf of a family member or if someone sullied your good reputation. Since the responsibility of getting justice for family members, either through killing or through the lawkeepers, was up to the remaining family members - many took vengeance as a way to find justice and honour for them. This same concept applied to your own reputation/possessions.

 

Family Ties: There are 2 ways in which family ties are presented; the first being through a long recitation of a characters family history. The second being how even though Grettir does not seem to attached to his family he still feels the need to avenge his brother (Grettir 121). The text shows Grettir's tie to his family in order to promote a strong connection to family within the audience. As mentioned above, in this society blood feuds were carried on through generations and you were in charge of avenging family members - no matter what your own personal feelings were about your family members (as seen through Grettir's history with his family). Therefore it was important for people to understand the importance of your bond to your family.

 

Courage: Although it may seem like stupidity, Grettir exemplifies great courage against enemies and unfavourable odds. He seems to find more courage the bigger the challenge is. While he is exiled many assassians come for him and "One day he saw a large band of men riding up in the direction of where he was staying. He rand up to a pass between the cliffs, not wanting to flee..." (Grettir 130). In a society that is full of warriors, old blood feuds and where you can kill someone with the right reason and enough money, you must have courage to face down your enemies. Therefore the literary hero showcases courage in order to promote it within the audience.

 

Fate: In Grettir the concept of fate is linked to being born unlucky or fated to be unlucky. This can be seen when Glam curses him saying "You have become renowned until now for your deeds, but henceforth outlawry and killings will fall to your lot and most of your deeds will bring ou misfortune and improvidence" (Grettir 85). At this point in the novel Grettir's luck runs out and just as Glam predicts, everything he does goes wrong. For a superstitious culture this was important to promote because it taught them not to get tangled up with the supernatural. It warned them away from trying to defeat things that were not of this world and reinforced the superstitions this culture had.

 

Fame: This idea that one can accumulate great fame and glory through your deeds is reoccurring within Grettir. After he is sent away from his family at the beginning he does many things that earns him a famed reputation back in Iceland. In fact he is hard pressed to find someone who doesn't recognize his name. Much like in Beowulf the concept of gaining fame is closely linked to the idea of becoming immortal. It gives people the courage to fight against the odds in the hopes that their deeds will be written about and they will be preserved in text for eternity - just like Grettir.

 

Intelligence: Many times Grettir exhibits great cunning or intelligence in order to get himself out of a situation. For instance when he tricks those would be bandits of FIND HIS NAME. He convinces them he wants to help them steal from him and then locks them in a shed in order to retrieve a weapon in which to kill them with (Grettir 46). It is refreshing to find a hero that displays both strength and intelligence. Grettir is shown as having great cunning because the Icelandic community valued the members of their society to possess intelligence. This is because in a society that is mainly run by the individuals, with the lawkeepers meeting once a year, their society would want to encourage intelligence among their citizens.

 

Poet: Throughout the whole saga Grettir composes little poems about his situation. The poetry showcases his quick thinking, creative and satirical skills. Due to the fact that literature was so vital to the cultures national identity, of course their hero would have a natural literature ability. By including this ability in the hero of the texts long list of skills, it encourages its audience to become involved in their nations literature either by reading it or writing it.

 

Ill Tempered: Throughout the saga Grettir is constantly quick to anger and thus quick to action. Many people, like those on the boat (Grettir 35), find him unpleasant to interact with. However his ill temper does not stop people from asking him for help. This shows that the culture valued your skills and deeds over your personality. Although Grettir is unpleasent he still does great deeds, this teaches people to not shun ill tempered people because you never know when you might need their help. In a land where invasions are happening all the time, you would need all the allies you could get.