Beast and Man

Realism and the Occult in E^ils saga

Armann Jakobsson
University ofIceland

As A TROLL

HE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS are frequently referred to as realistic

narratives. ' Despite this reference, their narrative realism or indeed
any sort of textual realism is not easy to pin down, not least when it
concerns a past narrative whose vocabulary remains interpretively
obscure and often lacking a correlation with the modern language.
Opinions of what is real may vary a great deal; thus realism must boil
down to an uneasy contract between a text and its audience where the
audience chooses to believe in the reality of a narrative although they
may realize it is, in fact, fictional. Such a contract seems to have been in
place between the sagas of Icelanders and their original audience with
the added provision that they were likely regarded as history rather
than fiction. History, in this sense, signifies not a potential world but

I. This evaluation was in vogue in the 1960s when Einar laflir Sveinsson wrote: "I'.s.
forhold til virkeligheden kan mske karakteriseres som heroisk ralisme" ("slendingasgur" 509) [the sagas' attitude towards realit)' could maybe be characterized as heroic
realism]. The evolution of the reception of the sagas from accurate sources to realistic
prose narratives is a subject too broad to be discussed here at any length, but it is safe to
say that when the sagas stopped being reality itself in the late nineteenth or early twentieth
centuries they became instead realism. And yet die champions of this supposed realism
were rationalists whose attitude toward the supernatural was highly critical. The apparent contradiction between the realism of a saga and its supernatural elements was rather
simply whisked under the carpet and the supernatural in the sagas ignored.

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SCANDINAVIAN S T U D I E S

the world as it existed with historical figures and situations meant to

be understood as accurately portrayed by the saga narrative.
Even though their composition exhibits aesthetic elements commonly associated with fiction, the sagas demand to be taken seriously as
accurate accounts of the past.^ And yet the degree to which the medieval
audience necessarily believed in the factuality of the sagas eludes us
their reaction is lost. The possibility of an attitude characterized by a
willing suspension of disbelief thus remains in play. In this scenario,
we have the medieval audience believe in the reality of the saga not
due to a lack of healthy skepticism, but rather through the necessity of
establishing some version of the past accepted as truth without a naive
failure to rcaUze the uncertainty of all knowledge of the past. In other
words, some of the past may be legendary, but it is still necessary and
has thus been accepted as true in lieu of a better authenticated version.
The legend can become fact, as the cynical MaxwcU Scott expresses in
John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: "This is the West, sir.
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."'
In a given work of realistic fiction and to some extent in all fiction,
one can argue that a certain degree of plausibility is required. It is necessary to keep in mind that this argument applies to fantastic fiction as
well. A magic ring may exist, but its guardian must still encounter the
same troubles any wanderer might expect when crossing a marsh or
climbing a slope. The sagas of Icelanders may be classified as containing
the same type of realism that occurs in modern fantastic fiction: what
is now referred to as the supernatural is far from excluded from the
narrative. Thus a saga may contain realistic elements in its depiction
of the human world yet present a hero who sometimes appears more
beast than man. Of course, such an occurrence does not make a narrative
unrealistic in and of itselfthat must depend on what is regarded as
real by its creator and by its audience. For those who believe in trolls.

2. As Proben Meulengracht S0rensen has remarked {Fortdlin 30-2) that the sagas of
Icelanders have been cleansed of all authorial traces, moreso than other saga forms, which
he regards as essential for the artistic allusion that they create: i.e. that they are accounts
from the past. He also stresses that this is indeed an artistic illusion and that their orality
is highly constructed (Fortdlin^ 63-78).
3. Two screenwriters are credited in this film, James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck,
who worked from an original story by Dorothy M. Johnson; presumably one of the three
is responsible for this well-known line.

REALISM AKD THE OCCULT IN EGILS

SAGA

31

the appearance of a troll hardly makes a narrative less realistic and the
idea that the demarcation between the natural and the supernatural can
be clearly defined does not seem applicable to a medieval text such as a
saga (see rmann Jakobsson, "Histor)^" 54-56). Nowhere is this more
evident than in Eiils saja.
Saga heroes are generally considered to be what Northrop Frye
would have called "high mimetic" (33-5); that is, they are superhuman,
extraordinary rather tlian ordinary people, men and women who in
various ways dominate their surroundings. And yet saga characters
are rarely perfect, and there is a strong element of ordinariness in the
sagas: some of the issues that arise are mundane and most likely easily
recognizable from the everyday existence of their intended audience.
There are even some remarkably ordinary people in the sagas although
mosdy in supporting roles.*
And yet there are also saga heroes who may, in fact, not be entirely
human. It is this dubious humanity upon which I will focus in connection to Eils saja. Eils saa presents a narrative concerning a family
of magnates who arefirmlyrooted in the human world: they live at
well-known farmsteads and eventually become the ancestors of many
well-known thirteenth-century historical figures. However, the saga
fails to determine whether its heroes are actually fully human; instead
it highlights the possibility of their otherness.
This ambiguity is expressed when Egill Skalla-Gn'msson has lost
his ship at the mouth of the Humber and is forced to seek an audience
with his sworn enemy, the ruler of York, King Eirikr (whose daunting nickname is Blood-axe). Egill encounters an anonymous courtier
in the king's courtyard, a somewhat comic figure who is allowed to
punctuate the tension of the narrative by registering a lazy disinterest
in Egill and his troubles. Egill then dispatches this man to seek his
friend Arinbjrn. The courtier goes and informs the latter that a man
has arrived "mikiU sem troll" (178) [big as a troll].^ By invoking this
troll imagery in connection with Egill, the courtier not only disrupts
die narrative intensity thus allowing the audience to relax in spite of

4.1 am currendy writing a book on the marginal or ordinary people in the sagaspeople
who are really the ordinary people of every society but who are marginal characters in the
sagas since these narratives tend to focus on people on the highest social level.
5. All translations in this article are my own.

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SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

the gravity underlying the situation,* but also foregrounds an ambiguity regarding Egill's nature: he is a man but he is like a troll.'' This
description creates confusion: can any man who resembles a man also
resemble a troll.'' Is there perhaps no clear distinction between man
and troll.>
There is an intriguing complexity surrounding the Old Norse concept of the troll. In the Middle Ages, this word was not used solely in
connection with the large, ugly, and shaggy creatures of the wilderness
who would later usurp the name for themselves (see rmarm Jakobsson, "Identifying"), but also held a variety of other meanings as well.
Most notably we see the term used in reference to the practitioners of
magic, along with any creature they might awaken, possess, or imbue
with their sorcery. The word troll is thus utilized in medieval sagas
in connection with an undead warrior in his mound, a crazed boar
believed to have been conjured up by a sorcerer, a heathen deity aiding
the pagans in a battle with the Christians, a black warrior (or bldmar)
who is defined as an ogre rather than a human, and the brunnmigi, an
anti-social being of an unspecified lineage who urinates into fountains
and wells (rmann Jakobsson, "I>orgrimr" 40-52). The rich and overlapping nuances found in the word troll present not only variety but also
an unexpected congruity. Several of these consistencies are of particular
interest with regard to the strange case of Egill Skalla-Grimsson. Let
us consider the following five connotations of the term:
1. A troll is a witch, a practitioner of magic, someone who can control
the environment through a knowledge of dark arts that do not originate
with the power of God.
2. The troll is strange and foreign: it is a different species or a different
race whose very strangeness defines it.
3. The troll is in some way bestial. While anthropoid in appearance, it
has the habits of beasts. Thus it may be a cannibal (see rmann Jakobsson, "Identifying" 191-2), for example, and still fully remain a troll.

6. Since the situation is very tense at this point, one might interpret this anonymous supporting character as "comic relieP' (on this effect in the sagas, see Sorensen, "Humour"
401).

7. There may be another point to his lack of familiarity with Egill: it demonstrates to
the audience that the saga they are immersed in can be ignored by others. It must be
noted, though, that Egill still stands outeven to the uninterested stranger he is not
ordinary.

REALISM AND THE OCCULT IN EGILS SAGA

33

A human who turns to cannibalism is generally understood as having

lost some portion of his humanity.
4. The troll is hostile and disruptive. It exists against the natural order
of the world and thus it can never be a positive force. There are no
good trolls in the Middle Ages.*
5. A troll is hard to pin down. In addition to the noun "troll," we have
the verbal forms "trylla" and "tryllask" (rmann Jakobsson, "torgn'mr"
49-50). Thus a troll does not seem to be a permanent state of being
but rather one of becoming and change. One could thus argue that
people are "troUable"especially in the case of those who have become
uncontrollable.

It is uncertain whether these five characteristics apply to every troll

individually, but they do encapsulate the essence of die medieval conception of a troll. They are certainly significant for the case of Egill and
his family, whom some regard as trolls.
GOING BERSERK
The bestiality and the mobile state of the troll are both characteristics
common to the berserkr, a creature, like many others, referred to as a
troll in Old Norse texts. These texts ofben refer to the same creature as
both a loathsome troll and as a bewitched berserkr (rmann Jakobsson,
"I>orgrimr" 48-9). Eils saga initially introduces the concept of the
berserkr at the beginning of the text (3); later on in chapter nine, the
text mentions the twelve royal berserkir and their ability to withstand
all weapons (22-3). There has never been any scholarly consensus as to
the meaning of the concept of the berserkr {ste the brief but nuanced
summary by Liberman). Some regard them as warriors so confident in
their own invulnerability that they fought without armor (thus "bare
in their serks"); another possibility is that their exceptional abilities

8. Whereas some have been conjured up by the tourist industry and rebellious authors
in the last thirty to forty years. Before that, any notion that a troll could have positive
characteristics would have been foreign to Icelanders. In Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1867), the
figure of the troll is far more nuanced and complex. The answer to the question: "What
is the difference between troll and man.'" seems to suggest that egoism is a fundamental
trait of the troll, which shows that, although Ibsen's troll are probably mostly inspired
by die trolls of post-medieval folklore, he is also somewhat in tune with the medieval
understanding of the troll.

34

SCANDINAVIAJsr STUDIES

marked them as exotic, bestial, and perhaps even as shape shifters. At

times berserkir are also referred to as lfloebnar (Guni Jnsson, Grettis
saga 5; Einar lafur Sveinsson, Vatnsdla saga 24), which recalls the
possible interpretation of the Old Norse word ber-serkr as "in the skin
of a bear" (thus bear, not bare). This bearskin might simply be a piece
of clothing (as Vatnsdla saga indicates) rather than an entirely new
hide. Most sources do not indicate an actual metamorphosis from man
to beast, but rather metaphorically denote a change of temperament
into a half-crazed state.
Perhaps scholars ask too much in seeking the original meaning of the
term, or even a specific medieval meaning. The occult is, by definition,
difficult to pinpoint. It refers to elements that are vague, unknown,
eerie, and dangerous. Defining and understanding an occult object in
any comprehensive manner lessens its power to evoke both fear and
the unknown and thus detracts from its primary signifying function to
represent the strange and the terrifying.
The lack of scholarly consensus on the nature of the berserkir might
also reflect a lack of consensus in the Middle Ages as to what these
somewhat frightening creatures actually were. We should not exclude
the possibility that there may have been some in Egils saga's original
audience who believed the berserkir were ordinary humans enraged in
battle to the point of madness. On the other end of the interpretive
spectrum, others might have believed them to be shape shifters who
metamorphosed into beasts in the midst of battle.
Unfortunately, we also must remain uncertain in our understanding
of the process of shape shifting. Does a human literally change into a
bear? What does it mean for a human literally to be transformed into an
animal 1' To what degree does this transformation involve the separation
of mind and body.-' And what becomes bestial, tbe body, the mind, or
perhaps both?' These questions concern the essence of humanity: it is
difficiilt to explain how a man might change into a beast without first
knowing what a man is and whether his humanity is defined by his mind
or his body. The ambiguity surrounding shape shifting, whether as a
berserkr or as something else, is certainly significant for any interpretation of the specific nature of Egill and his family.

9. This has been a preoccupation of those interested in shape shifting and magic for a
long time; see Strmbck 160-90.

REALISM AND THE OCCULT IN EGILS SAGA

35

The first berserkr mentioned in the saga is Berlu-Kari, Skalla-Grmr's

maternal grandfather. H e is said t o be "inn mcsti afreksmar at afii ok
arEi" (3) [excelling in strength and courage] as well as a berserkr but
there are n o further references t o his berserkr nature. H i s sons, Eyvindr
Iambi and Qlvir hniifa, in fact, seem less bestial than their in-law lfr
and nephew Skalla-Gri'mr, although one of them does have an animal
nick-name ("lamb"). However, in spite of the apparcntiy normal physicality of Kri and his sons, the berserkir are separated from ordinary
humans cvcr m Egils saga (23), where the emphasis o n their otherness
is relatively light. T h e berserkr nature enters decisively into the family
of Kveld-Ulfr with his marriage t o Salbjrg Kradttir. O f course, the
possibility remains that this otherness may have already been present
in Ulfr himself and his ancestors, w h o may have been even less h u m a n
than the family of Kri.

CREATURE OE THE NIGHT

Kveld-Ulfr Bjlfason is thefirstcharacter mentioned in Egils saga. His

parents are also introduced: Bjlfi and Hallbera, sister of Hallbjrn the
half-troll (3). Thus the troll element is linked to the family from the
outset of the saga. Given the ambiguity surrounding the word troll,
it is not easy to determine the extent of HaUbjrn's troll-like nature.
The Ketils saga hangs indicates that Hallbjrn and his family are of
a different race, perhaps closer to the bestial than the human (see
Ciklamini; rmann Jakobsson, "Identifying" 194). The identification
of other races and ethnicities with the animal kingdom is a well-known
phenomenon. In the Nordic region, both magic and bestiality were
easily transferred to the Smi inhabitants, whoto the Norsemen
represented the exotic.'"
Thus Hallbjrn might have been half-Finnish with its troll-like
connotations of the strange, foreign, magical, hostile, disruptive, and
bestial. In this social context, he retains a degree of othernesshe is not
quite human, not unlike the giants of the Old Norse mythological narratives. However, whether he is subsequentiy regarded as super-human
10. See Hermann Plsson (14-27) who tends in this study to regard all giants and trolls as
representations of the Smi (cf. Sverrir Jakobsson 246-76). Although his single-mindedness
in pursuing this idea sometimes leads him to neglect other possible solutions, many of
his conclusions are quite intriguing and useful.

36

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

or sub-human is by no means certain." That he himself regards trolls

as sub-human is clearly suggested in Ketils saja hanjs, where he uses
the word troll as an insult, something that seems somewhat conflicted
given his own half-troll state (Rafn II123).
Thus the troll is present in Ejils saja from its inception, although
only in the wingsHallbjrn never makes an actual appearanceand
only partially as he is a half-troll. The troll-like characteristics are not
specified at this stage. The first thing we learn about our protagonist
Ulfr is that he is "sv mikill ok sterkr, at eigi vru hans jafningjar" (3)
[so big and strong that none was his equal]. Big and strong does not
necessarily indicate superhuman abilities. However, a short while later
we learn that he was "forvitri" (4) [had the gift of prophecy] and thus
holds a privileged relationship with the unknown and the occult. The
prescience ofUlfr might well identify him as a practitioner of magic and,
according to Old Norse texts, a magician is a troll (rmann Jakobsson,
"I>orgrimr" 41-5).
Next we are introduced to Kveld-lfr's most notable troll-like behavior, which only occurs in the evening: "En dag hvern, er at kveldi lei,
|) gerisk harm styggr, sv at fair menn mttu orum vio harm koma;
var harm kveldsvxfr. I>at var mal manna, at harm va:ri mjgk hamrammr;
harm var kallar Kveld-lfr" (4) [But every day, when night approached,
he became so hostile tliat few men could speak to him; he retired early
to sleep. People said that he was a shape shifter; he was called Kveldlfr (Night-Wolf)].
Kveld-lfr likes to retire early, much like Proust, but in his case
this habit is not an indication of a peaceful and thoughtful nature,
but rather of his wolfish tendencies.'^ His name is not just a name:
11. In Margaret Clunies Ross's analysis of the social world of the Old Norse myths, the
giants are clearly established as inferior to the gods (Clunies Ross 48-56). In much the
same way, the giants and trolls of the Old Norse legendary sagas are palpably subhuman
rather than superhuman (rmann Jakobsson, "Identifying" 184-5). It is on the other
hand uncertain how the men of Hrafnista and Egill's ancestors fit into this hierarchy.
In Norway they are clearly regarded as nobility, perhaps in spite of their bestiality, and
in Iceland Skalla-Grimr establishes himself as a major aristocrat within the framework
of the commonwealth, which was in no way an egalitarian society even though it had
no ultimate ruler.
12. The wolfish nature of the main family oiEiksaa was somewhat neglected by scholars
for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries perhaps because their interpretations
were framed by the notion that the sagas are realistic which lead to their magical elements being largely ignored. In the last few years, the wolf has again entered into the
discussion of the saga, mainly in the work of Bergljt S. Kristjnsdttir (76-81) but also
Torfi H. Tulinius (103-6).

R E A L I S M A N D T H E O C C U L T I N EGILS

SAGA

37

Ulfr means "wolf" and the word hamrammr indicates shape shifting
although, as so often is the case with such occult phenomena, the
specifics are not explained.
In the case of berserkir, the hammremmi take the shape of a bear
unless they are uljenar, in which case die term indicates that they
adopt the shape of a wolf In Kveld-lfr's case, his name seems to be
a clear indication in combination with his tendency to retire early of a
transformation into a wolf The moon here is not mentioned, but in
the folklore surrounding the werewolf the relationship between shape
shifting and moonlight is fairly well established (Summers). Thus the
reason why Kveld-Ulfr is styggr might be that he changes into a wolf at
full moon, something moreover indicated by the word hamrammr.
Is this change literal or metaphorical >
. The saga does not provide
us with the answer, but rather the text opens these various possibilities to the interpretive judgment of its readers. Those who believe in
werewolves hardly need more evidence to establish that Kveld-Ulfr
is literally transformed into a wolf Those who do not may interpret
his wolfish behavior in terms of a human transformation of temper
or character. Man, too, can behave in a wolfish way, in this case by
proving unsociable and growling at anyone who tries to approach
him, behavior that temporarily removes him from the normalized
circles of human society.
In spite of this introduction, the wolfish nature ofKveld-Ulfr does not
figure prominendy in the story until after the death of his son Prlfr,
at which point Kveld-Ulfr and Skalla-Grimr are forced to flee Norway
to escape the wrath of King Haraldr. As a final gesture of defiance, they
attack the ship of the king's minions Hallvarr and Sigtryggr, who are
escorting the king's young cousins. Kveld-Ulfr is carrying a weapon
called "bryntrll" (68) [an armed troll], and when he attacks the ship,
something occurs: "oksversagt, at{)hamaoiskhann, okfleiri varujseir
frunautar hans, er |) hmuusk" (69) [and it is said that he changed
shape and more of his followers then changed shape]. "Sv er sagt" is
an interesting phrase; the narrator seems to want to distance himself
from this paranormal event. Later the text refers to this shape changing
as both "hamrammir" and "berserksgangr" (70)the audience is given
two options from which to choose. The consequences of this shifting
are so strong that Kveld-Ulfr retires to his bed and eventually dies. But
what happened? Did Hallvarr meet an actual wolf in batde.^ Was tbe
troll in Kveld-lfr's hands itself carried by a troll >
. We are not told. The

38

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

saga simply states that Kveld-lfr "hamaisk" and leaves it to its audience to interpret the significance of "hamremmi." Thus the audience is
free to choose their own version of what happened in accordance with
their own attitude toward the occult.
WOLF MOOD
Apart from Kveld-lfr, Skalla-Grmr has various farmhands and
neighbors who form his entourage when he goes to see the king after
his brother's death. This group is described in terms significant to our
discussion: "Tlf vru J^eir til fararinnar, ok allir inir sterkustu menn
ok margir hamrammir" (62) [they were twelve to go and all of them
very strong men and many shape shifters]. These are the very same men
who are on the ship with Kveld-lfr and Skalla-Grmr in the battle with
Hallvarr and Sigtryggr.
This is no common entourage, and the (yet again nameless) person
who meets them in the king's yard and tells Qlvir hnfa of their arrival
stresses their ambiguous humanity by calling thcmpursar and doubting their humanity: "Menn eru her komnir ti, tlf saman, ef menn
skal kalla; en likari eru fieir Jjursum at vexti ok at syn en mennskum
mnnum" (63) [Men have arrived here outside, twelve of them, if
you can call them men; they are more likepursar in build and appearance than humans]. Thus Skalla-Grmr, much like his father, is not
quite human in the eyes of the anonymous courtier in the yard. We
can refer to him as a man, but his human nature is problematic as he
more closely resembles zpurs.
The nature oixhcpurs is by no means certain, but 2Lpurs can be safely
categorized as a type of troll given the connotative overlap between the
two terms. Purs is essentially a negative word: a^wry is a magical being
who is anthropoid and yet bestial, hostile, and in some way subhuman
(Schulz 43; Armann Jakobsson, "The Good"; rmann Jakobsson,
"Identifying" 187).'' The word is prominent in the Prose Edda where
jgtnar andpursar (usually hrtmpursar or "frost giants") are more or less
synonymous (rmann Jakobsson, "The Good" 3-4).
13. As Schulz has shown (39), the word is rare outside Snmra-Edda, the legendary sagas,
zn Barbar saga.

R E A L I S M A N D T H E O C C U L T I N EGILS

SAGA

39

Skalla-Grimr's audience with the king does not end amiably, but
the king himself does not refer to Skalla-Gn'mr and his companions as
either trolls orpursar. Instead, after Skalla-Grimr leaves, he says to his
men: "I>at s ek skalla Ipdm inum mikla, at hann er fullr upp liifiioar"
(65) [I can see on that great bald head that he is full of wolf mood].
The word ul simply means "hostility" in modern Icelandic although
it is difficult to escape completely the inflection of the literal meaning
of the word, which is clearly understood from its constniction. lf-u
must mean "wolf mood."
The word is clearly used to denote hostility: wolves are identified
as hostile and the word wolf (both ulfr and vargr) itself is also used as
a word for a criminal or outlaw (see Turville-Petrc 777). But its appearance cannot be explained in terms of a simple metaphor when the
hostile person in question is the son of Kveld-lfr. While the name is
a common male name in Iceland, it also retains underlying traces of the
original meaning. This Ulfr is not merely a man called Ulfr, he is also
a shape shifter, someone to avoid at night. He is not just compared to
a wolf, but rather perhaps isat least in parta wolf And the "wolf
mood" of his son may not be normal human hostility either: perhaps
it also retains traces of the wolfish nature integral to this family.
In spite of his wolf mood, Skalla-Grimr is not said to have hamask
on the ship when Kveld-lfr and some of tlieir entourage go berserk;
when he arrives in Iceland, he is neither bellicose nor aggressive toward
his neighbors. He merely appropriates a great deal of land like any selfrespecting bully of a magnate would: his setdement becomes one of
the largest in Iceland. Up to this point, there is no sign of his bestiality.
Iceland is a peacefial country without kings and armies and the strength
of Skalla-Grimr is such that he need not fear anyone.
After his arrival in Iceland his supernatural powers are mentioned at
only one point: when he dives into the sea to find a large stone for use
in his smithy. Returning to the water's surface holding a giant stone
is not a feat readily accomplished with normal human strength, and
this stone is said to be so big that four men cannot lift it (74-5). The
completion of this task hints that the normal standards for a man's
strength should not be applied to Skalla-Grimr. The nameless person
at King Haraldr's court previously suggested that Skalla-Gn'mr is more
giant than man. In this respect, he resembles both his ancestors as well
as his troll-sized son Egill.

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While the wolf is not mentioned again in connection with

Skalla-Grmr, the night is. By this point in the narrative, he is much
olderalmost sixtyand competing with his son and the lattcr's best
friend I>ror in some type of ballgamc. As the game continues, SkallaGrmr starts to get weary as expected given his age. But then, night
falls: "En um kvcldit eptir solarfall, |) tk pm Agli verr at ganga;
gcrisk Grmr J> sv stcrkr, at hann greip ^rd upp ok keyri nir sv
hart, at hann lamisk allr, ok fekk hann [)egar bana; sian greip hann
til Egils" (ioi) [But at night after sunset, Egill and Porr started to do
worse; Grmr then became so strong that he lifted Pror up and then
hurled him to the ground with such force that he was all battered and
died immediately. Then he grasped at Egill]. The setting of the sun
increases Skalla-Grmr's strength considerably. In addition to this new
strength, he also seems to lose control, and possibly even his humanity
as he becomes a threat to the life of his own son (indicating a possible
change into something other, something unknown). Egill is saved only
at the intervention of his somewhat troll-like nanny, I>orgerr brk,
who explains what is happening: "Hamask ]p n, Skalla-Grmr, at syni
[jnum" (IOI) [YOU now savage your son, Skalla-Grmr].
The tcrmHamask is ambiguous. It has survived into modern Icelandic with the sense of "working tirelessly," but its only other appearance
in Egils saga occurs in the aforementioned Kveld-Ulfr scene where it
refers to shape shifting (although this connection is never clearly aligned
with cither metaphor or reality). The same uncertainty seems to arise
here as well. Skalla-Grmr's strength comes from mctamorphozing
into something strange and unknown, but there is nothing in the scene
that suggests a literal change into a wolf. Again, the specific mechanics
regarding such a transformation are left undefined as is the question of
whether the wolfish mind or the wolfish body contains the essence of
the wolf. His frenzy is akin to that of the berserkir and is likewise never
explained in the saga.
The supernatural is presented in Egils saga such that the saga remains
open to a supernatural or a metaphorical interpretation. This vagueness
is likely an intentional compositional inclusion as such openness and
resistance to closed definition is required when dealing with the occult.
Nevertheless the incident regarding Skalla-Grmr's increased strength
and frenzy during the night firmly places Skalla-Grmr in the same
category as Kveld-Ulfr. The king appears correct in his assessment that
the son is just as fiill of "wolf mood" as the father. In the moonlight.

REALISM AND THE OCCULT IN EGILS SAGA

41

he gains added strength and metamorphoses {hamask) into something

incomprehensible, other, and threatening. Its exact identity remains
uncertain, but the openness inherent to the category of troll aptly
encompasses die various possibilities. In tliis new guise, Skalla-Grimr
is configured as some type of troll. He is thus easily comprehensible
provided one understands the nuances of the troll as category.
As mentioned above, one type of troll is found in undead beings.
When Skalla-Grfmr dies at an extremely old age, his death seems uncanny.
He is foimd sitting rather than laying down and he is so stiff that he
cannot be placed into a horizontal position. Egill must be fetched;
only he is able to move the deceased Skalla-Grimr (174-5). There is
an underlying hint in this scene that specific rituals connected with
undead beings are observed. This connective kernel brings up the possibility that the dead Skalla-Grimr changes into an undead being. Egill
approaches his father's corpse from behind in an endeavor, perhaps, to
avoid die well-known "evil eye" of magicians and troll-like beings in
medieval Iceland (see Einar Olaflir Sveinsson, Laxdla saja 107, fn. 2;
cf. Dundes). Additionally, Skalla-Grimr is removed through the wall
of the house rather than the door, suggesting again an undead identity.
He is not known, however, to walk again or to cause any trouble after
his death, and he is present in his mound when Egill later inters his son
Bvarr aldiough this action could also be interpreted as an effort to
appease Skalla-Grimr (243).'''
THE TRUTH IS Otrr THERE
The gradual decline of the wolfish nature within the family is attested by
Egill. Whereas Kveld-lfr is "mjk hamrammr" (4) and Skalla-Grimr
hamask once after sunset, there is no mention of Egill ever assuming a
new shape in either the night or day. And yet the anonymous courtier
in York deftly compares him to a troll. Arinbjrn's immediate reaction validates the comparisonhe knows instantly who the troll-like
figure must be. Egill himself knows before going to see him that he

14. Torfi H. Tulinius (95) has drawn attention to the possibility that the ghost of SkallaGri'mr has caused the drowning of Bvarr. If the text indicates this possibilit)', it does so
ver)' subtly. But, as is so often the case with the occult, ultimately nobody can be certain.
Perhaps Egill is as much in die dark as Esik saga's audience and puts his son in SkallaGrimr's mound just in case, without knowing whether there is a ghost there or not.

42

SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

will be "aukenndr" (178) in this region and thus acknowledges his

extraordinary nature without referring to himself as a troll. The troll
is always the other.
It is not impossible that Egill knows that he is perceived by many as
a troll, that his ancestry is fairly exotic, and that he himself is not above
exhibiting troll-like behavior. One of the foreign behaviors of the troll
in the sagas is cannibalism (rmarm Jakobsson, "Identifying" 192). For
example, Soria saga sterka gives us the phrase "ef ek bit J)ik barkann,
sem troll gjra" (Rafn III 450) [if I came at your throat like a troll].
Biting people in the throat is clearly associated with the troll. When
Egill famously kills his opponent Adi the Short in a duel, he displays
cannibalistic and troll-like tendencies by biting Adi in the throat and
finishing him off (210).'^
Egill might also be considered a troll in that he seems to possess magical powers. He uses runes to cure a daughter of I>orfinnr in Eioaskgr
who is "hamstoli" (229) [out of her wits or (literally) out of her skin],
and he infamously erects a m' post with runes and a horse's head on
top to curse the Norwegian king and his family (171). When the king
is later exiled to York, it is possible to interpret the curse as successful
and, depending on the audience's attitude toward the occult, believe
that Egill works powerful magic.
If we view Egill in the context of characteristics associated with trolls
listed above, we find that Egill possibly practices magic that does not
originate with the Christian God (such arts are sometimes referred to
nsfomeskja [ancient lore] in the sagas). He is also configured as other
in that he descends from werewolves, berserkir, and half-troUs. He is
different enough that he cannot hide at the court of King Eirikr in
York: he is "aukenndr" (178) there and everywhere else. The bestial
nature of EgiU is perhaps not as pronounced as it is in his father and
grandfather, but he does show his cannibalistic tendencies in finishing
off his opponent in a troll-like manner by biting his throat. Finally, Egill
is certainly disruptive at the court of the king of Norway, although at

15. As I have drawn attention to elsewhere (rmann Jakobsson, "Empathy" 7 fn. 4), Egill
kills several people abroad during his adulthood, but none in Iceland until he kills two of
his defaao son-in-law's slaves in his extreme old age (297). After he grows up, Egill thus
does not kill anyone in Iceland whose death might result in a lawsuit or feud.

REALISM AND T H E O C C U L T I N EGILS

SAGA

43

home he behaves much like any other Icelandic magnate, presumably

highly respected for his wealth and as a descendant of Skalla-Grmr.
He does not create much disturbance in the local community, and his
presence seems far removed from any eerie or inhuman element.
To the Norwegian king, Egill must appear distinct from ordinary
adversaries as an unruly troll-like figure from the past whose magic
and potential instability should be feared. Their struggle is indeed a
political struggle as has been higlilighted by many excellent political
interpretations (Andersson 102-18), but the political aspect of this
narrative is but one of many contained within the saga. The troll elements underlying the nuances of the struggle between Egill and the
king should not be ignored.
Egill is both troll and not troll. We do not know that he ever shape
shifts. He is never referred to as a troll apart from this one ambiguous
instance in York. His ancestors may or may not have been shape shifters.
Ultimately, Egill's own troll nature remains obscured by a lack of concrete
evidence. Radier, Egill exhibits a troll potentiality that opens the text to
die possibility of the occult. Egiksaga is deliberately ambiguous and die
ultimate truth regarding its hero's troU-like nature is never completely
revealed. The occult must remain both unknown and unknowable.
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