The Religious Analysis in the Eyrbyggja Saga

 

The Religious Analysis in the Eyrbyggja Saga

The Eyrbyggja Saga is a novel written by an anonymous author who illustrates a prolonged feud between Snorri Goði and Arnkel Goði. These two were chieftains existing in Iceland among the Norse community. Also, the Saga describes some of the key families that lived in Iceland especially the ones who settled along the Snæfellsnes peninsula Moreover, people would seek advice and permission from Snorri and Arnkel in matters concerning the punishment of wrongdoers. However, the story in the novel represents a turn of events that results from greed, ambition or downright meanness. Alternatively, according to Palsson and Paul (26), the Eyrbyggja Saga portrays the historical and folkloric elements that include the ancient traditions such as, the rituals, pagan practices, and superstitions. Therefore, in this case, the paper will analyze and interpret the story of Eyrbyggja Saga in regards to the religious aspects of the novel.

In the novel, the saga begins after the arrival of Christian faith which is adopted by law in Iceland around the year 1000. According to Palsson and Paul (159), when the new faith had already established itself in the country, a ship arrives with the Hebrides and Ireland immigrants and among them is a rich middle-aged woman called Thorgunna. Alternatively, Snorri’s sister and Bjorn’s mistress, Taurid gets attracted to this woman’s precious commodities especially the elegant clothes. Therefore, this is the entertaining part of the Eyrbyggja Saga that illustrates the interactions of these two women and the tragedy that follows. Palsson and Paul (164) claim that before Thorgunna dies, she instructs the master, Thorodd who accommodated her after arriving in Iceland to burn all her precious bedclothes to ashes to prevent any harm to the living. Nonetheless, Thurid, Thorodd’s wife decides to keep some of the woman’s expensive bed furnishings and thus, goes against her will. The act leads to a catastrophe that hits Iceland due to the character's greed.

Palsson and Paul state that “Thorgunna’s death introduces a series of hauntings which have been hinted at earlier in the death and burial of Arnkel’s evil-hearted Viking father, Thorolf Twist-Foot” (16). It is evident that the ancient ghosts of Iceland begin to haunt the community after the occurrence of a strange disease that claims the lives of some people in the country. Hence, such tragic incident seems to confront the new religion which in this case is Christianity. Moreover, in the story, Thorstein drowns together with everyone on the boat resulting in a total of six victims (Palsson and Paul 17). After the incident, the spirits of those who died began to reappear in the evening at people’s homes, and habitually started to gather by the fire during the Christmas season. Alternatively, the frequent visits by the dead breeds fear and the inhabitants decide to find a solution from Snorri Goði who advises that Thorgunna beddings should be burnt to ashes.

The various incidents in Eyrbyggja Saga portray the significance of the dead in Nordic mythological texts that illustrate the awakening and speaking of the dead. According to Palsson and Paul (56), there is a clear pattern whereby for every pagan story there is always a Christian counterpart. For instance, in the case of Pagans, the dead coming back to get warm by the fireside is considered an acceptable act and they do not see the deceased as a threat but presumably a happy lot. Therefore, they view this as a good omen. On the contrary, for Christians, the existence of ghosts is an implication of the restless dead who come back to torment those living in their former dwelling places. Initially, Palsson and Paul (20) argue that the Icelanders followed the Pagan customs in the 13th century. However, it is seen that Christianity begins to take over as the new religion and replaces the old Pagan culture.

Snorri advises the people of Iceland to incorporate both the old law and the new religion to wade off the ghosts. Therefore, the activity started with the summoning of the spirits, then prayers are made, holy water sprinkled, and finally, the land is cleansed from the unholy past. Moreover, the author implies that the pagan past had to be exorcized alongside with the ghost .It is perceptible that Snorri and the inhabitants intended to get rid of the spirits of the dead and the world of Vikings that marked the violence and crime which had bedeviled the society for a long time. Besides, Snorri the Christian priest fights with Arnkel, the master in the pagan times. Palsson and Paul declare that “the men jumped to their feet, got into their clothes and rushed over to Orlygsstad, but found Arnkel, their master, dead” (124). From this context, the priest was so determined to overcome this particular religion since he wanted to establish Christianity in Iceland eventually. Even when he dies, Snorri the priest is buried at the church that he constructed.

In conclusion, it is evident that that different religion of Christianity and the Pagan domain existed in Iceland. Moreover, the ghosts or the spirits of the dead played an essential role in the evaluation of religious faith in this literature. When Pagans viewed the existence of ghosts to be normal, the Christians were traumatized by such spirits. Therefore, upon the adoption of Christianity, the Iceland priest, Snorri takes upon himself to end the Pagan religion. Therefore, this means that Christianity must have meant a great deal to them and thus, marked the Icelandic religious history.