Where to begin reading in the Icelandic Sagas?

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Hrafnkel's Saga, Icelandic Sagas, Medievalist Monday, Medival Iceland, Saga Thing

The question posed in the title is a serious one, especially to a person newly embarking upon reading the sagas. Even with a rudimentary idea of their culture and the background of the era, it can be a daunting task. After all, the complete collection of Icelandic Sagas is only five volumes long (and would make an excellent gift for anyone interested in Icelandic Sagas, for the record!) and just picking a random place to begin may not be the best strategy. When I started to read a small collection of Sagas last year, it jumped in with Egil’s Saga which was a long, but interesting read. And then it hit me with two more long sagas that dragged on far longer than I wanted them to. The problem was the sagas were long and I hadn’t developed a proper appreciation for them yet. I think the key is to begin with a few shorter sagas, to get a feel for the flavor of the writing and the culture, before tackling the longer ones.

One of the best finds I came across was a podcast called Saga Thing, which puts the sagas of the Icelanders on trial. They record episodes covering Icelandic history and briefs on relevant pieces of their culture, but the big thing they do is go through a Saga and discuss the parts of it (which can take 1-3 episodes) and then pass judgments on the Saga itself, looking at these categories:

• Best Bloodshed – Just what it sounds like. The battle or death that was most memorable, and the Sagas can have some brutal and bloody ones.
• Body Count – They do their best to tally up how many people died over the course of the Saga, which isn’t always easy because it doesn’t always give a good count.
• Best Nickname – This is one of the highlights of the Sagas, because there are some very interesting names bestowed upon people. Don’t believe me? How about these for some names:
  • Goat-Bjorn
  • Thorir Goat-thigh
  • Halfdan the Open-Handed-but-Stingy-with-Meat
  • Thorgrima Witch-Face
  • Thorir Wood-Leg
• Notable Witticisms – The best one-liners in the Saga, usually best enjoyed when told in the context of when they occur.
• Outlaw – They decide upon one man or woman from the Saga to outlaw from the island, usually going to the obvious villain that appears in the Saga.
• Thingmen – For this, I will share the full description used on their website for this:

  • We’ve cast ourselves in the role of Icelandic goðar [chieftains]. As such, we’re each recognized as the most respected leading men in our imaginary districts.  Though we’re not exactly nobles or lords according to the traditional lord-retainer model of medieval Europe (see episode 1), we do have formal personal alliances with free men and landholding farmers. These are our thingmen.  They follow us to the thing [assembly] and support our causes with their wit, wisdom, and (if it comes to it) their ability to wield a weapon well.
    

    Near the end of each episode, we’ll both pick a thingman.  By the time we’ve finished reviewing each of the Sagas of the Icelanders we’ll each have a group of pretty imposing figures.  The question, in the end, will be this: Who has the best group of thingmen?

    At the end of this incarnation of the podcast, we’ll head to the Althing with our respective thingmen.  With so much pride on the line we wonder:

    Who will emerge victorious?

And truly, these categories not only make the podcast interesting to listen to, they are mostly a good measuring stick for a way to read and enjoy the Sagas. Taking the time to note fun and unusual nicknames, vote out a villain and draft an impressive Thingman, to track the memorable scenes of bloodshed and witty commentary that occurs…all of those things capture the essence of what you will find in most Sagas and help a reader to interact with the text. So not only could I recommend listening to Saga Thing’s podcast after you read that respective Saga, I would also urge a reader to try and come up with their own nominations while reading.

But the question still remains: where to begin? What one Saga stands out as a good entry point? It came about halfway through my own reading of the collection of Sagas I own, and it is also the very first one that Saga Thing covered: Hrafnkel’s Saga. What makes this one good is that it is short in length (on Saga Thing they actually measure other sagas in relation to Hrafnkel, such as “this saga is 7.1 Hrafnkel Sagas”), it has a relatively small cast of main characters and a low body count but it also contains a memorable narrative with some clear candidates for most of the categories. It is like stepping into the shallow part of a pool before diving into the deep end, and would allow you to get a feel for Saga Literature before committing to a longer immersion.

And when you do get immersed, you’ll find that the Sagas make for some really fun and entertaining reads!

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Medieval Armor: Leather

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Armor, Leather Armor, Medieval, Medievalist Monday

Welcome to part one of an unknown number where I will be looking at some of the common types of armor worn during Medieval England and, perhaps, Medieval Iceland. To start things off, I am looking at one of the most basic pieces of armor: leather armor. While there are many other parts of armor that were worn, for the purpose of this series I am solely looking at, and considering, the body armor. In the future I may look at shields, helmets, bracers, and many others.

When you think of the medieval times, odds are you think of a suit of metal armor. Many knights and lords would certainly go around armed in that manner, but not everyone could afford a suit, much less a shirt, of chain mail or plate mail to provide defense. So a poorer person might wear either leather armor, or else a gambeson (more on that next week!) when they went into battle. Some protection would be better than nothing, right?

Leather armor was made from boiled hides, a process which would harden them to where they could be worn and offer protection, while still allowing a reasonable amount of movability. A style of combat similar to modern fencing would likely have been an ideal situation to wear this armor, as it would allow agile motions due to flexibility and the light weight.

Image from wulflund.com

 

The primary purpose of armor was to stop, or deflect, the blows from the opponent. As the weaponry of an era advanced to penetrate a certain armor type, the armor would upgrade in ways to provide that protection. Unfortunately, leather armor would most likely have proven to be ineffective at stopping many of the attacks during this time. It would likely have been made from the skin of a sheep or goat, but an animal with a thicker hide (such as a bull) would have made a better layer of protection. In order to really provide the needed protection, the wearer would need several layers to deflect the blow from a sword, axe, or lance. Even a bludgeon weapon would be effective against a single layer of leather armor. This makes it unlikely that anyone who expected to be involved in serious warfare would wear leather armor, unless in layers or reinforced with strips of metal or some other device to improve its protective abilities.

This is not to say that leather armor was without its uses. There are some people who may have found it to be effective in certain situations. The common man or woman who sought some inexpensive layer of protection in the streets could have donned the leather armor. Seafaring men would have made use of leather armor, as chain or plate mail armor would prove too heavy to swim with should they fall overboard. So while mounted troops and infantry may have passed over the leather armor, there were certainly places where it might prove useful.

Image from behance.net

But, as you will see next week, the gambeson might have been the go-to armor of choice for those who were considering saving on price, or even those who wanted protection from projectiles and blades in combat.

Tolkien on Sub-Creation

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Christianity, J.R.R. Tolkien, Medievalist Monday, Mythopoeia, On Fairy-Stories, Sub-Creation, Sub-Creator

J.R.R. Tolkien was a man who worked to create a mythology for his own nation of England. That was the driving thought behind his entire work, and the reason why his world-building was so extensive and stretched across three ages in his world, including his own version of the creation story. While C.S. Lewis wove Christian elements throughout his Narnia series with allegory, such as having Aslan stand in for Jesus, Tolkien absolutely hated allegory and (mostly) avoided writing it in his own works. Which is why in his books you can hunt for the areas in his book where his own Christian thought influenced his writing, but you won’t find a simple answer such as “Gandalf is Jesus”. It isn’t as simple as that.

The discussions between Tolkien and Lewis on the place of allegory in their fiction ultimately led to Tolkien writing a poem, “Mythopoeia”, in response to Lewis’ claim that myths were “lies breathed through silver”. If you have not read it, the poem is fantastic and worth the 5-10 minutes invested. But the focus I want to spend today is looking at a similar work that Tolkien did, his lecture “On Fairy Stories”, which is also very much worth the 30-60 minutes invested in reading that lecture. I will have links to both of those included at the end of this post.

In the lecture, Tolkien expresses the idea (among many other ideas, such as that Fairy-Stories are not simply for entertaining children) that we like to create things because we were created in the image and likeness of God. When you open the Bible to the first page, the first words you read are “In the beginning, God created”. We serve a creator God, who formed the heavens, the earth, the stars, the oceans, the birds and beasts, men and women, and so much more. When He made man, he created him to be in the image of God. So it stands to reason that, because God Himself enjoyed creating things, it is perfectly normal and natural for mankind to enjoy creating things. Tolkien termed this as sub-creation, because man cannot create something out of nothing like God, but rather can take things and form them into something new. This was, in some ways, Tolkien’s way also of defending his decision to write fantasy stories rather than something that Oxford might find more worthwhile, such as literary fiction.

I have always been drawn to this perspective on the sub-creation, going as far as to view it as an expression of worship. To that end, I strive to glorify God with my writing whenever possible, although sometimes the stories being told may not be obviously Christian. The worldview I have influences many decisions that I make in my own writing, much as it did with Tolkien. That is why, even in some of the darkest and gloomiest moments in his stories, there are times of extreme joy that shine through.

I think it is fitting to allow Tolkien to conclude this post, so here are a few quotes from “On Fairy Stories”, followed by one from “Mythopoeia”.

“Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.”

“The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending; or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous “turn” (for there is no true end to any fairy-tale): this joy, which is one of the things which fairy-stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially “escapist,” nor “fugitive.” In its fairy-tale — or otherworld — setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.”

“I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction, it has long been my feeling (a joyous feeling) that God redeemed the corrupt makingcreatures, men, in a way fitting to this aspect, as to others, of their strange nature. The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: ‘mythical’ in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the ‘inner consistency of reality’. There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.”

A link to “On Fairy-Stories”: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwip9b6c_9nNAhWHx4MKHeYPBIMQFggiMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fidiom.ucsd.edu%2F~bakovic%2Ftolkien%2Ffairy_stories.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFK3iiPL5lTYvB4fU-NZ11XRJHRDg&sig2=1u3yQeAWJbLQiu3bBvc47A

“The heart of Man is not compound of lies,
but draws some wisdom from the only Wise,
and still recalls him. Though now long estranged,
Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed.
Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned,
and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned,
his world-dominion by creative act:
not his to worship the great Artefact,
Man, Sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.
Though all the crannies of the world we filled
with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build
Gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sowed the seed of dragons, ’twas our right
(used or misused). The right has not decayed.
We make still by the law in which we’re made.“

Link to Mythopoeia: http://mercury.ccil.org/~cowan/mythopoeia.html

A King Arthur Reading Guide

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A.A. Attanasio, Alfred Tennyson, Arthurian Romances, Chretien de Troyes, Idylls of the King, King Arthur, King of Ages, Le Morte D'Arthur, Medievalist Monday, Nancy McKenzie, Queen of Camelot, Sir Thomas Malory, T.H. White, The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Once and Future King

I have been enamored with the legend of King Arthur since I was a child, a fascination that continues still to this day. Over the years I have read the stories in many iterations and seen a handful of movies and television shows. As I have been working my way back through T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, I thought it would be a good time to cover some of the Medieval source material for the legend, as well as some more modern telling that I have enjoyed.

Before we begin, here are a few of the Medieval sources I will not be discussing in depth since I have not read them personally, nor do I know much beyond that they contain references, or pieces of, the Arthurian legend. The three I’ll mention are Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain, Layamon’s Brut, and the Welsh telling found in the Mabinogion.

1. Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. This here is the source of all major source material for the King Arthur legends. It is truly epic in its scope and material, but the method of storytelling back then was more episodic in nature than the novels we are used to reading today. This makes it both difficult for a modern reader to sit and enjoy, yet also makes it easy to pick up and read in short spurts. If you crave lengthy details and a straightforward, continuous narrative without seeming plot holes (such as a person who died in Book II reappearing in a later book) than this one might be a struggle. But oh how wonderful this book is to read! I cannot wait to dive in a second time, this time being the Norton Critical Edition.
2. Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes. This is composed of five tales, Erec and Enide, Cligés, The Knight of the Cart, The Knight with the Lion, and The Story of the Grail. These were all written by the French author, de Troyes, who is said to have been the first to write about the Holy Grail quest. That just so happens to be one of my favorite tales, and is one of the best-known Arthurian stories out there. He wrote these in the 12th century, which predates Mallory by a few centuries and I understand there are some clear inspirations for Mallory in here. It is the next book I plan to read as soon as I finish The Once and Future King and cannot wait to find out how this stacks up to the others on this list.
3. Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson. I find that I can relate a lot to Tennyson, as he was also a life-long fan of the Arthurian legend. He spent twenty years working on the composition of these twelve epic poems, which are lyrical and elegant and absolutely enjoyable to read. He hits upon many of the major stories in the Arthurian legend, though he clearly could hit upon them all in twelve poems. In many ways he embodied King Arthur with the virtues valued by his Victorian time period. Overall this is a fantastic read worth having in any collection.
4. The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Of course this also would need to be considered a required reading for King Arthur. Drawing much inspiration from Mallory, even at times directly referencing Mallory’s works and pointing the reader there for a full, better description of the events that transpire. The first part of this book is clearly where Disney pulled inspiration for parts of their Sword in the Stone cartoon adaptation, which should be a comfortable and comforting beginning. Part one follows Arthur as a young child being raised in King Ector’s court and ends around the time that Arthur becomes the king. Part two focuses primarily on the Orkney children and King Pellinore/the Questing Beast. Part three is heavily about Sir Lancelot, including his relations with Guinevere and Elaine, and also includes the Grail quest. The last part concerns the final weeks of Arthur’s reign as king. This one is a great one and a solid place to begin because it has a foot in the Medieval inspiration and one in the modern tellings.

And then for those interested in modern retellings that stray from the usual approach seen in the four works above, these are two of the best and most unique I have encountered so far.

1. Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie. This book takes the approach of following Guinevere from her birth on through the entire series of events. While I know many look to Bradley’s Mists of Avalon for a female-led Arthurian story I found that I simply couldn’t get into Bradley’s tale. I pushed on for half the book before finally setting it aside. Which makes me appreciate McKenzie’s telling even more, as I found this one nearly ten years ago and have loved it since. It was, for a long time, the first book I would recommend to everyone and I am yet to have someone read it and be disappointed. Which means that you should read it, too.
2. The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio. This one is interesting. Perhaps the most unique King Arthur telling I have ever read so far, this one captured my imagination years ago. I suppose I can do no better at selling this than the blurb, apart from emphasizing that this one was ridiculously good, and that there are four books in the series and it’ll be memorable!

This epic retells Arthurian legend with a cosmic spin. Old as the Big Bang, the demon Lailoken assumes human form in Roman Britain as Celts battle Saxons for mastery. The witch-queen he serves calls him Merlinus and sends him to find her true love. Led by a unicorn and hunted by a dragon vast as the planet, Merlinus matches wits with gods and elves as he weaves the destiny of the most famous king.

3. King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. Yes, I had to include this one here. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet of this anthology of stories, you are missing out on an interesting collection. Merlin lives backwards through time (something that is also present in The Once and Future King) and each story places Merlin and Arthur at some point in time together. My own story, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson”, is in here along with many other excellent stories. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, this is going to be FREE tomorrow through Thursday (6/21/16-6/23/16) on the Kindle, so be sure to snag it while you can!

 

What are your favorite Arthurian stories? Have you read any of the ones on this list? Are there ones I missed that you would recommend?

C.S. Lewis and the Space Trilogy

Tags

C.S. Lewis, Inklings, Medievalist Monday, The Space Trilogy

When you think of the works of C.S. Lewis the first to come to mind of probably the Chronicles of Narnia. Second is probably Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, or one of his many other Christian books that explored a variety of topics and themes. After all, Lewis, became the everyman Apologist in his writing, something quite shocking considering his conversion to Christianity did not come about until Tolkien and Hugo Dyson spent a long evening in some deep theological conversation that, eventually, worked to convert Lewis’ heart and open him to the idea of Christianity being true. Prior to that he had been a devout atheist, and in his own mind a most unwilling of converts.

But there is another major work that C.S. Lewis wrote that does not seem to get the focus or recognition it deserves. Admittedly, I have not had the chance to read this trilogy, either, but I intend to correct that at some point in the not-so-distant future. Jamie at Books and Beverages runs a monthly book discussion on a book by Tolkien or Lewis, and it appears she has already done the first two books of the trilogy so, knowing that the third will be forthcoming eventually, it would be in my own interest to get around to reading the first two so that I can jump in when she eventually goes after the third one.

What interests me the most about this trilogy is not so much the idea of a Science Fiction series by C.S. Lewis, but rather how they came into existence in the first place. While reading the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien last year, I learned that Tolkien and Lewis had a rather inspiring conversation. Lewis once said to him, “If they won’t write the kinds of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves.” Tolkien agreed to try “time-travel” and Lewis “space-travel,” well before the science fiction was the established genre it is today.

The result was that Tolkien started “The Lost Road”, a story about a father and son who eventually travel back in time to Númenor (back before Tolkien associated Númenor with the main part of his mythology) and was intended to be a new version of the Atlantis legend. But Tolkien abandoned this story after only a handful of chapters, which can be found in “The Lost Road and Other Writings”, the fifth volume in The History of Middle-Earth.

Lewis was far more successful in his venture, first writing and publishing “Out of the Silent Planet”, followed by “Perelandra” and then “That Hideous Strength”. These stories follow a philologist named Ransom (bear in mind that Tolkien was, himself, a philologist) who journeys to Mars, then Venus, and finally back to Earth. In the interest of not spoiling anything plot-wise for myself or others, here is the blurb taken from the Kindle omnibus edition of the three books:

This one-volume edition marks the 75th anniversary of Lewis’s classic science fiction trilogy featuring the adventures of Dr. Ransom on Mars, Venus, and Earth. It includes an exclusive foreword compiled from letters by J.R.R. Tolkien, who inspired Lewis to write the first volume and on whom the main character of Ransom was largely based. The Space Trilogy is a remarkable work of fantasy, demonstrating the powerful imagination of C. S. Lewis.

The Space Trilogy, Omnibus Edition includes:

Out of the Silent Planet
Dr. Ransom, a Cambridge academic, is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he knows as Mars. His captors are plotting to plunder the planet’s treasures and offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who live there.

Perelandra
Having escaped from Mars, Dr. Ransom is called to the paradise planet of Perelandra, or Venus. When his old enemy also arrives and is taken over by the forces of evil, Ransom finds himself in a desperate struggle to save the innocence of this Eden-like world.

That Hideous Strength
Investigating the truth about her prophetic dreams, Jane Studdock encounters the fabled Dr. Ransom, who is in great pain after his travels. A sinister society run by his old adversaries intends to harness the ancient powers of a resurrected Merlin in their ambition to subjugate the people of Earth.

Have you read any, or all, of the books in the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis? If so, what were your spoiler-free thoughts to those books? In our time, with the wealth of books being published every day, do you think that writers would be able to say “If they won’t write the kinds of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves”?

Revised Posting Schedule

Tags

Medievalist Monday, schedule, Scripture Saturday

When it came time to look at my posting schedule for the blog, there was something that stood out: I loved writing my Saturday posts and would usually get them ready early, but found myself not looking forward to Thursdays. While I am a writer in my craft, I found myself loathing writing the posts with advice about writing, especially since there are other talented writers out there who do it better than I could. So it was time to rethink the schedule. Here is what you can look forward to each week moving forward:

Mondays will be Medievalist Mondays and each week will have a different theme, as listed below. One week will have a post about either J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, the two most famous of the Inklings and two of my favorite authors who both happened to be rather fond of Medieval works. One week will cover a piece of Medieval England literature or society, and one week will cover Medieval Iceland. The other will feature a guest: Allison of Weaving Word, who has been writing a Medieval Monday feature for quite some time. On those weeks, look for my own post on her blog!

Wednesdays will be taking the place of Thursdays, which is where you will get to see the featured indie author of the month, guest posts, and a Top Ten list of some sort each month. It’ll be a day full of good stuff each week, and I am excited about the new mid-week posts.

Saturday posts will be moving to every other week, and will be heavily Christian in influence and theme. One post will contain a poem of my own writing, while the other will contain a short devotional entry. Of all my changes, I think this one is the one I will enjoy the most and it has been something I’ve been wanting to shift more towards for a while. Perhaps if I get ahead on poems and devotions, it could someday go to every Saturday. But for now, it will be every other, starting this Saturday.

Book reviews will be posted on an as-needed basis. When I finish a book you should know about, it will get a review!

So here is what the schedule will look like going forward:

First Week:

Medievalist Monday: Tolkien/Lewis Post (Alternating monthly)

Wednesday: Indie Author of the Month Interview

Second Week:

Medievalist Monday: English Medieval Lit Post

Wednesday: Guest Post

Scripture Saturday: Monthly Poem

Third Week:

Medievalist Monday: Guest Post from Allison/My own guest post on her blog

Wednesday: Top Ten List

Fourth Week:

Medievalist Monday: Icelandic Medieval Lit Post

Wednesday: Guest Post

Scripture Saturday: Monthly Devotional