Eyrbyggja Saga Prompts Week 11
Welcome to Week 11 of Eyrbyggja Saga! This week (Dec. 7th 2020) we’re reading chapters 52-58, as laid out in Hermann Pálsson’s translation. This week’s section starts off as follows:
The farm at Frodriver had a large living room with a bed-closet behind it, as was usual in those days….Three of Ospak’s men were killed in the fight and one of Thorir’s, while a good many on either side were wounded.
Að Fróðá var eldaskáli mikill og lokrekkja innar af eldaskálanum sem þá var siður….Á þeim fundi féllu þrír menn af Óspaki en einn af Þóri en margir urðu sárir af hvorumtveggjum.
Below are some prompts to invoke discussion. You don’t have to answer them (unless you want to), and you’re welcome to ask questions of your own for the group to discuss! We ask that you participate at least once a week in one form or another, be it through a response paragraph, fanart, etc., but you’re free to choose whatever topic you’d like. Remember to DM a link to your responses to @edderkopper so we can find them!
Alright, hope y’all are ready to talk a lot about ghosts, seals, and whales! Oh My!
1. Right, so. Weird phenomenon galore! Urðarmáni, also known as a moon of destiny (weird moon), is an astrological omen that foreshadows death. Specifically, this is in relation to the people at Frodriver that take ill. What common theme can you find with regards to all these past omens? Are they all supernatural? Morally ambiguous? Meant to punish, correct, or just forewarn?
2. Tis’ a cold season these Icelanders are enduring—what about the setting and timing is important for this particular string of haunting?
3. How does the author describe haunting and how do others get dragged into being ghostly specters? So far, we’ve seen draugr-like behavior born out of miserly mean behavior, and revenge. Is this the same protocol as before or is it weirdly parasitic? Where exactly might these ghosts have come from?
4. In your opinion which haunting of a “creature” has been the spookiest—and does that supernatural creature represent anything or speak to the Old Norse culture in some significant way? (It’s okay, you can admit that the seal scared you a little, happens to the best of us). All answers and considerations welcome, and remember, this saga was written during a time of internal strife!
5. Thorodd and his men wash up on shore, having drowned the night before and Thorir Wood-Leg and his buried friends join them from the grave—how does the community eradicate the ghost problem, and what does this say about the structure and values of Medieval Iceland at the time? In what did people readily put their faith in when faced with unwanted ghoulish guests?
6. Why might driftage rights (washed up lumber, beached wales, etc.) be so crucial to Icelanders’ way of life and something that one is willing to die over?
Further Free-Access Reading Below Pertaining to these chapters, and remember--you can DM @cousinnick and I’ll try to get you personally-tailored articles related to topics you’re curious about!