Final Paper: Revenge in The Sagas of the Icelanders A common theme in the sagas we read is revenge. Revenge in the sagas can be seen in many ways and connects with various different Scandinavian ideals such as honor and family. A blood vengeance is similar to the idea of an eye for an eye; its vengeance for bloodshed, by bloodshed, and typically it’s a never-ending cycle. The theme of revenge is most prominent in “The Saga of the People of Laxardal” and “The Saga of the people of Vatsndal”. The theme of revenge in “The Saga of the People of Laxardal” stems from Bolli and Kjartan and their shared love interest, Gundrun. Gundrun, the girl they both fall for, is considered to be the most beautiful woman in Iceland who is also quite clever. …show more content…
She said “…here lives Bolli, your brother’s slayer, and not a shred of resemblance do you bear to your great ancestors since you won’t avenge a brother the likes of Kjartan. Never would your grandfather Egil have acted like this, and it grieves me to have such spinless sons. You would have made your father better daughters, to be married off, than sons…I see only too well now that fathering such sons was Olaf’s great failing.” (377). This quote shows not only how important vengeance is to Thorgerd, but how important it was to the past generations and culture as well. Thorgerd also pointed out that the son’s father would be ashamed by them too. The speech and subtle insults convinced Halldor to get his revenge on Bolli so that his father would be proud and future generations wouldn’t think that he would have been better off as a girl. After the brothers and Thorgerd kill Bolli to get their vengeance, Helgi wipes Bolli’s blood on Gundrun’s cloak and she acts suspiciously calm and even smiles at him (381). Once again it seems like the cycle of revenge should end here but Gundrun is hiding her own desire for revenge under that smile and cloak. Halldor even realized that Gundrun’s seeming calmness was just an act, he said “ I suspect that it was not because Bolli’s killing meant little to her that she saw us off, but rather that she was intent on …show more content…
Luckily for the sons, they make it to where Hrolleif is hiding before his mother works her magic. They ambush him and Jokul chopped off his head outside of his house. After this his mother, Ljot, dies in a fit of sorcery and rage. While there are other feuds in this saga, this is the end of the avenging of
Does Beowulf really get all the revenge he wants when it came to Grendel and his mother
Evil exists naturally in the world, and there are many acts that are considered evil. As a result, evil is often a theme in literature. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare, and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe each rely heavily on evil to portray a message. Out of all of the evil acts that exist, exacting revenge is the evilest act that a person can make, for a person’s rash decision to exact revenge will ruin their sense of morality. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes in “Hamlet” each commit terrible acts of revenge, as does Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
... husband King Hjorvard to rebel against King Hrolf. With her magic King Hrolf was killed along with his forces. So the story ends on a sad note due to the fierceness of a diabolical queen.
An interesting comparison to this quote and the one previously mentioned, “She had snatched their trophy, / Grendel’s bloodied arm […]”, is the mention of hands. This reference shows the readers that Grendel’s mother’s actions were truly out of revenge, as she could have killed anyone, but she specifically killed one of Hrothgar’s closest ‘friends’. At this point in the poem, Grendel’s mother has disrupted whatever sense of stability, peace and happiness the other characters are feeling: “Rest? What is rest? Sorrow has returned” (l. 1322). This quote truly highlights the impact of Grendel’s mother’s revenge on this poem. It is evident that the mood of this poem has completely changed after the attack and that the people of Heorot are no longer in the same state of mind as they were a couple of hours previously. This sudden withdrawal of happiness in the poem is emphasized through the repetition of the word “rest” in Hrothgar’s
As characterized in the Bible, Cain kills his brother Abel out of envy because “[th]e Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast” (NIV, Gen. 4:4-5). Soon after this God soon curses Cain and his lineage, leading to Cain’s ultimate destruction. Similar to how Cain must have felt upon being stigmatized, Beowulf’s Grendel must have been keenly jealous of the Danes. After the Danes construct the great mead-hall Heorot, there is much laughter and happiness from the hall and [i]t [harrows Grendel] to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall, the harp being struck and the clear song of a skilled poet telling with mastery of man’s beginnings” (Beowulf ln.
One of the major early forms of vengeance presented in the book are blood feuds. Blood feuds are not only vengeance between two people, but in fact between the whole family and can often last for many generations. The example of this in the book is the blood feud started when King Pellinore attacked King Lot. “Then King Pellinore attacked King Lot and killed him, by first spearing his horse, and then splitting his helmet and skull with his sword.” (Page 36) This was a brutal way to kill and made Gawain, understandably mad. Gawain is too concerned however with revenge. He ends up killing Pellinore, which weakens Camelot and the knights of the round table. This also led to a needless death of a good man, Pellinore. An example of this in real history was the Percy-Neville blood feud in medieval England. This was a blood feud in the 1400s that started a civil war, the War of the Roses. This was started when a Percy was made Bishop of Carlisle, a very pointless reason to start a civil war. This, just like the Pellinore-Lot feud, caused needless deaths, albeit a lot more. The pope r...
The poem then takes another turn when Grendel’s mother comes to avenge her son’s death by killing one of Hrothgar’s most trusted companions. By doing this, she is following the warrior code of the Anglo-Saxons which is an eye for an eye. The other alternative is to pay for the crime committed which is called a wergild. Once again the Danes are made uneasy because another monster is at large, and Beowulf agrees to put an end to her. Although Beowulf seems to respect the action that Grendel’s mother has taken by saying, “It is better for a man to avenge his friend than much mourn” (Donaldson p.25), nonetheless, he has to kill Grendel’s mother because he has a duty to protect the Danes. Beowulf is not afraid of fighting Grendel’s mother because glory comes before death and to him that is best for a warrior: “let him who may get glory before death; that is best for the warrior after he has gone from life” (Donaldson p.
Although she isn’t known to be as strong as her son was, revenge motivated her to give it all she had. While in battle, Grendel’s mother managed to rip and claw at him, biting holes in his helmet; that too failed him. In all of his years of being a warrior and wearing that helmet had it neglected to warn him glory. Beowulf, however, longed only for fame among his people so he quickly jumped back in, tossing his weapon aside. After a long drawn out battle between the two of them, he managed to claim victory once again. Beowulf’s men quickly traveled back with him while happily rejoicing in his defeat of Grendel’s mother. Upon their return Hrothgar showed gratitude to him for such bravery and commitment to protecting the king and his people. He is granted the honor for such
Vengeance is considered to be an eye for an eye. One man takes another man’s father’s life, and then it only seems in reason that they should repay them back by killing their father’s murderer. Each son had killed in anger and emotion that was left unsolved and leaving all but one character Prince of Norway dead. The characters acted out blindly throughout the play and it ended in tragedy. After the death of multiple characters the readers will have a lesson learned that vengeance does not end in triumph.
Warfare is a prominent theme in Beowulf . The reasons and conduct for and during warfare are mentioned and displayed throughout the poem. The reason for warfare is usually for retribution. As an act of revenge, battles are fought. The conduct is also very standard and prevalent. All warfare fought by honorable men had to be fought fair. If the opposing side bore no weapons, then the other side also used no weapons. The author of this poem depicts himself/herself to be an advocate of warfare. By idolizing Beowulf because of his heroic deeds during warfare, the poet makes armed conflict courageous and noble.
For her perfections. But my revenge will come (Act IV, VII, 25). This act of murder reflects upon the society through the vengeful advance of Fortinbras and his army upon Denmark in pursuit of reclaiming his fathers land. This dual understanding gives the play an additional element of excitement and intensifies the overall meaning and depth of the play through the relation to political elements of the surrounding society.
Throughout history, revenge, or vengeance, has been altered by several cultures and even the American culture. This is shown throughout many ancient greek epics. Throughout these two epics, what is just revenge and what the action of revenge is are much different than what Revenge is seen through today’s society. Revenge is the main theme in The Iliad, with Achilles’ revenge on Agamemnon and Hector, and in The Odyssey, with Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus and Odysseus’s revenge on the Suitors, and these epics define how revenge was seen in the ancient Greek world.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is very palpable as the reader examines the characters of Hamlet himself, as well as Laertes, son of Polonius, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway and son of the late King Fortinbras. Each of these young characters felt the need to avenge the deaths of their fathers who they felt were untimely killed at the bloody hands of their murderers. However, the way each chose to go about this varies greatly and gives insight into their characters and how they progress throughout the play.
Revenge is a motif we see repeatedly throughout the play. Different characters use revenge differently according to their situation. Revenge leads Hamlet and Laertes to their deaths while it makes Fortinbras gain back the land of Denmark. As you can see, the quote by Phaedrus encompasses the entire concept of revenge in Hamlet. The swordfight at the end of the play allowed the characters to complete their revenge, and probably without this, the different reprisals probably wouldn’t have been carried out. All in all, throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge.
The Roman poet, Juvenal, once said that, "Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind." Most people would agree with Juvenal that revenge is an abhorrent human need that can only satisfy narrow-minded people. Even though, we know revenge will generally not bring us much satisfaction, we still constantly lust for taking revenge on someone. It is because revenge is such a natural part of human nature that writers so often use it as their theme. Revenge can easily be an awe-inspiring theme for a novel because it is something that all people can relate to, whether they know it or not. The suspense from it will make most people sit on the edge of their seats.