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| Viking ships |
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| Nordic Mytholodgy, Freyja |
“Hrafnkell's Saga” tells of the struggles between chieftains and farmers in Iceland in the 10th century. It
recounts the story of a father who seeks to avenge his son’s murder. Since the
murderer is a powerful man he looks for support from his relative and powerful
chieftains. Even if he wins the case he ends up losing what he fought for.
Our analysis of Hrafnkell's
Saga will take a close look to two main themes: The first one will be how the
inner power can be drawn from social interactions rather than religious beliefs.
Second, we will discuss how a person must not give up and surrender even if he or she faces challenges and failures.
One of the lessons that can
be learnt from the Hrafnkell's saga is about inner power. One’s strength and
prestige does not lie in one's beliefs, but rather on one's social interactions
with others. The saga portrays Hrafnkell as a pious man devoted to one of the
Nordic gods (Freyr). The turning point of the story is when he loses what he
holds most dear to him: his temple, demolished and Freyfaxi, his horse and best
friend, killed. He understands by that time that worshipping gods is futile, as
he said in the story: “I think that believing in the gods is stupid”. He
also makes new friends, and proves himself generous and respectful among his
fellow neighbors when he moves to a new region. It is the way in which he
regains honor and supporters.
Never giving up is also
great lesson to learn. While the story
may not emphasize the concept of what is right and wrong, it shows how sometimes
the winning side is not always the good one but rather the side that does not renounce till the end. We see
that Sámr, one of the main characters of the story, is content to have
helped his cousin against Hrafnkell who kills his nephew Einarr. However, the
situation takes an unexpected turn when Hrafnkell, who is portrayed as a bad character, succeeds in taking his
revenge after several years. Therefore, the one who gets what he seeks at the end is Hrafnkell . Thus, being right or wrong does not matter in changing the outcome
because only those who do not yield to achieve what they want have the highest
possibility of seeing it happen. Thomas Edison, a world-famous inventor, once
said: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to
succeed is always to try just one more time". Thus, if one wants what
he or she thinks is right to triumph, he or she must not abandon. Let's take
the example of J.K.Rowling who wrote “Harry Potter”. None of the editors whom
she sent her books to accepted to publish it. However, she did not give up and
kept on trying until one of the twelve editors she send it to accept. The final
outcome is her being a famous author of one of the most renowned fantasy sagas
in the world.
Hrafnkell's saga reflects
on how important inner power can be in helping people to overcome difficulties.
It also motivate to never give up in order to achieve goals.
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