Emotions of a Vulnerable Viking: Negotiations of Masculinity in Egils saga

Summary

Egill Skalla-Grímsson, the hero of the thirteenth-century Egils saga, sometimes feels like a caricature of extreme Viking masculinity. Set in the ninth and tenth centuries, the saga draws a picture of Egill as exceptionally big and strong, a powerful chieftain and skilful warrior who wins every battle, a protector of women and slayer of subordinate men and berserkir – as well as being an outstanding poet. In these aspects, Egill conforms to the hegemonic masculine ideal held within the saga, a concept which refers to ‘culturally exalted’ gender practices that are placed at the top of a hierarchy, based on the subordination of other masculine types. In this sphere, to be passive undermines one's masculinity, while action and agency reinforce it. Thus, we find the grand men of the saga reprimanded when they stray from this ideal: Egill's grandfather Kveld-Úlfr is scolded for not taking revenge and for lying in bed overcome with sorrow for the loss of his son, and Egill himself receives friendly advice that it is not manly to sit passively in grief. Indeed, when it comes to masculine displays of feelings, especially of sorrow and grief, the hegemonic male's ‘emotive script’, as defined by Sif Rikhardsdottir, prescribes that such emotions ‘should be suppressed and rearticulated into action’.

And as a rule, it is surely through fierce action and brutal physical force that Egill handles obstacles and adversaries. He viciously asserts his dominance over childhood playmates and refuses to be subordinate to anyone, be they his father, brother, fellow chieftains, or kings and queens. He is a dark saga hero, raw and unruly, a descendant of half-trolls and shapeshifters, ugly and swarthy, and a master of the magic of runes. While he is extremely loyal to his friends and allies – many of whom show deep respect for him – and follows the ethical codes of the honour-based society of the saga world, he is also liminal, cruel, and animalistic: biting a man's throat, plucking out another's eye, and burning people alive. He is thus certainly far from the Christian ideal of ‘rational, tempered and civilized’ masculinity, instead conforming to what has been described as the Old Norse ‘aggressive masculine ethic’.