The Story of Grettir the Strong | Page 4

with him; and
the two meet often in spite of the watchful jealousy of the lady's
husband, who is at last so completely conquered by a plot of hers (the
sagaman here has taken an incident with little or no change from the
Romance of Tristram and Iseult), that he is obliged to submit to a
divorce and the loss of his wife's dower, and thereafter the lovers go
away together to Norway, and live there happily till old age reminds
them of their misdeeds, and they then set off together for Rome and
pass the rest of their lives in penitence and apart from one another. And
so the story ends, summing up the worth of Grettir the Strong by
reminding people of his huge strength, his long endurance in outlawry,
his gift for dealing with ghosts and evil spirits, the famous vengeance
taken for him in Micklegarth; and, lastly, the fortunate life and good
end of Thorstein Dromund, his brother and avenger.
Such is the outline of this tale of a man far above his fellows in all
matters valued among his times and people, but also far above them all
in ill-luck, for that is the conception that the story-teller has formed of
the great outlaw. To us moderns the real interest in these records of a
past state of life lies principally in seeing events true in the main treated
vividly and dramatically by people who completely understood the
manners, life, and, above all, the turn of mind of the actors in them.
Amidst many drawbacks, perhaps, to the modern reader, this interest is
seldom or ever wanting in the historical sagas, and least of all in our
present story; the sagaman never relaxes his grasp of Grettir's character,
and he is the same man from beginning to end; thrust this way and that
by circumstances, but little altered by them; unlucky in all things, yet
made strong to bear all ill-luck; scornful of the world, yet capable of
enjoyment, and determined to make the most of it; not deceived by
men's specious ways, but disdaining to cry out because he must needs
bear with them; scorning men, yet helping them when called on, and
desirous of fame: prudent in theory, and wise in foreseeing the
inevitable sequence of events, but reckless beyond the recklessness
even of that time and people, and finally capable of inspiring in others

strong affection and devotion to him in spite of his rugged
self-sufficing temper--all these traits which we find in our sagaman's
Grettir seem always the most suited to the story of the deeds that
surround him, and to our mind most skilfully and dramatically are they
suggested to the reader.
As is fitting, the other characters are very much subordinate to the
principal figure, but in their way they are no less life-like; the
braggart--that inevitable foil to the hero in a saga--was never better
represented than in the Gisli of our tale; the thrall Noise, with his
carelessness, and thriftless, untrustworthy mirth, is the very pattern of a
slave; Snorri the Godi, little though there is of him, fully sustains the
prudent and crafty character which follows him in all the Sagas;
Thorbiorn Oxmain is a good specimen of the overbearing and sour
chief, as is Atli, on the other hand, of the kindly and high-minded, if
prudent, rich man; and no one, in short, plays his part like a puppet, but
acts as one expects him to act, always allowing the peculiar atmosphere
of these tales; and to crown all, as the story comes to its end, the
high-souled and poetically conceived Illugi throws a tenderness on the
dreadful story of the end of the hero, contrasted as it is with that of the
gloomy, superstitious Angle.
Something of a blot, from some points of view, the story of Spes and
Thorstein Dromund (of which more anon) must be considered; yet
whoever added it to the tale did so with some skill considering its
incongruous and superfluous nature, for he takes care that Grettir shall
not be forgotten amidst all the plots and success of the lovers; and,
whether it be accidental or not, there is to our minds something
touching in the contrast between the rude life and tragic end of the hero,
and the long, drawn out, worldly good hap and quiet hopes for another
life which fall to the lot of his happier brother.
As to the authorship of our story, it has no doubt gone through the
stages which mark the growth of the Sagas in general, that is, it was for
long handed about from mouth to mouth until it took a definite shape in
men's minds; and after it had held that position for a certain time, and
had received all