Story
Grettir is only introduced to the story in chapter 14. Up until then it tells of his father and grandfather who lived not uneventful lives. His grandfather Önundur from whom he may have inherited his physical strength had been a viking, and at one point fought a battle against Kjarval, who was king around Dublin. He settled at the northern coast of Iceland and had many sons. Grettir's life is told from beginning to end. As a child, he is rebellious and bad-tempered. He is described as red haired, somewhat freckled, and broad around the eyes. He is also courageous; he takes on and defeats the draugr Glámr, an undead being that is, in a sense, a corporeal ghost, strong and formidable. But the draugr curses him, and this is seen by the author as the cause of his later misfortunes.
Grettir is sometimes able to be a proper hero, defeating various enemies. But he is blamed for setting fire to a hall, killing many men, and is condemned to outlawry. This means that anyone can kill him without legal penalty and that people are forbidden to help him in any way; many infamous attempts are made on his life.
Grettir eventually becomes the longest-surviving outlaw in Icelandic history. When he had spent nearly 20 years as an outlaw, his friends and family ask for his banishment to be lifted, arguing that a man could not spend more than 20 years as an outlaw according to the law (in fact, there was no such law in medieval Iceland). After a debate at the assembly, it is decided that the outlawry will be lifted when he has completed the 20 years but not before. His enemies make one last effort, using sorcery to cause him to wound himself and finally defeat him, atop the cliff-sided, lonely, fortress-like Drangey off the northern tip of Iceland where he was staying with his brother Illugi, and his slave Glaumur.
His half brother, Thorsteinn of Dromund, later avenges him in a semi-comic scene in Byzantium, where the Norse served as Varangians.
Read more about this topic: Grettis Saga
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—John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)
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“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.”
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