Old Norse Saga Song - Gunnarr at Hlíðarenda

Here’s a song I wrote and sang in Old Norse. This is the first song of a series I’m planning called “Sagas in Song”, through which I’d like to tell the tales of some of my favourite sagas in song format.

This one is about one of the most famous warriors in Icelandic history, Gunnarr Hámundarson, commonly known as Gunnarr of Hlíðarendi. Details about his life and exploits are given in Brennu-Njáls saga, literally “The story of Burnt Njáll”, as he met a fairly gruesome end.

The saga is commonly thought of as the apex of Icelandic saga writing, and while the song doesn’t aim to tell the whole tale (it is several hundreds of pages, but well worth the read!), it focuses on one of the most virtuous characters of any saga, and how he ultimately met his end.

The saga deals with many themes; trust, betrayal, friendship, negotiation, law, war, personal virtue, strength, honour - the list goes on.

Gunnarr is one of the most (almost impossibly) virtuous men imaginable. His issue is that he marries a conniving woman, Hallgerðr, who starts feuding with the wife of Njáll, his best friend. This escalates into a slew of killings, and as Gunnarr gains a reputation for being so mighty a man, more and more men grow jealous of him and seek to dethrone him.

Because of the part his wife plays in starting fights and ultimately getting men killed, Gunnarr slaps her across the cheek. This plays an important part in the story, because when Gunnarr is attacked by Mǫrðr in his home, Gunnarr is able to fend them off with his bow. However, his bowstring gets cut, so he asks Hallgerðr for two strands of hair to restring his bow. She refuses, reminding him of the fact that he slapped her, and so leaves him for dead.

I am on Spotify under The Skaldic Bard, but this song will be released there at a later date with more under the theme of Sagas in Song.

I hope you enjoy the song. Please leave a comment, like the video and subscribe to the channel for more!

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