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Egil's Saga - Full Summary
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This is a full, chapter-by-chapter summary of Egil's saga
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Egil’s Saga 1Egil’s Saga
Chapter 1
A man named Ulf is so strong that no man is a match for him. He is best buddies with a high-born
man called Kari, whose daughter Ulf marries. Ulf is very rich and was a clever farmer. But because of
his bad-tempered behaviour in the evening people believed he was a shape-shifter and he got the
nickname Kveldulf (Night Wolf). He gets two sons, Thorolf and Grim, the former being attractive and
highly accomplished like his mum and the latter being ugly like his dad. He became a great
craftsman, though1. When Thorolf is 20 he goes out raiding like his dad used to do. His nephews
Eyvind and Olvir2 go with him
Chapter 2
The king of Fjordane is called Audbjorn. One of his earls is called Atli the Slender, and he has a
daughter called Solveig. During a feast, Olvir falls in love with Solveig but her dad doesn’t allow him
to marry her. Olvir becomes so obsessed with Solveig that he doesn’t go out raiding anymore.
Chapter 3
King Harald swore an oath not to cut or comb his hair until he is the sole king of Norway. He attacks
neighbouring kings and wins, and some kings even submit their crown to him without a fight. King
Audbjorn joins in an alliance against King Herald and starts to gather an army. Kveldulf refuses to
join this army, stating that he’d love to defend his own country but not that of a random stranger
they happen to be in alliance with.
Chapter 4
King Harald’s and King Audbjorn’s armies meet. King Audbjorn and one of his alliance kings are killed,
and Harald conquers the land of this alliance king. King Audbjorn’s brother Vemund becomes king of
Fjordane. Atli’s sons try to kill Olvir3 and Olvir flees. He joins King Harald. His father Kari also joins
King Harald, who then conquers Fjordane. Many people flee the country because King Harald is kind
of a dick.4 Iceland is discovered.
Chapter 5
King Harald stays in Fjordane, and he has messengers fetch Kveldulf. He refuses to come, saying he is
too old to be fighting on ships. His son grim also refuses to go, even when the king offers him land,
for he doesn’t want to be a landowner until his father is dead. King Harald sends Olvir to Kvedulf, but
Kvedulf still refuses to go, saying he thinks this king won’t bring him and his family good fortune. He
will be friendly towards the king and he promises that if Thorolf comes home he can join the king.
Chapter 6
Thorolf returns from raiding and says he thinks that King Harald will give the family good fortune and
he joins the king.
Chapter 7
Bjorgolf is a man that has made his own fortune. After his wife dies he meets a woman named Helga
and marries her, but his son Brynjolf disapproves. After his father dies he sends Helga and her sons
back to her father. He doesn’t let any of his half-brothers have his inheritance. Brynjolf’s son Bard
1
Getting big Hephaestus vibes here
2
Sons of Kari
3
Probably because they are quite done with this random incel moping that their sister doesn’t want to fuck
him
4
He tortures people and makes everyone his tenants and has everyone pay tribute to him.
, Egil’s Saga 2
gets engaged to a rich man’s daughter named Sigrid, who is due to inherit all of her father’s
property.
Chapter 8
King Harald summons all that had not yet been to meet him. Brynjolf and his son Bard go, and when
Brynjolf returns to his land Bard stays. He is nicknamed Bard the White and becomes buddies with
Olvir. Around the same time, Thorolf and Olvir’s brother Eyvind arrive at court. Thorolf joins the King
but Eyvind returns home. Bard returns home to fetch his betrothed and Thorolf joins him to meet his
kinsmen that he has never met before. Bard marries, Thorolf meets his kinsmen and the two ft. wife
return to court. That winter Brynjolf, Bard’s father, dies, and Bard claims his inheritance so he leaves
court.
Chapter 9
King Harald fights a huge army. Thorolf, Bard the White, Olvir and Eyvind fight alongside the king.
They win. Thorolf and Bard are both badly injured. This is the last battle King Harald fought because
no one challenged him anymore. Bard dies of his wounds, Thorolf’s wounds heal. Thorolf inherits
Bard’s property and leaves court. Sigrid, Bard’s wife, is very sad her husband has died but she
marries Thorolf with her dad’s permission. Thorolf is very generous and great and Sigrid’s dad dies so
he has even more property. Brynjolf’s other sons (the ones he got with Hela) come to Thorolf to
state their claim on the inheritance but Thorolf says he doesn’t think they have birthright.
Chapter 10
That winter Thorolf goes up the mountains with more than 90 men and a great number of goods to
sell. It is normal to take less than 30 men. Thorolf meets with the Lapps and he collects their taxes
and trades with them. Everything goes great because they fear him. He hears the Kylfing people
have been trading with the Lapps, as well as plundering them. He kills almost 100 of them and
returns home with a large booty. He has a longship built. He never has less than 100 men working
for him.
Chapter 11
King Harald goes to Thorolf that summer and it’s all great and fun with a lot of feasting. However,
the king is very angry. He stays for 3 days. Thorolf gives the king his ships and explains that he invited
this many men to the feasts not as a challenge but as a gesture of honour. Now the king is happy.
Chapter 12
Helga’s sons visit King Harald. They hold a 3-day feast and the king is very happy. Harek, one of
Helga’s sons, tells the king that the only thing that is stopping the common people from rising up
against them is their lack of courage. He says that people like Thorolf think themselves superior and
says that Thorolf was already planning on killing King Harald. First, he planned to collect an army and
then he planned to get King Harald drunk and then burn the place he is sleeping in. As proof, Harek
says that King Harald stayed in a barn because Thorolf didn’t want to burn his own home. But
because all the trickery didn’t work on the king, Thorolf hushed the entire plan and kept it secret.
Harek tells the king to make Thorolf a standard-bearer in the prow of the king’s ships and give him
lands in Fjordane, so he will not be too powerful and he will be further away. Meanwhile, Hakar and
his brother are, of course, at the King’s service, their father was a tax-collector. 5 And the King needs
to have people appointed to manage his affairs here since he isn’t around that often. The King
believes Harek’s story. When the King leaves the brothers constantly find excuses to keep bumping
into him.
5
Hint hint wink wink nudge nudge please give us land and power
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