Legends Summarized: The Saga of Grettir

It's halloween month!! Let's celebrate with an Icelandic saga full of ghoulies, ghosties and SO MANY LEGAL DISPUTES

Thanks to longtime patron Gudmundur H Ulfarsson for requesting this back in 2020!

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[egondoerr]

I love how every Icelandic saga I've read is like 40% legal arguments.

[thorstmixx]

Fun fact, Grettir is a common name in Iceland, often used for pets today. Grettir is the Icelandic name of Garfield the Cat.

[MrCoolinschool]

I keep forgetting how amazing an artist Red is and how utterly terrifying her art can be

[sprightlyoaf]

Red you left out the absolutely best part of Grettir's legacy, which is that in Icelandic publications of Garfield (yes, the orange lasagna cat) he's named Grettir "because he is rufous, a little broad and unwilling to conform to society's norms."

[Hexnus]

"Be still my heart, is it time for another legal dispute?" is now my favourite out of context phrase from Red. Had me on the floor, unable to breathe.

[dudewhatthewhat]

“Oh no my thriving social life.”
You did it again red, you had me laughing on the floor.

[mathisfriholmvillumsen]

Fun fact, bjorn (or bjørn) is the Scandinavians word for bear and is also a name.
He killed a bear to spite a guy named bear

[Red-mgro]

"The saga of Grettir is mostly about Grettir if you skip the chapters that aren't focused on Grettir."
Ah yes, this floor is made of floor.

[yetanother]

Fun fact! Kar and Glam are examples of a recurring type of undead monster in Scandinavian folklore whose name will be familiar with anyone who's played Skyrim: _draugr._ They're basically monstrous ghosts or walking corpses that usually hang out where they died or were buried, but unlike regular fantasy zombies, they're much more individually fearsome, often wielding significant supernatural power and retaining human craftiness to boot.

[Monaster]

So Glam's curse made Grettir more emotionally unstable, gave him a fear of the dark, and made him unable to spend nights alone? That totally sounds like PTSD to me.

[dudewhatthewhat]

I have never seen red so desperate for a book to end since Don Quixote. Truly an impressive accomplishment

[dndhat]

so... is it just me or does Grettir's curse sound a lot like PTSD? Like the guy was an adventuring badass until a particularly brutal fight that left him with nightmares, flashbacks and a violent temper which led him to kill someone he shouldn't have. Then spent the rest of his life jumping at shadows and suffering from terrible nightmares while constantly on the move because he couldn't ever get comfortable wherever he was. His younger brother tried to take care of him but in the end he was tracked down and killed by his enemies and their dark magic/stress related health problems.

[Reddotzebra]

And in case anyone wonders, the reason for the "kills bear to piss off guy named Bjorn" bit works is that Björn means bear.

[ohno]

Glam does not mess around with curses, that was absolutely horrifying. From the constant staring supernatural eyes to Grettir feeling himself become more unstable to being doomed to be despised by all, that's just overkill!

[codybaird]

The runes at 6:35 say "get out." I like the idea that ghosts writing "get out" in blood on the walls is something that happens in every haunting across the world and throughout time

[quintonclothier]

As someone with ADHD, Grettir getting bored and leaving makes perfect sense to me.

[CatholicDragoon]

Somehow this is both one of the better DnD campaigns I've ever heard and a logically consistent cultivation novel at the same time.

[kotyrollins]

I really loved how much absolute INSANITY there is just randomly tucked into old epics. Like its sp random and boring then just "Yeah then we went and killed his ancestor who had turned into a ghoul. Made alot of gold. Then went home and took care of the chickens"

[chronovac]

This whole story sounds like a convenient way to lay out the law codes of medieval Iceland. Kinda like the "I'm Just a Bill" song by Schoolhouse Rock but with more murder

[meganlange]

Can we appreciate how Red NEVER misses with the credit song choice?