Sankari on kuollut – Eläköön sankari

Abstract

Heroic narratives tell about past exemplary figures that were often warriors in a European context. Narratives about warrior heroes served the interests of the highest strata of an aristocratic warrior society in which the narratives were created and preserved. The same applies to Icelandic Family Sagas, which derive from heroic poetry both by content and social function. Although saga heroes vary, they share characteristics such as bravery connected to fatalism and a strong sense of honour. Heroic characteristics are at their most extreme at the moment of death, of which there are numerous examples in the saga literature. However, sagas depend on genealogical and historical tradition and sometimes even the greatest of warriors die natural deaths, neutral in heroic terms. Grettis saga, the Saga of Grettir, is one of the latest Family Sagas. The death of Grettir represents a brave stand against fate, reaching the level of a myth, whereas the death of his brother Illugi represents the social aspects of heroism, significant in the Icelandic Commonwealth. Together they support each other and form an entity that illustrates well the Icelandic form of heroism.