The Saga of Gisli Sursson, pt. 1

[@Gloronthor]

''So he dresses in blue, dammit.'' - Jackson Crawford

[@thundercliff93]

Theres a quite good Icelandic film that closely follows Gísla Saga called Útlaginn (The Outlaw)

[@irenehigginbotham6392]

Thank you. So dnjoying uour podcasts. I feel I can step onto the scene. You are a master storyteller of Norse lore

[@Virginia-er9si]

It's impressive, Dr. Crawford, learning through the explanations of this Saga how significant were perceived, even in the medieval Norse society, values such as family, brotherhood and relations in general. I've had the possibility to notice, even during my studies, that those elements appear to be, in every ages, the most crucial ties for the growing of communities also in terms of reciprocity and of course political strength. A theme that is incredibly central today here in Europe, and something about I believe the US can teach a lot. Love that glimpse of Colorado. I'm happy to see that over there the weather is quite sunny and less snowy, but I've recently learnt that a cigar could be a useful tool in order to get warm.

[@paulkarch3318]

This is simply fascinating. When you have a true expert explain something that you don't have to be an expert in the field to understand.

[@Akael01]

Best part.....the rant about blue.

[@peterknutsen3070]

1:35 I suspect that the relentless name-dropping was also because the Icelanders were listening to stories about their recent ancesters. Grandfathers, great grandfathers, great uncles, and so forth. So there'd be a strong sense of clan pride, when the storyteller mentions a particular character, even if he's only mentioned once and does very little.

[@sunshinesilverarrow5292]

Thank you! ☀️

[@etepeteseat7424]

Lots of people attempting to remain unseen at night (for instance ninjas) have worn dark blue or purple clothing, because wearing black incurs the risk of actually being darker than the night, especially if there's a moon out, so that makes perfect sense. It is interesting, on a purely linguistic note, that blár is quite an old word, old enough to suggest that the oft-quoted strong Whorfian claim that people didn't interpret what we call blue as a distinct shade in the distant past (Homer's wine-dark sea being the typical example) is unfounded.

[@peterknutsen3070]

Yup. Only kabuki stage hands wore genuine black. A ninja doing a night operation would have worn dark grey, or dark brown, or perhaps dark blue. Real black makes you stand out. The donning of black clothes to signify supernatural ninja invisibility might also have become a kabuki tradition. And of course, a ninja doing a psychological warfare op might well have worn genuine black, if the goal of the op was to cause fear. Unlike the samurai, the ninja were extremely pragmatic.

[@ptcj3805]

We're reading the saga of gisli sursson in norwegian class right now in videregående(high school for you americans) :-)

[@colinp2238]

A future author will be researching old Norse marriages and write about the earthen arch and pit ceremony so Dr Crawford will be immortalised as creating or adding to urban myth.

[@guyveloz4382]

LMFAO! BTW Gisla is one of the short sagas I first read in the original around 45 years ago -- Droplaugarsonar Saga, and i probably have badly mispelt this title, but it was my very first saga in the original, delightfully funny in parts , as when the vengeance minded sons have just told their mother that they only killed a dung-beetle, engendering a typically sardonic rejoinder, but I recall the Hel Shoes bit from Gisla SO VIVIDLY, and also felt confused at the time about the postmortem mythology confusion of Hel's own realm -- SHE is a goddess. IT is not a place -- so the confusion concerning Hel and Valhöll, which is hard for native english speakers to pronounce without making a sort of sneezing or snorting sound but have forgotten most of the rest, except that Gisli was the second longest lasting outlaw next to Grettir, my favorite LONG saga, Grettis, that is, and I think he lasted what? 30 years? Have i REMEMBERED correctly? BTW, this is the first i have ever heard of Jackson Crawford, and am shockingly impressed with his VAST knowledge of Old Norse and his Icelandic pronunciation.

[@Daniel509476]

Doc .... Keep it up sir! I am thankful to be able to help with these amazing videos in a small part 🤘Skol!

[@juliaconnell]

interesting story as usual - thanks Dr Crawford you had me at blue - I believe you!

[@tiffanyhaberacker]

Lovely view! ❤ That's so cool about how Frozen came up with the wedding scene, I love it!

[@1zillah]

I was just watching a great Icelandic show called Trapped and in the 2nd series they were talking about this saga because there is a character called Gisli in the show. ^_^

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

I really need to read more of the sagas.

[@TheOneCalledSloth]

The Icelandic ball game 'KnattleikR' is probably related to the Irish ball game 'Hurling'.

[@bananibeck6043]

Knattleikir is just ball games

[@bigdurk4115]

I'm really digging your videos my friend

[@LucasRichardStephens]

Nice video Jackson, can you say more about social structure one day? In an axe group, we were discussing deforestation and the rapid destruction of Iceland's forests came up.... all the best from the forests of Norway, Lucas.

[@peterknutsen3070]

What do you want to know about social structures?

[@johnwoyurka3547]

HE WORE BLUE DAMMIT!

[@petehill7280]

Rule One of the Icelandic Sagas-- If a character wears blue, they are going to kill someone else. Rule Two-- If a character wears red, they're going to die.

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@petehill7280 Is this why the Star Trek characters in red going to the planet were almost always doomed?

[@Brahmsonite]

So much fire about the color blue! Do you think it's a dark blue? Raven blueness rould seem dark though I'm less sure about necrotic blueness.

[@ladykoiwolfe]

Perhaps a bed on a shelf built into the wall would sound less grim. Or like a bunk on a tour bus or camper, they usually have a curtain you close on one sida as well.

[@TheGrinningViking]

Personally I think that particular word means a color word we don't have. Blue/black. Frozen skin. Ravens. Coal, but not charcoal. It's easy to picture and tell the difference. Charcoal is ruddy or red black. Shabby black clothes. Soot or black mud. These get called the other word for black. I think I remember an instance of blood as well, but it was in a text in normalized modern Icelandic so I can't be sure if that one was copied correctly.

[@breathing_wax2620]

I’m writing an essay on this book and this video helped me a lot, thanks man. Also Gísli is wearing blue. The word Blár means blue and the word svart means black so you are correct my friend

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Going to write a musical of this story called Gísli sings the blárs.

[@guyveloz4382]

So WHERE do I view or whatever this most impressive Crawford fellow's translation of the mightiest of all poems, IMHO... Völuspá. Oh and BTW... Nú mun ek søkkvast, LOL!

[@oneukum]

OK, this may be wildest speculation, but are the dead blue for the same reason some of the Hindu gods are described as blue?

[@natemarx4999]

Professor Jackson Crawford is a real life viking. It's just obvious.

[@colinp2238]

I thought that he is a doctor not a professor? Are you the modern day Ace from Doctor Who?

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@colinp2238 PhD is a doctor, teaching is professor. he can be both

[@mg556linked]

The coins for separated brothers was in Grimm's fairytales.

[@lindaliljecrona4404]

Spring already?

[@AmandaHeavenWilling-blasph]

I have decided that I need to move to a place where people pronounce the "wh" in words, because it's so oddly pleasing to listen to.

[@Daniel509476]

Amanda Heaven Willing Agreed! I plan on moving to the west toward the end of the year just to be close to this amazing teacher! 🤣

[@gardenhead92]

I'm blár, da ba dee da ba daa

[@joonte1010]

A cowboy talking about norse history, sounds like an intro to the marvels thor.

[@Dave_Sisson]

I always wondered where my surname came from. I thought it was ancient Anglo Saxon but now it might be old Norse?

[@user-pm1gb2eo1s]

What is your surname?

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@user-pm1gb2eo1s My name is Sisson. Many years ago a relative discovered an Anglo Saxon Earl who lived in Mercia (central England) in the tenth century with a name like Susson (or similar) and that's the closest I have found. I've got a few awards for writing histories, but I'm not good with medieval European subjects.

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@Dave_Sisson I have gone to Scottish and Celtic festivals and there is is usually a booth or two where you can look up any name and get a printout of the family crest and a bit about the name.

[@sz5916]

Hneit þar

[@aukmenstag]

Dear Dr. Crawford, I wonder if that's your profound studies of other languages that have modified your accent or if it had always been like that. But the way you pronounce whhheeer, phhhhit and other words with breath in them makes me do the same. 😁Whhhiich doesn't make me any better in my learning to pronounce English as a native speaker (whhhhiich is a broad term of course).

[@Marcus51090]

I’d like to here the saga of him so dreamy lol

[@sirnukesalot24]

Wait. He accidentally touches his sister's what? It's official. There can now be an anime adaptation.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

We read this in my high-school. In a Faroese translation, of course. Our translation has chapter names and the chapter were Vésteinn is killed is called "Torgrímur drepur Vestein" (Þorgrímr kills Vésteinn) so it would be interesting to know if the saga has these aswell.

[@Rovarin]

We had to read the story of Gísli as part of a module on Nordic literature during my teacher training, also talking about the Faroese translation. What made me giggle was actually how much of the story was dedicated to genealogy and the deeds of certain men in that family, it reminded me in part of the Njáls saga skit by Monty Python and John Cleese's sermon in the Monty Python film Meaning of Life.

[@vp4744]

@@Rovarin "Njáls saga skit by Monty Python" Who can forget that court scene in which Njáls was prosecuted in England for being "willfully and persistently a foreigner."

[@Rovarin]

@@vp4744 Seriously, you accidentally burn down one religious site trying to sell some dubious quality flat packs and your reputation is ruined forever... there's a lot of silver laying around... might as well take it, so the entire trip wasn't a bust.