Bolli‘s tragic destiny: Why the questions left open in Laxdaela saga make the story a good vehicle of moral education

• Main Author: Harðarson, Atli
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2018
• Subjects: Laxdæla saga; The Saga of the People of Laxárdalur; teaching literature in primary and secondary schools; moral education; moral vocabulary; moral virtues; bókmenntakennsla í grunn- og framhaldsskólum; siðferðilegt uppeldi; opnar spurningar; Laxárdalur; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3077

The Saga of the People of Laxárdalur takes place over a time span of almost one and a half century from about 890 till 1130. It tells the story of the first settlers in the district of Dalir in West-Iceland and their descendants for about seven generations.This book, called Laxdæla saga in Icelandic, was written by an unknown 13th century author. It is widely used in schools as a choice example of literary text from the golden age of Icelandic medieval literature. Shortened versions in modern language are available for primary schools. Secondary school students read the original text in full-length.The plot of the story is complex. Some chapters are almost independent small narrations inside a broad epic tale. Among the problems teachers face is how to simplify the story for teenagers who are reading it for the first time. One way to do that is to emphasise some thread or storyline that connects many episodes and makes them meaningful.One of the main protagonists of Laxdæla saga is a woman, Guðrún. She was married to four men and outlived them all. At the end of the story she is both rich and powerful and, also, the first Icelandic nun. She forced her third husband, Bolli, to kill his foster-brother and friend, Kjartan. The reader can picture Guðrún as a cold, shrewd and cunning upper-class woman who uses her beauty and her connections to climb the social ladders. Much of what she does can, however, also be seen as a just revolt of a woman against paternalistic and oppressive social mores.Another female character is Melkorka, daughter of an Irish king. She was taken captive by slave-mongers when she was 15 years old and bought by a rich Icelander. Her son, Ólafur, was adopted by a farmer of some means and married into the most powerful clan in the western part of Iceland. One of the two main male protagonists, is Melkorka’s grandson, Kjartan son of Ólafur.Kjartan is the handsome man whom Guðrún fell in love with but never married. He was the one who was killed by Bolli, the third husband of Guðrún. Kjartan is ...