Reply to a Letter from Helga
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Chapter 3: Sturlunga saga: A thirteenth-century compilation of accounts of contemporary events in Iceland, written by Sturla Þórðarson (1214–1284). In the Íslendinga saga (Saga of the Icelanders), a part of Sturlunga saga, the chieftain Gissur Þorvaldsson hides in a whey tub during an attack on his farm at FlugumÝri, following the wedding of his son Hallur. In this dramatic scene the attackers thrust spears into the tub as Gissur, in the cold whey, shields his belly with his hands—yet he does not shake and thereby give himself away. (The attackers by this point have set the farm on fire.)
Hávamál (Sayings of the High One): A poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse mythological and heroic poems preserved in the thirteenth-century manuscript Codex Regius. “Sorrow devours the heart” is from stanza 121.
Chapter 4: The ogress Gjálp in Snorra Edda: According to the Skáldskaparmál (Language of Poetry) a treatise on skaldic poetry contained in Snorri Sturluson’s (1179–1241) Snorra Edda (known in English as Snorri’s Edda, the Prose Edda, or the Younger Edda), Gjálp is a giantess who stands astride the river Vimur and urinates into it, causing it to rise so much that the current reaches to the shoulders of the god Þórr, who crosses the river on his journey to the dwelling of the giant Geirröðr, Gjálp’s father.
Chapter 5: “This green patch was like ivory in oak, as was said of Þórr when he came among other men”: This description of the god Þórr is found in the Prologue to Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (see the note to Chapter 4).
“Bleeding is the heart that begs”: From Hávamál, stanza 37 (see the description under Chapter 3, above).
Katla in Eyrbyggja saga: In the medieval Icelandic Eyrbyggja saga (The Saga of the Ere-Dwellers) (chapter 20), the temple priest Arnkell and his companions come to the farm of Katla, a woman skilled in witchcraft, in order to take vengeance for Katla’s son Oddur having cut off the hand of Auður, the wife of Þórarinn the Black. Katla uses magic to hide Oddur, after which the group leaves. They return three times before Katla finally says, “You’re becoming quite regular callers.” Finally they kill Oddur and later stone Katla to death. See Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards, translators, Eyrbyggja saga (London: Penguin, 1989), 62.
Chapter 6: “When the call comes, no one buys his way out”: From Hymn 273, “All as the One Blossom,” by Hallgrímur Pétursson (see the note under Chapter 1, above). “Day gave men barely any precious light”: From the poem “Eikarlundurinn” (“The Oak Grove”) by Páll Jónsson (1530/34–1598).
Chapter 7: “The road to Steinastaðir wasn’t long”: This is from the refrain to a medieval Icelandic dance tune/song about Gaukur Trandilsson, a figure from the tenth century who supposedly lived at the farm Stöng in Þjórsárdalur (southwest Iceland).
Chapter 8: Skugga-Sveinn: The title of a play written by the Icelandic poet Matthías Jochumsson (1835–1920), and originally titled Útilegumennirnir (The Outlaws).
Sigurður Breiðfjörð: Icelandic poet who lived from 1798 to 1846. These verses are from his ballad collection Númarímur. Grettis saga: In the medieval Icelandic Grettis saga (chapter 18), the eponymous hero, the outlaw Grettir, fights with and chops off the head of a mound dweller named Kar and takes his treasure; Grettir then declares that “many a small thing happens late in the evening” as he enters the hall of Þórfinnur (Kar’s son) with the treasure.
Chapter 9: “Up onto the keel”: The thirteenth-century Icelandic warrior Þorir Jökull Steinfinnsson is said to have recited a poem before his execution after the battle of Örlyggsstaðir, fought on August 21, 1238, in Skagafjörður in north Iceland. The first lines of the poem are Upp skal á kjöl klífa/köld er sjávar drífa (“Up onto the keel you climb, cold is the sea brine”).
Guillemot: The name of a novel (in Icelandic, Svartfugl), by Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975). The novel is based on a famous case of homicide in Iceland, when, in 1802, a man named Bjarni Bjarnason (Bjarni’s “namesake”) and a woman named Steinunn Sveinsdóttir, who were having an affair, murdered their respective spouses at the farm Sjöundá in the Westfjords.
Chapter 10: Gunnar from Hlíðarendi: A hero of the medieval Icelandic Njáls saga. The saga says that when he strikes at his opponent Vandill during a river battle, three blades can be seen in the air at once (chapter 30).
“The first to light the fires seldom enjoy their warmth”: From the poem “Konan sem kyndir ofninn minn” (“The Woman who Lights my Stove”), by the poet Davíð Stéfánsson (1895–1964).
Passion Hymns: See the note on Hallgrímur Pétursson (under Chapter 1 above).
Vídalín’s Sermons: A collection of sermons for home reading, written by Jón Þorkelsson Vídalín (1666–1720), scholar, preacher, Latin poet, and bishop of Skálholt. These sermons are among the most popular literature in Iceland, even to this day.
Chapter 11: “Guðrún’s cheeks turned scarlet and she married Bolli out of sheer pride”: A reference to Guðrún Ósvífardóttir, a character in the medieval Icelandic Laxdæla saga. Her cheeks turn bloodred as she listens to her dreams being interpreted (chapter 33), and she marries Bolli Bollason because of a false rumor that the man she loves, Kjartan, is engaged to Ingibjörg, the sister of King Óláfur Tryggvason (chapter 42).
“Woman is sometimes my grief”: Björn the Champion of Breiðavík, a character in Eyrbyggja saga, declares this in a poem lamenting past pleasures and the dying of the day (chapter 29).
“A bright and pure maiden loves me”: From the poem “Meyjarmissir” (“Missing a Maiden”), by Stefán Ólafsson (1619–1688).
“Souls who love will never be parted”: From the poem “Ferðalok” (“Journey’s End”), by Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807–1845). The original line (in translation) reads: “Not even eternity can part souls that are sealed in love.”
Chapter 12: “Curse this hag, I say, as Grettir said of the old woman”: From the medieval Icelandic Grettis saga (chapter 78). The old woman Þuríður is known for her witchcraft and magic, and comes with her foster son Þorbjörn Öngull out to Drangey Island to attack the outlawed hero Grettir. She lays a curse on Grettir, and when he hears it he exclaims “Curse that hag!” Later she sends a log with a spell on it out to Drangey, and when Grettir attempts to cut it, his ax glances off and cuts his leg (mimicking her thigh injury after Grettir threw a stone into the boat and broke it). Grettir’s wound festers and weakens him so much that his enemies are finally able to kill him.
Chapter 13: Skallagrímur: Skallagrímur Kveldúlfsson, the father of the renowned tenth-century Viking and poet Egill Skallagrímsson, was, according to the medieval Egils saga (chapters 1 and 30), a skilled carpenter and great ironsmith.
Chapter 14: “…the good that I will, I do not; but the evil that I hate, I do…”: see Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 7, verses 15 and 19.
“With age comes cowardice”: From the medieval Icelandic Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða (The Saga of Hrafnkel the Priest of Freyr) (chapter 17), when a woman eggs on Hrafnkell about avenging murders.
Chapter 17: “I thought like Garún in the story”: A reference to the popular Icelandic ghost story “The Deacon of Myrká.” In the story, a woman named Guðrún expects a visit from a deacon who is to accompany her to a Christmas feast, but the deacon drowns on his way to her. Eventually a knock comes at the door, but when another woman opens the door and no one is there, Guðrún says that it must be for her. “Garún” is the form of the name used by the ghost of the deacon, since it cannot pronounce “Guð” (the word for God), which is the first part of Guðrún’s name.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sigfús Már Pétursson, 2009
Bergsveinn Birgisson holds a doctorate in Norse philology and has an expansive background in folklore, oral histories, and lyrical poetry. A true academic at heart, Birgisson has spent his life studying language and how it represents the truth of the human condition. He currently resides in Bergen, Norway, where he continues to write classical tales of love and masters new languages. Reply to a Letter from Helga is Birgisson’s t
hird novel, and his first to be translated into English.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Philip Roughton is an award-winning translator of modern Icelandic literature and a scholar of Old Norse and medieval literature. He holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and has taught literature there and at the University of Iceland. His translations include novels by the Nobel Prize–winning author Halldór Laxness, among others. He currently resides in Reykjavík, Iceland.