Hrafnkel's Saga

A detailed Summary of Hrafnkel's Saga

In the Scandinavian family saga, the main character Hrafnkel is justified in his killing of Einar. Although there are several reasons that Hrafnkel was unjustified in his act, the reasons supporting Hrafnkel's deed outweigh the reasons that would oppose it. The Icelandic idea of civilization, law, and the importance of one's word all provided a strong backing for Hrafnkel to act in the way that he did.

Hrafnkel's murder of Einar was justified in a myriad of ways. When Hrafnkel hired Einar to be his sheepherder, Hrafnkel told him that he may ride any horse that he pleased, but he must not ride Hrafnkel's prize horse Freyfaxi. If Einar disobeyed Hrafnkel's orders, Hrafnkel informed him that he would be killed. (38-39) In this period of history a man's word was extremely important.

Though there are numerous reasons why Hrafnkel was justified, there are a few reasons why he was not. First of all, this was murder. In any way one looks at it. In the courts of present day there is no way that Hrafnkel would have gotten away with this act. Secondly, in comparing the two losses each Hrafnkel and Einar suffered Einar's loss of his life, by far outweighed Hrafnkel's mental pain of knowing that someone other than he or Frey had ridden Freyfaxi. (42) Was killing Einar necessary or could Hrafnkel have just fired Einar? One would seem to think that firing Einar would be just enough. Finally, Einar was using Freyfaxi to retrieve Hrafnkel's sheep and horses. It wasn't like Einar was using Freyfaxi leisurely; he was using the horse to perform his job to the best of his ability. (41)

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Approximate Word count = 544
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Hrafnkel's Saga

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