Mary Jo Kelly Wilhelm's
Storyfest Review of Travel & Pilgrimage Books - 7
The Greenlanders
by Jane Smiley
The Washington County Library places “Free Reads” in public places. At the Washington County Airport, my hand leapt, unbidden, towards the biggest of these books, The Greenlanders. The Antietam Institute for Cultural and Heritage Travel will sponsor a trip to Iceland in September of the year 2000. “Greenland is close,” I thought and lifted the heavy book.
And at that very moment, I left Washington County airport and entered another world. Had I unawares, boarded a magical airplane bound for 14th century Greenland. Who knows? I entered a place that was cold, dark, and dangerous and I lived with people whose work was survival in such a place.
The scope of the saga is breathtaking. Beginning with the story of Aesgir Gunnarson of Gunnars Stead, the story ends with his son Gunnar Aesgirson, an old man. And, so it is, that the last words of The Greenlanders read, “Gunnar told his tale,” and who is not to say that the tale he tells is not the tale we have just read.
Encompassed in this tale are passions of lust, greed, revenge. Sins of gluttony and pride fatten the people; while The Great Hunger stripped them bare and killed many. In the end, Gunnar asked his sister, Margret, “How do men journey back from passion?” and she replied, “It seems to me that most do not.” In the end, Margret is killed by the Bristol men and as Gunnar grieves over her corpus, he thinks back on his life and names the men he has killed.
“He wept for those eight men, all of them his enemies, all of them who had done him injury, but all of them men. And then he saw what he was and he did the only thing that men can do when they know themselves, which was to weep and weep and weep.”
The Greenlanders is the story of the deaths of these eight men whom Gunnar killed. And in that telling we learn about life in these steadings. Central to life are the Hunts, The Steadings, The Thing, and Catholicism.
The Hunts for Seal, for Reindeer, for Ptarmigian, for Bear, for Whale call for special skill among the men. Without the dried meat, there would be no life during the long winter.
Sheep, goats and cattle are raised on the steadings. The quality of the grass affects the richness of the milk and the warmth of the sheep’s pelt. Women’s work is weaving woolen cloth and making cheeses.
Each summer, The Thing, akin to a court of law, is held in Bratthild. Men leave their weapons in a pile so that there will be no violence. The Lawspeaker speaks the laws. Those who seek justice bring their cases. Marriages are brokered. Alliances are formed and sealed.
Religion is central here, as it was for most in the middle ages. It is the time of the Schism from Rome. The priests of Gardar, the laws of the Church, the threat of hell and the promise of heaven impact on the lives of the people. Intimations of witchcraft, visions of saints, longings for God, the madness of the clergy contribute to the gossip of the people.
Always is the longing for what once been. In the beginning there was enough to eat. Men went on hunts and came back with plenty. People did not starve in the winter.
In the beginning, the Lawspeaker spoke the laws for three days. And men obeyed the law. In the end, the lawspeaker did not remember the laws and only mumbled for part of one day.
In the beginning, the bishop lived among them and ordained lawful priests and offered wheaten hosts and cups of wine. In the end, the mad visionary Larus took the priests as his servants and spoke out against witches and called for people to be burnt in a land where there was no wood.
In the beginning, Viking people came to Greenland with Eric the Red. His descendents are the people of this tale. Great ships came from Norway and from Iceland with gifts to and from the King of Norway. Then, Skraelings came marauding from the north. And in the end, the Bristol men came from the east to pillage and plunder. England had begun her expansion into the Atlantic.
The story holds together from beginning to end, one piece tied to another and the whole tale unfolding as it must. Do the unfolding events stem from the pride of the people at Gunnar’s stead? Jane Smiley tells us in the first paragraph that Aesgir had a great reputation among the Greenlanders for pride.
The story is about Aesgir and his descendants on Gunnar’s stead. I long for all to go well with these people. It does not.
Does luck, that notion of the Norse people, have anything to do with it? Thorkel Gellison, Gunnar’s cousin, said on his deathbed, “Gunnar Asgeirsson, you have spread your bad luck over the whole of Greenland.” And Gunnar thought this to be true.
The book begins with the feud between the people of Gunnar’s Stead and the people of Ketil’s Stead. Which may, indeed, have begun with pride, but actually began as Asgeir prepared a feast. He brought honey from the storeroom and mixed it with water and rotten bilberries. The nurse Ingrid predicts, “This mead-making will have ill results.”
Indeed, it did, for intoxicating beverages are practically unknown to the Greenlanders. And so, the results of the drunken feast had long ranging effects through the generations.
Death is a constant companion, from the plague, from a fall, from hunger, from murder, from old age. But in the end, it was the death of Kollgrim Gunnarsson, the son of Gunnar Asgeirsson by burning on charge of witchcraft that tore the fabric of the settlement. For such a death was not in Greenlander’s ken. The idea had been brought to them by Icelanders. How could there be burnings in this land with no trees? What revenge would be extracted after the embers of his fire burned to ashes and were scattered on the wind?
The cadence of the language caught me unawares. It is the sound of the old sagas. I found myself dreaming in the language of the story. My imagination conjured things I did not know: sourmilk and carved spoons, bedclosets and steadings, fjords and icebergs, purple wadmal and tablet weaving, seals and whales and great white bears.
The language is understated. Nuances of a gesture, a glance must be interpreted. Nothing is blatant. Jane Smiley sustains the tone throughout. The book reads like the old sagas. Other books along these same themes are:
The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America, translated and with an introduction by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, is a small book wherein you may learn why Eric the Red left Iceland and came to Greenland. And how he came to name Greenland. And you may learn the story of Freydis, his kin, who killed eight men and five women for greed’s sake, whose story is alluded to in The Greenlander’s
In scope, this book is like Kristin Lavransdottir Vol. I: The Wreath, written by Sigrid Undset in three volumes. (also Vol. II: The Wife and Vol. III: The Cross) This book creates a Norweigan world in the Middle Ages and follows the life of one woman from childhood to her death. Sigrid Undset won the Nobel prize for literature. Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Stories, translated and with an introduction by Hermann Palsson, Penguin Books, 1971 has more stories in this same vein about the people of medieval Iceland.
Are historical novels travel literature? Not strictly. But if a book whisks me away to another place and another time. If I meet the people, eat at their table, share their sorrow and joy. If I come back reflecting on my experience and wondering about the life of others, then I call that travel literature. If, once home, I begin to dream about my journey and scheme to return, then I am content for my travel lust is unslaked and I will go on the road once more.
The Greenlanders. Jane Smiley. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 1988. ISBN 0-394-55120-6
Copyright©2000 Mary Jo Kelly Wilhelm
Order Smiley's The Greenlanders Today!
Also order: Vineland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir I: The Wreath
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir II: The Wife
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir III: The Cross
Also order: Hrafnkel's Saga
Index to Mary Jo Kelly Wilhelm's Reviews of Travel & Pilgrimage Books
Kelly with her nephews Emmett and Brendan
Kelly Wilhelm Welcomes
s on this Review of The Greenlanders. Please send an
.
Come Back Next Month to Read Kelly's Next Review
Storyfest Review of Travel & Pilgrimage Books - 7
by Jane Smiley
The Washington County Library places “Free Reads” in public places. At the Washington County Airport, my hand leapt, unbidden, towards the biggest of these books, The Greenlanders. The Antietam Institute for Cultural and Heritage Travel will sponsor a trip to Iceland in September of the year 2000. “Greenland is close,” I thought and lifted the heavy book.
And at that very moment, I left Washington County airport and entered another world. Had I unawares, boarded a magical airplane bound for 14th century Greenland. Who knows? I entered a place that was cold, dark, and dangerous and I lived with people whose work was survival in such a place.
The scope of the saga is breathtaking. Beginning with the story of Aesgir Gunnarson of Gunnars Stead, the story ends with his son Gunnar Aesgirson, an old man. And, so it is, that the last words of The Greenlanders read, “Gunnar told his tale,” and who is not to say that the tale he tells is not the tale we have just read.
Encompassed in this tale are passions of lust, greed, revenge. Sins of gluttony and pride fatten the people; while The Great Hunger stripped them bare and killed many. In the end, Gunnar asked his sister, Margret, “How do men journey back from passion?” and she replied, “It seems to me that most do not.” In the end, Margret is killed by the Bristol men and as Gunnar grieves over her corpus, he thinks back on his life and names the men he has killed.
“He wept for those eight men, all of them his enemies, all of them who had done him injury, but all of them men. And then he saw what he was and he did the only thing that men can do when they know themselves, which was to weep and weep and weep.”
The Greenlanders is the story of the deaths of these eight men whom Gunnar killed. And in that telling we learn about life in these steadings. Central to life are the Hunts, The Steadings, The Thing, and Catholicism.
The Hunts for Seal, for Reindeer, for Ptarmigian, for Bear, for Whale call for special skill among the men. Without the dried meat, there would be no life during the long winter.
Sheep, goats and cattle are raised on the steadings. The quality of the grass affects the richness of the milk and the warmth of the sheep’s pelt. Women’s work is weaving woolen cloth and making cheeses.
Each summer, The Thing, akin to a court of law, is held in Bratthild. Men leave their weapons in a pile so that there will be no violence. The Lawspeaker speaks the laws. Those who seek justice bring their cases. Marriages are brokered. Alliances are formed and sealed.
Religion is central here, as it was for most in the middle ages. It is the time of the Schism from Rome. The priests of Gardar, the laws of the Church, the threat of hell and the promise of heaven impact on the lives of the people. Intimations of witchcraft, visions of saints, longings for God, the madness of the clergy contribute to the gossip of the people.
Always is the longing for what once been. In the beginning there was enough to eat. Men went on hunts and came back with plenty. People did not starve in the winter.
In the beginning, the Lawspeaker spoke the laws for three days. And men obeyed the law. In the end, the lawspeaker did not remember the laws and only mumbled for part of one day.
In the beginning, the bishop lived among them and ordained lawful priests and offered wheaten hosts and cups of wine. In the end, the mad visionary Larus took the priests as his servants and spoke out against witches and called for people to be burnt in a land where there was no wood.
In the beginning, Viking people came to Greenland with Eric the Red. His descendents are the people of this tale. Great ships came from Norway and from Iceland with gifts to and from the King of Norway. Then, Skraelings came marauding from the north. And in the end, the Bristol men came from the east to pillage and plunder. England had begun her expansion into the Atlantic.
The story holds together from beginning to end, one piece tied to another and the whole tale unfolding as it must. Do the unfolding events stem from the pride of the people at Gunnar’s stead? Jane Smiley tells us in the first paragraph that Aesgir had a great reputation among the Greenlanders for pride.
The story is about Aesgir and his descendants on Gunnar’s stead. I long for all to go well with these people. It does not.
Does luck, that notion of the Norse people, have anything to do with it? Thorkel Gellison, Gunnar’s cousin, said on his deathbed, “Gunnar Asgeirsson, you have spread your bad luck over the whole of Greenland.” And Gunnar thought this to be true.
The book begins with the feud between the people of Gunnar’s Stead and the people of Ketil’s Stead. Which may, indeed, have begun with pride, but actually began as Asgeir prepared a feast. He brought honey from the storeroom and mixed it with water and rotten bilberries. The nurse Ingrid predicts, “This mead-making will have ill results.”
Indeed, it did, for intoxicating beverages are practically unknown to the Greenlanders. And so, the results of the drunken feast had long ranging effects through the generations.
Death is a constant companion, from the plague, from a fall, from hunger, from murder, from old age. But in the end, it was the death of Kollgrim Gunnarsson, the son of Gunnar Asgeirsson by burning on charge of witchcraft that tore the fabric of the settlement. For such a death was not in Greenlander’s ken. The idea had been brought to them by Icelanders. How could there be burnings in this land with no trees? What revenge would be extracted after the embers of his fire burned to ashes and were scattered on the wind?
The cadence of the language caught me unawares. It is the sound of the old sagas. I found myself dreaming in the language of the story. My imagination conjured things I did not know: sourmilk and carved spoons, bedclosets and steadings, fjords and icebergs, purple wadmal and tablet weaving, seals and whales and great white bears.
The language is understated. Nuances of a gesture, a glance must be interpreted. Nothing is blatant. Jane Smiley sustains the tone throughout. The book reads like the old sagas. Other books along these same themes are:
The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America, translated and with an introduction by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, is a small book wherein you may learn why Eric the Red left Iceland and came to Greenland. And how he came to name Greenland. And you may learn the story of Freydis, his kin, who killed eight men and five women for greed’s sake, whose story is alluded to in The Greenlander’s
In scope, this book is like Kristin Lavransdottir Vol. I: The Wreath, written by Sigrid Undset in three volumes. (also Vol. II: The Wife and Vol. III: The Cross) This book creates a Norweigan world in the Middle Ages and follows the life of one woman from childhood to her death. Sigrid Undset won the Nobel prize for literature. Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Stories, translated and with an introduction by Hermann Palsson, Penguin Books, 1971 has more stories in this same vein about the people of medieval Iceland.
Are historical novels travel literature? Not strictly. But if a book whisks me away to another place and another time. If I meet the people, eat at their table, share their sorrow and joy. If I come back reflecting on my experience and wondering about the life of others, then I call that travel literature. If, once home, I begin to dream about my journey and scheme to return, then I am content for my travel lust is unslaked and I will go on the road once more.
The Greenlanders. Jane Smiley. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 1988. ISBN 0-394-55120-6
Copyright©2000 Mary Jo Kelly Wilhelm
Order Smiley's The Greenlanders Today!
Also order: Vineland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir I: The Wreath
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir II: The Wife
Also order: Kristin Lavransdottir III: The Cross
Also order: Hrafnkel's Saga
Index to Mary Jo Kelly Wilhelm's Reviews of Travel & Pilgrimage Books
Kelly with her nephews Emmett and Brendan
Kelly Wilhelm Welcomes
s on this Review of The Greenlanders. Please send an
.
Come Back Next Month to Read Kelly's Next Review