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There is a great book about this called "Laughing, I Shall Die" by Dr. Shippey [0]. The blub on Amazon says: Laughing Shall I Die explores the Viking fascinat

There is a great book about this called "Laughing, I Shall Die" by Dr. Shippey [0]. The blub on Amazon says: Laughing Shall I Die explores the Viking fascination with scenes of heroic death. The literature of the Vikings is dominated by famous last stands, famous last words, death songs, and defiant gestures, all presented with grim humor. Much of this mindset is markedly alien to modern sentiment, and academics have accordingly shunned it. And yet, it is this same worldview that has always powered the popular public image of the Vikings—with their berserkers, valkyries, and cults of Valhalla and Ragnarok—and has also been surprisingly corroborated by archaeological discoveries such as the Ridgeway massacre site in Dorset. Was it this mindset that powered the sudden eruption of the Vikings onto the European scene? Was it a belief in heroic death that made them so lastingly successful against so many bellicose opponents? Weighing the evidence of sagas and poems against the accounts of the Vikings’ victims, Tom Shippey considers these questions as he plumbs the complexities of Viking psychology. Along the way, he recounts many of the great bravura scenes of Old Norse literature, including the Fall of the House of the Skjoldungs, the clash between the two great longships Ironbeard and Long Serpent, and the death of Thormod the skald. One of the most exciting books on Vikings for a generation, Laughing Shall I Die presents Vikings for what they were: not peaceful explorers and traders, but warriors, marauders, and storytellers. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Shall-Die-Deaths-Vikings/dp/1780239092 https://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Shall-Die-Deaths-Vikings/dp/...

semi-extrinsic 4y ago
FWIW, the academic literature around Vikings is much poorer in English than in Icelandic or other scandinavian languages. Especially after the extremely thorough work Sigurður Nordal did throughout his career. And in the scandinavian countries, we learn about the sagas and the awesome Viking last words in high school. I remember especially we found very funny a scene where a person is murdered as he answers the front door, and his dying words are "hmmm, those broad swords are really getting common these days". (I can't seem to find the exact quote.)
- jdshaffer 4y ago
  There are some other great examples in the book as well, like this gem: What Ragnar is supposed to have said as he died in King Ella's snakepit, according to this second version, is: Gnyðja mundu grísir, ef galtar hag vissi. One of the things that has always struck English translators of Norse is that it seems on the surface really rather easy to translate, with words which are unexpectedly familiar. But then one isn't quite sure what they mean. In this case grísir means greasies, little pigs, piggies, while gnyðja is clearly onomatopoeic and means grunt, or even, arguably, "go oink oink". And what Ragnar is saying - grimly, roguishly, perhaps with a nod and a wink - is, "the piggies would grunt if they knew of the old boar's death". He, of course, is the "old boar", and the "piggies" are his sons.
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semi-extrinsic 4y ago

FWIW, the academic literature around Vikings is much poorer in English than in Icelandic or other scandinavian languages. Especially after the extremely thorough work Sigurður Nordal did throughout his career. And in the scandinavian countries, we learn about the sagas and the awesome Viking last words in high school. I remember especially we found very funny a scene where a person is murdered as he answers the front door, and his dying words are "hmmm, those broad swords are really getting common these days". (I can't seem to find the exact quote.)

jdshaffer 4y ago
There are some other great examples in the book as well, like this gem: What Ragnar is supposed to have said as he died in King Ella's snakepit, according to this second version, is: Gnyðja mundu grísir, ef galtar hag vissi. One of the things that has always struck English translators of Norse is that it seems on the surface really rather easy to translate, with words which are unexpectedly familiar. But then one isn't quite sure what they mean. In this case grísir means greasies, little pigs, piggies, while gnyðja is clearly onomatopoeic and means grunt, or even, arguably, "go oink oink". And what Ragnar is saying - grimly, roguishly, perhaps with a nod and a wink - is, "the piggies would grunt if they knew of the old boar's death". He, of course, is the "old boar", and the "piggies" are his sons.

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