The Otter's Well Gleaming

Icelanders were welcome in Norway. The affection ran deep with the court of King Harald Greycloak and his son Erik. King Harald was known as Harald Greycloak (or sometimes Greyskin) because he once bought grey pelts of Icelandic traders lying unsold on the wharf. When he started to wear the skins all his subjects followed his example to the delight and profit of the Icelanders.

Back at her homestead at Iceland, the woman Steingerd had heard the stories of men returning from adventures, and was determined to experience the excitement for herself.

Kormak and Steingerd

I have found myself retelling the story of Steingerd and the warrior Kormak - a failed love story more than a thousand years old. 

I love the original story, and find something new each time I read it. But it is a little inaccessible - not the least because the unknown hand that wrote the saga is never prepared to tell the whole story, often resorting to frustrating silence or hints.  

Kormak was a real person, an Icelandic warrior who with his brother established the English port city of Scarborough.  We do not know if the story of his failed love of Steingerd is a fact or fiction.  

The stories below should be treated as fragments, individual parts of a story. Read down this page or jump to the stand-alone original posts. 

Let us go back in time, when you and I were still young.

While the crow's day drags on in the darkness

On the morning tide I saw you searching for my arrival. You were riding along the shore on your dappled mare. I took a small boat into the bay and borrowed a horse from the shore-master. I galloped to meet you at the headland fells. 

Named Swords and Trial by Combat

Named Swords

In the days before the first millennium, swords were individually crafted. Swords that stood the test of time earned an individual name.  In the sagas, they were referred to with respect and keenly sought to settle legal disputes.  

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

One of my favorite books is an old Icelandic saga from the 10-12th century: Kormak's saga. The old sagas should be treated as stories – unless supporting evidence of the happenings can be found. 

  

With Kormak’s saga there is more than a little evidence of the events and, whether we realize it or not, the story has already touched all of us.