Norwegian Saga

The days have been getting longer and with the increase in light is the feeling that you really want to be active. It’s almost like waking up after a long sleep. You cannot wait to get going. The clouds are gone and it’s light earlier and dark later. The great outdoors look very inviting.

I’ve completed that last essay (got a B) and am now free to work on my thesis. It’s a great feeling to be able to work on one’s own project. Couple that with the more light and things are just great . I have been to see my thesis adviser on Monday and I pitched a new idea I had. I was nervous because I thought he would be opposed to them. Academics and opposing ideas you know, but he was very supportive and gave me a pep talk trying to tell me I’m the expert in this specific area of the study of the Contemporary Sagas. That made me feel better. We agreed that I would write between two and three pages per day to have about 15 pages a week to discuss and talk about. The time has come for me to actually produce text that can be discussed and compiled into a thesis. I’m very confident that this will not be a tremendous hurdle. I feel I have many ideas and have done enough research to at least fill most of the 100 pages I’m to write.

I spent some time at Anne Marit’s place. To get a break from Oslo. You see they’re renovating the ground floor flats and the noise is unbearable (but that’s another story). So while in the south of Norway we babysat a five-toed cat. His name is Skomber and he has five toes on every paw. It’s weird but he’s adorable.

We also went for a short walk along the coast. The ice in the water made the entire scene surreal. The sea swelled up and down as if alive but you couldn’t see any single wave because of all the ice. It was fantastic.

Since returning home, I’ve had to say goodbye to the last roommate. I am now the only person here who was here in August 2008. The other three have all left. It’s a sad feeling because it reminds me of all the changes that take place in life. Every time I said goodbye to a roommate (one in May ‘09, another in Dec ‘09, and this last one a few days ago) I can’t help but think of my arrival in Norway. All of the expectations I had and how new everything felt. I’m very happy here but with everyone out of Oslo for the most part (friends that were here for a semester included) I feel a little out of place. Every time I get settled in some way people shift around. It reinforced my already strong belief that the most important things in my life are not things but people. Thankfully I’ve managed to maintain contact with just about all of these people and that’s nice. Even better is the fact that I now know people in many parts of the world, often from the bigger cities which means if I travel to those countries I will likely travel through the big cities and meet them. It’s a nice feeling and the experience of it all is priceless.

I’m planning a hike with a friend to Scandinavia’s highest peak, Galdhøpiggen (2469m). We’re going to make it a four or five day hike. It depends on many things of course and it won’t be until May/June but I’m excited nonetheless. He’s going to come visit from Canada and we’ll first spend a few days in Amsterdam where I will meet him and look around there then both fly back to Oslo and spend some time here. This will be after my thesis is finished of course.

So, there are a few photos of the sea ice. Enjoy.

I have one more essay to write and then I have officially completed the coursework component of my degree. The only thing remaining is my actual thesis.

As I may have mentioned the essay topic is: “a new analysis of the status of woman in the institution of marriage in three sagas.” I plan to analyze Njal’s Saga, Gisli Sursson’s Saga, and Laxdala Saga to show how female characters were both more developed and independent than perhaps previous scholars have been willing to admit. The prevailing sentiment is that female characters in the sagas were dependent on males. I hope to at least meaningfully challenge that assumption.

The thesis of course isn’t going to be any such thing. My work is about social change in Iceland during the fall of what is called the “free state.” Iceland fell under the Norwegian crown in c.1264 and the preceding decades were a tumultuous time. Through the analysis of seven contemporary sagas I hope to chart the changes over this period.

Unfortunately these few writings are the only historical documents that remain of this time for this area. We don’t call them the dark ages for nothing. For this reason the work will be limited. No one can do anything about a lack of sources. Thankfully, the contemporary sagas, as they’re known, are largely accepted as historical. The family sagas for instance, like those I’m working with in my marriage essay are not believed to be historical.

My marriage essay has to be completed by Wednesday. I had planned to work a great deal on it over Christmas but that didn’t happen .

Anyway, that’s the update.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy new year. I’ve probably been too quiet again as of late. The honest truth is that writing for this blog has become more difficult for me lately for a few reasons none of which I will go into. However, one thing I do wish to say is that I’m not leaving anything juicy out. My life in Oslo has calmed somewhat and I have turned into a creature of routine to some degree. I wake up, I do my work, I go for a walk to nowhere in particular and I go to bed. On Saturdays I teach English. Since each of you knows this I don’t feel the need to constantly write about it.

But we did just have a big holiday and I can say a few words about that. I was in Canada from the 15th of December to the 11th of January. I had an incredibly wonderful time. The people in my life have become even more important to me than they were previously and I was graced with the presence of my best friends over the holidays. I got to spend time with my family with whom I always feel I can be my silly self. Sometimes there’s nothing so relaxing as sitting in front of the TV with the family. I never actually paid any attention to what was playing but it was the sitting together that made it worthwhile.

2009 was a busy year for me. I made a bunch of friends in my second and third semesters here. I learned a great deal from fellow students and professors. I changed my perspective on many things as a result of the events of 2009 and I think that was for the better. I also (re)learned how fast time flies. I am now beginning my fourth and final semester at the University of Oslo and while I look forward to it I also know that it will come quickly and that means that my time here as a student will come to a close.

I look to the future with excitement obviously and hope for all of the things that I’ve planned for myself but I cannot help but think about how much I will miss being a student here. As some of you may know I plan on moving to Norway permanently once I finish an MBA in Canada. So while I will be back in Norway it will not be as a student but as a working man lookin for the dollars (or kroners as they case may be). My point is that I have four more months in which to write my thesis and make my mark on the study of Icelandic medieval society. When I first arrived here I was so caught up in the strangeness of it all I missed the finer points of Norwegian life. I was too busy making my own noise to listen. I think more recently I’ve been able to do that. To listen to the thing that is Norway. I’ve never been immersed in a culture like this before and it’s intoxicating. 2009 has taught me how to be more patient in this way, to listen to the world around me.

Well, as I’ve got a few things planned yet I’m going to be writing about them. One is a planned journey to Trondheim, I’ve got a hike planned with a friend to Bergen, and I hope to hit the far north as well to see the midnight sun. Also on the list are Stockholm and Copenhagen. As the stories develop I will be writing them.

Thank you all for your support and patience with me.