Amelia Davis

Pride and the Volsungs

September 20, 2010
Pride is an emotion that will be and has been the downfall of many great men. In fact,
even the term great men implies a sense of pride, regardless of whom it is referring to. On
page 35 of The Saga of the Volsungs, the very first instance of character interaction is driven by
pride, and consequently leads to a seemingly negative conclusion: Sigi, a key character who
killed a man and hid the body, is outlawed from his homeland. In most modern societies, killing
a man would inevitably result in some form of government-enforced imprisonment, but in the
Viking Age death was commonplace and the family of the victim would simply be reimbursed.
However, Sigi murdered a man because he, a lowly thrall, had the audacity to have larger and
better kills after a day of hunting. Prideful to the end, Sigi hid his shameful deed and was, ergo,
cast out of his community. Farther along in the saga Sigis grandson, King Volsung, is faced
with the knowledge of certain death in an impending battle. As his daughter informs him of the
betrayal of his son-in-law, King Volsung says one thing: Unborn I spoke one word and made
the vow that I would flee neither fire nor iron from fear, and so I have done until now Maidens
will not taunt my sons during games by saying that they fear their deaths. (40) In the end, King
Volsung and all but one of his sons die; a direct result of King Volsungs inescapable pride.
Never could he have backed down and retain his honor, his sense of pride, and because of that he
and the men following him lost their lives.
Works Cited
Byock, Jesse L. The Saga of the Volsungs. London: Penguin, 1999. 35-41. Print.