The Tale of Norna-Gest: Difference between revisions

 

 

A stranger called Gest appears at the court of King Olaf Tryggvason in Trondheim, [[Norway]] 998 AD. He is old yet surprisingly strong, and astounds the king's retainers by his skill in harp-playing and [[The Storyteller|story-telling]]. Questioned how he can know so much about times long ago, the stranger reveals that he knew [[The Saga of the Volsungs|Sigurd Fafnisbane]] personally, as well as [[Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons|the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok]], [[Heimskringla|Harald Finehair of Norway]] and King Ludwig of Germany. This amazes the King and his retainers, [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|as all these men are long dead, some of them for centuries]]. Finally Gest, who now reveals that he is also called Norna-Gest, tells his full story:

On the wish of King Olaf, Norna-Gest agrees to be baptized. After a time, King Olaf asks him how long he plans to live. [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|Norna-Gest says that he wants to die]], being three hundred years old. In the presence of King Olaf, he lays down on a bed and lights the candle. A priest gives him the last rites. When the candle burns out, he dies.

 

 

* [[The Ageless]]: An interesting case. Phenotypically, Gest seems to be simply an "undying" character -- he does not age beyond a certain point and cannot die of natural causes. [[Fridge Logic|The more complex problem]], could he be killed by fatal violence or accidents, as long as the candle exists? Apparently not, or else the [[Curse Escape Clause]] would be proven invalid. In other words, the norn's spell must also have caused an in-universe [[Contractual Immortality]].<ref>Of course, it's speculation whether the author ever thought of that.</ref>

* [[Curse Escape Clause]]: The curse of the angry norn is pretty easily neutralized by exploiting [[Exact Words]].

 

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[[Category:Fairy Tale]]

[[Category:Literature]]