39,327
edits
The Tale of Norna-Gest: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (Dai-Guard moved page The Tale of Norna Gest (Literature) to The Tale of Norna Gest: Remove TVT Namespaces from title) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 2:
[[File:Nornagest (gunnar vidar forssell).jpg|thumb|350px|''Death of Norna-Gest'', by G. V. Forssell]]
The '''"Tale of Norna-Gest"''' is an [[The Icelandic Sagas
A stranger called Gest appears at the court of King Olaf Tryggvason in Trondheim, [[Useful Notes/Norway|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
When he was recently born, his father had invited three seeresses, or norns, to foretell the child’s future. Two of the norns made good prophecies, but the last one was in a bad mood and when some rude guests enraged her, she cursed Gest to live no longer than the candle that burned beside his cradle. So the other norns extinguished the candle and told Gest’s parents to keep it, and Gest [[Immortality|gained immortality]] -- he [[Immortality Inducer|cannot die before the candle is used up]].
Line 18:
* [[Elderly Immortal]]: Norna-Gest looks old, but is still healthy and vigorous.
* [[Exact Words]]: The norn's curse was not really well-thought-out. Presumably she meant that Gest should live no longer than the ''flame'' on the candle.
* [[Fairy Godmother]]: The good norns are more or less fairy godmothers. The plot's opening is indeed practically identical to that of "[[
* [[Frame Story]]: "Norna-Gest's Tale" uses Norna-Gest's life at King Olaf's court as a framing device to present several tales from the ages of heroes, told through the mouth of the protagonist.
* [[Immortality Inducer]]: The candle.
| |||