Þykki mér því betr er fyrr taka troll við þér!
Of all the spells and curses presented on this website, the origin of this one may be the most apropos.
This phrase is found in An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, Oxford, 1874, in the definition of troll: A giant, fiend, demon. It is attributed to Bandamanna saga, chapter 10.
We are highly fortunate to have an extensive volume of literature preserved in manuscripts written in Iceland primarily in the 12th to 14th centuries. Collectively known as sagas, scholars have sub-grouped them thematically. Bandamanna saga is one listed among the Sagas of the Icelanders. Broadly speaking, these are tales of the families that settled homesteads in Iceland starting in the late 9th century focusing on individuals and their extended relations. Common to the storylines are feuds that take place between different families.
As the sagas would tell it, the island was populated by prominent families from Norway fleeing the tyranny of a king. As a result, Iceland was quite unique during this period because it was not ruled by a king and had no central governance. Naturally, disputes arose over property and there were accusations of crimes. It was agreed that annual meetings would take place to handle legal matters. Having no written language, laws that became quite intricate were recited at the meetings, and cases would be presented.
The story of Bandamanna saga revolves around such a legal dispute and the clever tactics used by the protagonists to take advantage of the loopholes and use of bribery in the system to both win a light sentence in the case and humiliate their opponents.
Often the sagawriter will insert a dream or supernatural event to forebode an outcome in the story. In Bandamanna saga, this is how our phrase is used. In a heated but rather comedic exchange, Egil defends his lenient position and the outcome of the case. His colleagues feel cheated, and Hermund states his hope is that one of them should should not be alive prior to the next annual meeting. Egil's response is that in this rare case he agrees, since it has been prophesied he shall live to reach an old age but, "the sooner the trolls take you, the better." As you might guess, the power of the utterance proves to hold true.
In spite of checks and balances, it seems our constitution depends heavily on the good intent of our elected representatives. Our democracy has proven fragile as abusive authoritarians ignore the limits of their office and find loopholes in laws to implement their power grabs. The courts are slow, but here the intent of this repurposed curse is to reverse the flow, and by getting to the truth, have "the trolls" remove the fascists from governance. Our democracy must outlive the takeover by authoritarians.
-- Úlfr Ólason
|
