Concerning_Hallfred_And_The_Favor_Of_King_Olaf

Concerning Hallfred And The Favor Of King Olaf Throughout the majority of the Icelandic sagas we have read, it is evident that Icelanders are always portrayed as very much liked by the kings. The Story-wise Icelander is a perfect representation of this trend. This theme appears elsewhere as well, such as in The Tale of Audun from the Westfjords, wherein Audun quickly gained the affection of King Harald and King Svein ; or in The Tale of Thorstein Shiver, in which Thorstein is said to have been made one of King Olaf’s men . Although generally the Icelanders in these stories share many characteristics, it remains that each one’s relationship with his king is different. This fact is applicable to The Saga of Hallfred Troublesome-Poet, and Hallfred’s relationship to King Olaf. King Olaf favors Hallfred because of Hallfred’s poetic ability and the fact that his stubbornness stands as a challenge to King Olaf. Hallfred’s ability to construct excellent poetry is one of the major contributors to winning Olaf’s favor. Even though one of the first poems Hallfred composed for Olaf earned him his name “Troublesome-Poet,” “Hallfred performed the poem magnificently, and it was a drapa.” King Olaf was so pleased with hallfred, olaf, king, icelanders, one, poetry, very, sagas, saga, much, men, kings, hallfred’s, good, favor, great, fact, because, appears, about, throughout, relationship, poem, olaf’s, greatly, favors, even, christianity, troublesome-poet, time, task, simply, pagan, own, often