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The Vikings at Helgeland

(Haermaendene paa Helgeland)

Henrik Ibsen - 1858.

Prose drama in four acts set on an island off the coast of Norway in the tenth century A.D.

The play is drawn from the Icelandic family sagas and deals with honour and revenge among two mismatched couples: the peace-loving Gunnar and the valkyrie-spirited Hjerdis; the warrior Sigurd and the gentle Dagny. At a feast of reconciliation, Hjerdis goads the men to quarrel, forcing Dagny to reveal that her husband, not Gunnar, per-formed the heroic feat that won Hjerdis. Sigurd and Hjerdis then recognize their hopeless love; she slays him, hoping they will be united in Valhalla, learning too late he has become a Christian, and they are separated forever.