The story of Egil Skalla-grímsson is a story about the
untamed human spirit which adapts and adjusts when it is confronted with an
obstacle.
Destiny places obstacles before Egil when his ship is
wrecked and he must sing his way out of death by preforming a heroic poem to
his worst enemy. Mercy is shown to the merciless and he becomes a humbler man.
The might of nature places obstacles before Egil when
his son dies - and Egil himself, like a ship in turmoil, straightens his path
as a human through the narrative.
At the end of the story the old man is faced with the
edge of existence - old age and inevitable death. The proud hero and master
feels the force of life ebb away from him.