Læknablaðið - maj 2019, Side 26

230 LÆKNAblaðið 2019/105
Y F I R L I T S G R E I N
Halldór Bjarki Einarsson1
Ronni Mikkelsen2
Jón Torfi Gylfason3
Jan Holten Lützhøft4
Considering the changes in moral principles, human behavior
and behavioral values through the ages, in Egill Skallagrímsson’s
Saga, Egill presents us with altered mental status. This is in terms
of what at present is considered symptoms of an anti-social
personality, and bipolar affective disorder. Egill Skallagrímsson
is considered one of the most famous Vikings in the Icelandic
Sagas. Archaeological findings mentioned in Egill’s Saga indicate
disfigurement of his skull, which has led many authors to suggest
that Egill suffered from skeletal dysplasia. The primary assump-
tion in the literature is that Egill Skallagrímsson was affected
by Paget’s disease of bone. This consideration is additionally
based on the scholar’s interpretation of the Saga text. The unique
storytelling style in the Saga of Egill Skallagrímsson is evident;
however, the question of the story’s truthfulness remains open. In
this article, we investigate Egill Skallagrímsson’s assumed Paget’s
disease of bone, based on the physical and mental symptoms
disclosed in the Saga of Egill Skallagrímsson. Associated with the
assumption, the author’s hermeneutics of Egill’s Saga in the con-
text of modern-day knowledge of Paget’s disease of bone, brings
forward the probability estimate to the range of permille. In Scan-
dinavian folklore and mythology, a tale by Saxo Grammaticus of a
notorious shield-maiden named Visna, reminds of Egill, as noted
by Snorri Sturluson. Hence, in reference to Egill Skallagrímsson’s
mental status and physical appearance as listed in Egill’s Saga,
the authors recommend the name for his condition to be “Visna of
Egill Skallagrímsson”.
Visna of Egill Skallagrímsson
ENGLISH SUMMARY
1Department of Neurosurgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark, 2Department of Neuroradiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, 3Lækning, Lágmúla 5,
Reykjavík, Iceland, 4Department of Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Key words: Egill Skallagrímsson, skeletal dysplasia, Paget‘s disease of bone, bipolar affective disorder, hydrocephalus, dementia.
Correspondence: Halldór Bjarki Einarsson, Halldor.Bjarki.Einarsson@rsyd.dk