Aðalból

Aðalból is the seat of pride and its fall in Hrafnkels saga — the chief homestead of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, high in the valley of Hrafnkelsdalr in eastern Iceland. From here the proud chieftain rules his district, keeps the sacred horse Freyfaxi he has dedicated to the god Frey, and swears the vow that drives the saga: to kill any man who rides the horse but himself. It is at Aðalból that he keeps that terrible vow on his own shepherd, and from Aðalból that he is stripped, humiliated, and driven out when the law turns against him. The farm stands for everything the saga is about — the height a proud man can reach, and the completeness of the fall when his pride finally overreaches. Hrafnkell loses Aðalból in his ruin and never gets it back; he rebuilds his power elsewhere. The homestead at the top of the valley, won and lost with a chieftain's pride.