The character of Egil is complex and full of seeming contradictions. His multifaceted nature reflects the extreme qualities of his family, a family of men who are either ugly or astoundingly handsome; a family which includes 'shape-shifters', who become suddenly mad, violent and cruel, though they may at other times be deliberate and wise; a family which neither submits to the will of kings, nor stands in open rebellion. His character is also reflected in the storytelling conventions of the text, a difficult text populated by characters with similar or identical names, living out various permutations of very similar stories. The two handsome Thorolfs (Þórólfrs) die heroic deaths, while their brothers Skallagrim and Egil both die in old age after spitefully burying their wealth in the wilderness. The descendants of Kveldúlfr find themselves involved in two complicated inheritance feuds, at one time rejecting the claims of illegitimate children of a second marriage, and at another time claiming land on behalf of another illegitimate child born to similar circumstances.