bandamanna saga. ed. hallvard magerøy

8/13/2019 Bandamanna saga. Ed. Hallvard Magery

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B A N D A M A N N A S A G Aeditedby

H A L L V A R D MAGER0Y

Glossary madebyPeter Foote

Introduction andNotesenglishedby

Peter Footeand SueMargeson


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C o p y r i g h t 1981V I K I N G S O C I E T Y F O R N O R T H E R N R E S E A R C HU N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E L O N D O ND R E Y E R S F O R L A GI/S U N D E R V I S N I N G S L I T T E R A T U RArbiensgt . 7 , Oslo 2

T y p e se t i n M a l t ab y I n t e r p r i n t L i t n i t e dI S B N 0-903521-15-6 ( E n g l ish L a n g u a g e m a r k e t )I S B N 82-09-031341 ( S c a n d i n a v i a n m a r k e t )P r i n t e d a n d b o u n d i n M a l t a 1981b y I n t e r p r i n t L i m i t e do n H a m a n g s l i g h t l y y e l l o w i sh 120g/m offset p a p e r


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P R E F A C E

It is a pleasure to me to express my grati tude to thepeople who have he lped towards the publ ica t ion of th i sedi t ion. Professor Peter Foote and Dr Sue Margesont r ans l a t ed and unde r took some ab r idgemen t o f myintroduct ion and notes . Professor Foote a lso made severalhe lpfu l sugges t ions about in te rpre ta t ion and composedthe glossary, incorporat ing in i t many of the l inguis t iccomments or ig ina l ly inc luded in my genera l no tes .Professor J o n a s K ris tjansson, D irecto r of Stofnun A rn aMagnussonar a I s landi , read the Norwegian tex t andm ad e va lu able com m ents on a n um b er of po in ts . MissM au ree n Th om as read a dra ft o f the g lossary and M rAnthony Faulkes improved the presen ta t ion in var iousways . The ed i t ion could no t have been under takenw ith ou t f inancial s up po rt from th e U niv ers i ty of O slo,whose research fund has met the expenses of t ransla t ion,tha nk s not least to th e good offices of m y co lleag ue . Pro fessor Eyvind Fjeld Halvorsen . F ina l ly , I acknowledgemy obligation to the Council of the Viking Society forNor thern Research , London, and the Di rec tors o f Dreyers


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C O N T E N T SAb b rev ia t i o n s xIn t ro d u c t io n x vB a n d a m a n n a s a g a iG en era l notes 37Glossary 68Index of names in the saga text 104M ap s (A . Iceland; B . T h e l an d ro u n d Hu n af lo i an d at end

HunaIJ9rSr; C . E>ingv9llr)


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A B B R E V I A T I O N S

AJVFBB 1976

Baetke i960

Blondalde Vries

F i n n u r J o n s s o n , Litt. hist.

Arkivfor nordisk filologi.Bandamanna saga.Bandamanna saga utgjcven forSamfund t i l udgivelse af gammelnordisk l i t teratur vcd Hal lvardM a g e r0 y . S T U A G N L L X V I I .1 9 5 6 - 7 6 .Bandam anna saga und Q lkofra pattr. . . herau sgegeb en von W al te rBaetke . Al tn o rd i s rh e T ex tb ib l -io thek, N.F. , 4 . Band. i960.Sigliis Blondal . Island sk-DanskOrdhog. 1 9 2 0 - 2 4 .Jan de Vr ies . Altnordisihe Litera-turgeschiclite^. I - II . Grundriss dergermanischen Ph i lo log ic , 15-16 .1 9 6 4 - 7 .Fin n u r Jo n s so n . Denoldnorske ogoldislandske litteraturs historie'^,I-I I I . 1 9 2 0 - 2 4 .


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A B B R E V I A T I O N S

GrdgasI I

GrdgdsI I I

GuSni Jonsson

Gunnl.Hal ldor Hal ldorsson I-IIHeu s le r 1897

Heus ler 1913

Heusler ,S trafrechtH. Fr.

Grdgds . . Stadarholshok, udg ive t. . . [ved V ilh j alm ur Fi ns en ] .1879, r e p r i n t e d 1974.

Grdg as . . Skdlholtshok . . udg ive t. [ved Vi lh ja lmur F insen] .

1883, r e p r i n t e d 1974.Grettis saga Asmundarsonar. Bandamanna saga. Odds pattr Ofeigssonar.GuSni Jonsson gaf u t . IF V I I .1936-Gunnlaugs saga.Hal ld o r Ha l ld o r s so n . Islenzktord-takasafn I (1968) , I I (1969) .Zwei Isidnder-Geschichten, DieHensna-Pores und die Bandamannasaga h e rau sg e g eb en v o nAn d reas Heu s l e r . 1897.^ivei Isldndergeschichfen . . . her au sg eg eb en v o n An d reas Heu s ler . Zwei te verb . Auflage. 1913.An d reas Heu s l e r . Das StrafrechtderIsl'dndersagas. 1911 Bandamanna Saga, v ed H [ a l l d 6 r ]FriSriksson. No rdiske Oldsk ri f terudg ivn e a f de t nord iske L i te ra -


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Xll ABBREVIATIONSK

KL

K a l u n d , Beskrivelse

Landn.Ljbsv.M

MalshattasafnNKN y g a a r dPrestatalSaga Islands

K o n u n g s b o k , m a n u s c r i p t Gl. kgl.saml. 2845 4to in Det kongeligeBib l io tek , Copenhagen .Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordiskmiddelalder,I-XXII . . . A dm inis t ra tor [I] Lis Ja co bs en , [ I I -X X I I ] G e o r g R o n a . 1956-78 .P. E. Kristian K a l u n d . Bidragtilen historisk-topografisk Beskrivelseaf Island, I - I I . 1 8 7 7 - 8 2 .Landnamabok.Ljosvetninga saga.MoSruval labok, in the col lect ionof S to fnun A rna M agn usso nara Islandi, Reykjavik, formerlyA M 132 fol. in Den Arna-magnaeanske Sam l in g , Co p en h ag en .Islenzkt malshattasafn. F i n n u rJonsson se t t i saman . 1920.Nordisk kultur. 1931-56 .M . N y g a a r d . Norronsyntax. 1905.Sveinn Nielsson. Prestatal og pro-

fasta aIslandi''- 1950.Saga Islands, I - H I . Ritstjori Sig-


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A B B R E V I A T I O N S XIU

h an n es so n , Magniis F i n n b o g a -son og Kris t jan Eldjarn sauu m u t g a f u n a . 1946.

Verzeichnis E i n a r O l . Sveinsson. VerzeichnisisldndischerM drchenvarianten.Folklore Fe llows Co m m u n ic a t io n s83- 1929-Pingvollur M at th ias J>6r3arson . Pingvdllur.Alpingisstadurinnforni. 1945.

Aarbeger Aarbegerfor nordisk Oldkyndighedog Historic.


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I N T R O D U C T I O NThegeneral character andstructure ofthesaga.

Bandamanna saga (hereafter B) belongs to the type ofsagas known as Sagas of Icelanders (or Family Sagas) .The main characters in these sagas are most ly Icelandersand the events they describe are mostly set in Icelanddur ing the per iod f rom the se t t l ement (A.D. 870-930)to the ear ly e leventh century {c. 1030) when the Vik ingAge had ended and Chris t iani ty was f i rmly es tabl ished inboth N orw ay and Ice la nd . But B is d i s t inc t ive am on gSagas of Icelanders in that almost al l i ts action belongsto a t ime subse qu ent to th is per iod. Fr om w ha t is o therwisekno w n ab ou t some of the people involved in the s tory wemust imagine that the chief events take place in the1050S. ' And while the act ion in Sagas of Icelandersnormally covers a relat ively long period, often severalge ne ratio ns or at least the life-span of one m ai n ch ar ac te r ,the centra l ac t ion in B (disregarding Oddr Ofeigsson 'syouth) takes only a l i t t le over four years.

B differs from the u su al ru n of sagas in o th er w ays too .In the form it has in th e M re da cti on B is seen to be


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t ion about genealogy which has nothing to do withthe pr i nc ipa l s tory. Al l info rm at ion in B ab ou t ancestorsan d k insh ip is ei th er rel ate d to events in the saga ( thefather-son re la t ion sh ip of Ofeigr an d O d d r , the re la t ion sh ip be tween Svala and E>6rarinn LangdoelagoSi) orserves to expla in t he c ha ra cte rs a n d roles of some of themain f igures (Ofeigr SkiSason, Ospakr Glumsson) .

Sagas of Icelanders are very var ied in content , but whatwe he ar most ab ou t is confl ic t b etw een in divid uals orgrou ps over pr op er t y , ho no ur or w om en. As in the heroicpo etry of the E d da , the cen tra l incid ents are usual lybru ta l b a t t le - scenes or bu rn ing s , the heroes a re cham pionsof ou ts ta nd ing phys ica l an d/ or m enta l capac i ty , and thedo m in an t no te is t rag ic , thou gh g l impses of a ra th erha rsh h u m o u r an d sense of com edy a re vouchsafed herean d th ere . In some shor t s tor ies (pettir), on the othe r ha nd ,a sense of h u m o u r a nd a com ic spir i t pro vide the k ey-note .

T h e co nte nts of B are a lso extrem ely var ie d. T h e sagais buil t l ike a frame round a centre-piece. The frame is thestory of a father and son who are so unlike in characterand interests that the father, part ly because of his ownlack of u n d er st a n d in g , loses his son and his son's affection.H e wins him ba ck only after years of pa tie nt w ait ing ,


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I N T R O D U C T I O N XVll

and extraordinar i ly sage in counsel and who f ights onlywith inte l lectual weapons, i s Njall E>orgeirsson in .Njalssaga. But there is a fun da m enta l d i s t inc t ion be tw eenNjal 's s i tuation and Ofeig 's . Njal 's wise advice is continual ly turned to misfor tune by the intervent ion of dest iny.That is Njal ' s t ragedy. But when everything turns out wel lfor Ofeig r in B, it is be ca us e t he re is no inte rfe ren ce froma fate th at w orks in a my sterious w ay. B is ce rtai nly oneof the leas t "m ys t ic al " , o ne of the m ost c lear-as-d ay an drat ional of a l l the Sagas of Icelanders . The only superna tura l in t rus ion is in conn ec t ion wi th H er m u n d 'sde at h in the f inal cha pt er . T his a t t i tu de of the au th o rdoubt less a lso explains why he ignores such a commondevice of saga na rra t iv e as the use of forebo ding dr ea m s.

T he absence of t rag ic a tm osp her e is bo un d up wi ththe fact that , unlike the usual Sagas of Icelanders, thissaga has pure comedy as i ts outcome. I t is "the f irstreasonable and modern comedy in the h i s tory of modernEurope" , a s W. P . Ker said. The I ce l ande r s had notheatre and i f they were to have comedy, i t too had to bec lo thed in saga dress . But the au thor has made maximumuse of direct speech. This is an important stylist ic feature


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XVlll I N T R O D U C T I O N

before the batt le . Scholars have long since noticed thes imi la r i ty be tween Egill Skulason in B, when he talksback to his erstwhile allies in ch. lo , and Loki in thep o e m Lokasenna, where he bandies words with the othergods in a similar way.

The nature ofthecomedy. Dialogue and the use of verse.C o m ed y in B is no t least the co m ed y of si tua tion . At th efirst assembly (ch. 5) the chieftains Styrmir and E>6rarinngive the ju dg es no opt io n b ut to com m it a glar ing injus t ice when they s top an open-and-shut k i l l ing casebecause a t an ear ly s tage the prosecutor had made atr if l ing procedural error. But when Ofeigr later gets theju d g e s to rectify this, it is no t be cau se the ir sense of ju stic eprevai ls but because they, who ought to be the foremostpro tec tor s of ev ery thi ng lawful an d right , them selvescommit the most heinous i l legal i ty by accept ing br ibesto disregard the pla int i f f ' s formal mis take. Contras tbe tw ee n legal formal ism an d m ora l r ight is a not un co m m on saga th em e. In B jus t ice prevai ls bu t only bytrampling under foot the very pr inciples on which honestlegal procedure is based. As a whole B provides some of


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But the comedy also l ies in the speeches and dialogue.Th is is especia l ly t ru e of the fantas t ic ba t te ry of ar gu m en tswith which the author a l lows Ofeigr to blow to smithereens a l l the object ions and remonstrances that reasonand moral i ty can marshal against h is tempting offers .We may be sure too that the wrangl ing between Egi l l andthe other confederates, which is coarser in tone, was alsohighly apprecia ted by the audience for whom the sagawas inte nd ed . I t is these exchang es tha t are most re m iniscen t o f the edda ic poems ment ioned above .T h e dialog ue in B is ch ara cte rist ic ally f luent an d closeto real speech. W e find inter ject ions , un co m m o n inSagas of Icela nd ers , an d a na tu ra l tur n of famil iar speechlikehann Oddr,with the procl i t ic perso nal p ro no un beforea na m e ( thou gh this occurs mo re often in K th an in M ) .Long rep l ies a re made more supple by a "sa id so-and-so"inserted in the middle of the speech instead of merelyat the beginning or end. This and other features give thestyle a more spontaneous, less l i terary r ing.

The use of stanzas of verse is also part of the dialoguetec hn iq ue . I t is a well-kn ow n a rt ist ic device in Sag as ofIcela nd ers . A saga ch ara cte r m ay of ten express tho ug hts


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Oddr. I t is placed there to add st i l l more to Egil 's suspense(and the reader ' s ) just before he drops his bombshell .Such a move to increase suspense before a sensationals t roke (" re ta rd a t io n" ) is a recognised n ar ra t ive device , aswell known in Sagas of Icelanders as in modern novels.*^In B we m eet this device ag ain at the end of the longspeech in which Ofeigr gives his merciless characterisationof the confederates one by one. After the characters ofa ll the me m be rs of the ba nd hav e been unf la t ter inglysketched, only the ruthless cynic, Egil l , remains, and theaudience mus t have been on ten te rhooks to know whatOfeigr would say to him. But then Ofeigr recites strophe4 before he lets th e cat ou t of the ba g H e utters stro ph e 5when he has established his decisive victory over theconfedera tes . I t is a t r iu m ph an t m em or ia l to h is ach ievem en t an d a ju b i l an t end to the saga 's A l thing episode.F ina l ly we have s t rophe 6, which heightens and marksthe end of the whole saga.^

A proper comedy should have a happy ending , and sohas B. The actual comedy, the conflict at the assembly,ends in to ta l v ic tory for Ofeigr and Oddr and tota ldefeat for the ba n d of chieftains. A nd the n in the framenarrative we find that not only does the father win back


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I N T R O D U C T I O N XXI

The characters.T h e cre ator of B reveals his ar t not least re m ar ka bl y inthe por t raya l o f charac te rs . He has a ra re ab i l i ty to drawdis t inct ive individuals .

(i) Ofeigr.Ofeigr SkiSason occupies a special posit ion in the portrai tgallery. He is introduced in the f irst sentence of the saga,an d is w i thou t dou bt the ch ara c te r dep ic ted by the a u t ho rwi th the grea tes t o r ig ina l i ty , sympathy and p leasure .

A uth ors of sagas seem to hav e ha d a specia l pred i lect io nfor the po r t ray a l o f o lder men of m on um en ta l s ta tu re ,l ike Egil l Skallagrlmsson, Njall Porgeirsson a n d HavarSrIsfirSingr in the i r respec t ive sagas and Ing imundr inngamli in Vatnsdwlasaga. As a l i terary portrai t Ofeigr isthus in dis t inguished company. He s tands up wel l to thecompar i son .

What is most impressive about Ofeigr at f irst s ight ishis br i l l iant in te l l igence, h is profound knowledge of men,an d h is rea dy ton gu e . Th ey m ake h im m as te r of everys i tua t ion , however compl ica ted and hope less i t may


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T h e different m eth od s of ap p ro ac h Ofeigr ado pts inorder to win over Egill and Gellir offer an especially goodi l lus t ra t io n of his psycho logical ins ight . W he n he w antsto get hold of the proud and prickly Egill , he takes careto m eet h im o ut of doo rs , w ai t ing beside the boo th unt i lEgil l has f inished talking to some other men, and thengreet ing him respectful ly . When he wants to get hold ofGell ir , on the other hand, he sends a message in to bidGell ir come out to see him. Ofeigr spends much t ime onb la ta n t f lattery of Egil l an d on di sp ar ag em en t ofhimself.To Gellir he only says politely that he, Gellir, is a wiseman and that is why he wants to talk to him. This is noexaggera t ion bu t a reasonable compl iment to the manhe wants as father-in-law for his son. In conversationwith Egill Ofeigr forcefully urges how deceived hisex pe cta t ion of rew ar d will be . To Gel l i r, on the oth erhand, he chief ly s t resses moral i ty and reputat ion. ToEgill he offers the threat that his own farm, Borg, mightbe de va sta ted by O d d r . But he f r ightens Gel l ir , w ho isless selfish t h a n Egill a n d w ell dispo sed to ev ery on e, w ithth e pros pe ct of th e de stru ctio n of several chieftains 'houses round the coast of Iceland as well as the possibil i tytha t his ow n hom e m ight be bu rn t and his wom enfolk


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r ich m a n ? " And wh en it comes to h i t t ing on one of theoth er seven confede rates to jo in Egill in br ea ki n g his oat hand betraying his companions , Ofeigr says to Egi l l , "Actas if I can choose any one of them."

With this cynicism is united Ofeig 's talent for playac t ing . He de l ibera te ly makes h imse l f more wre tchedand pit iable than he really is . He looks harmless, so hisopponents lose their caut ion and give him his chance toge t under the i r guard .

Yet the essential thing about Ofeigr is that his intel l igence, cynicism and act ing abi l i ty are in real i ty only anou te r shell. Ins ide th er e is a flame of m or al seriousn essand genuine pa thos , wounded fa ther - fee l ing in re la t ionto Oddr , r ighteous indignat ion a t the s ta te of the law,deep anger against the confederates. Ofeigr f ights in thefirst place to save his son, in the second to save his ownhap pines s . The refore i t is not ju s t fe igned bu t de eplyand authent ical ly ser ious when Ofeigr feels himselfweighed down and hopeless faced with the tasks he hastaken u po n himself an d w hich seem so imp ossible . A ndjust as HavarSr Isf i rSingr in his saga gradual ly recoversand regains his zest for living as vengeance for his son isachieved, so Ofeig 's mood picks up at each new victory.


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example , or when he comes to te l l Oddr of the vic tor iousou tco m e a t the A l th in g . I t is a lso ap pa re n t in h is t enden cyto irony especially obvious in his conversation withOddr and his great speech to the confederates in ch. lo.And Ofeigr shows an almost childish need to crow, bothin this great speech and in the t r iumphant s tanza af terthe defeat of the chief ta ins . T his consta nt in ter playbe tween hones t fee l ing and unres t ra ined cunning andcynicism, between real mood and assumed role , i s whatmakes Ofe ig ' s persona l i ty and appearance so en te r ta in ingand cap t iva t ing , so unmatched in saga l i t e ra ture .

(ii) Oddr.I t has been suggested that Oddr Ofeigsson displays anun na tu ra l am big u i ty of cha rac t e r , w h ich has beenexpla ined by c la iming tha t h i s por t ra i t depends on aco m bin a t io n of m ater ia l s d r aw n from vary in g l i te ra rysources.^ I t is true that in the ordinary run of things wesho uld f ind i t diff icult to believe tha t a m a n l ike O d d r, wh oworks his way up from more or less nothing to become ther ichest m an in Icela nd an d the associa te of pr inces ab roa d,would appear so complete ly naive and helpless on his


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(Icel . kolbitr " c o a l - b i t e r " , N o r w . Askeladden " A s h - l a d " ) ,and one of the chief characterist ics of this type of hero islack of energ y an d a bi l i ty a t ho m e which contras ts w i thhis success out in the world. ' But Oddr also has clearlyrealist ic trai ts . The author gives a skilful impression of hischi ldl ike ob st inac y w he n his fa ther a pp ro ac he s him af terthe fiasco at the assembly and offers his help. Ofeigrpretends he cannot bel ieve that Oddr has been forcedto give up the sui t , an d O d d r answ ers , " I d on ' t care on ebi t whether you befieve it or n o t " O d d r is s ti ll naiv elyself-confident in th e co nv ersa tion in ch. 7, w he n Ofeigrshows him how l i t t le he unders tands the s i tuat ion andm akes him realise his da ng er an d his nee d of he lp . Butwith Odd's fantas t ic luck on his Orkney voyage in ch. 11an d his m agnif icen t w ed din g af terw ards , we are oncemore back in a fa i ry- ta le world .

(iii) Ospakr.O sp ak r Glum sson is in m an y ways the most ty pical"saga charac te r" in the s to ry . Unl ike Ofe igr and Oddrwho appear bas ica l ly wi th the same charac te r th roughoutthe saga, Osp ak r is the sor t of ch ar ac te r w ho d evelo ps ,


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for his future . O sp ak r too will bec om e an out law . T he reare m a n y e xa m ple s in Sagas of Ice lan de rs of such difficultpe r sonah t i e s , who play a decisive part in the action butm eet a sorryend.' At the sam e t ime O spa kr has some goodfeatures. He is able and shrewd and clever with words.Like Oddr he works himself up to become a coasta lskipper . And when f i rs t wi th Oddr he has an opportuni tyto show both his abil i ty and his honest desire to be loyalto his employer. He also advises Oddr to let his fathertake over the chief ta incy in his absence abroad. But inreal i ty O sp ak r is g lad w hen O d d r insists tha t he takech ar ge of th e farm an d the chieftaincy. His objections aresham. Desire for power and dis t inct ion above his s ta t ionhas now been wakened in Ospakr , and people in thedis t r ic t th ink Oddr has acted rashly . This las t i s importantfor in Sagas of Icelanders what the people of a distr ictsay is usually r ight . All the same, the decisive turning-poin t in Ospak ' s deve lopment does no t come unt i l hegets to know Svala. As often in sagas, i t is a woman whosets the wheel of misfortune in motion. His l ink withSvala causes the dangerous tendencies la tent in Ospak 'spersonal i ty , to fa lseness , arrogance and bruta l i ty , to getthe up pe r h an d . T h e good will he showed to s tar t wi th and


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that his dismal death at the last is seen as an end hedeserved.

The account of Ospak's acts of revenge before he dies ism ore closely re la ted to the m ain p ar t of the saga tha n m ayappear a t f i rs t s ight . The people he harms are men againstwhom he had specia l reasons for feel ing bi t ter . Oddr hadbrought the lawsui t which led to his sentence of out lawry.Bergjjorr of B9Svarsh61ar ha d play ed a s ignif icant pa r tin t he p roceed ings when O spa kr was con dem ned , and ha dreceived specia l payment for i t . Mar Hildisson had takenfrom him the only person he might turn to in his need, hiswife Svala. But even if these acts of revenge have theirevident mot ivat ion, they never theless show that Ospakrhas become no more than a c r imina l . Indeed , in the wayhe plays his hand in the last chapter he becomes str ikinglyreminiscent of an aptrgqngumadr,one of the m alev olen tdead -wa lkers of Norse folk-belief (cf note to 3 5 /2 0 -2 6 ) .

(iv) Vdliand Svala.Vali , the innocent and self less mediator who loses hisl i fe in a t tempt ing to reconc i le Oddr and Ospakr , re


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shallow. She is the antithesis of the loyal wife (AuSr inGislasaga,for exa m ple) w ho st icks by her hu sb an d thr ou ghthick and thin .

(y ) The confederates.The ch ie f ta ins who band toge ther aga ins t Oddr inc luderep rese nta t ives f rom all four Q ua rte rs of the co un try( the same is t rue of the corresponding group in Qlkofra

pattr). Bae tke is u n d ou b te d ly r ight in bel ieving tha t theauthor had a par t icu la r in ten t ion in se lec t ing them thusw i d e l y . ' "

T h e person al i t ies of the chief ta ins S tyrm ir Porgeirssonan d f>6rarinn LangdoelagoSi inn spaki are c lear ly demonstrated through the dialogue, Styrmir aggressive, self ishand coward ly , Porarinn apparent ly jus t as se l f -centredbut wiser and more moderate . His remarks tend to beadage-l ike sayings, part ly in verse. He also represents afixed type in Sagas of Icelanders, which has been labelled" the Wise Counse l lo r " .11

Sty rmi r and E>6rarinn set each other off and there is acomparab le con t r a s t be tween the ho t - t empered andreckless Egil l Skulason and the nice but weak and insecure


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and a lso the most dominat ing and aggress ive of the confede ra t e s i s Hermundr lUugason of the wel l -knownGi lsbakki family , b ro the r of G un n lau gr orm stun ga .I n Gunnlaugs saga he is po r t ray ed m ore sym path e t ica l ly .I t says there of the bro thers tha t " H e r m u n d r was them ore pop ula r of the two and ha d the s tam p of a chieft a i n " . 1 In B H e rm u n d r a lso ap pe ars as a grea t chief ta in .He and Egi l l come from the same dis t r ic t but are archenemies . Hermund 's dea th , descr ibed in de ta i l in thelast ch ap te r, ca n be seen as a fulfi lment of the curse w hic hEgil l threw at him in the dispute at the assembly.

T h a t t>orgeirr Halldoruson is as stupid as Ofeigr sayshe is can be clearly seen from the only words put into hismouth in the whole s tory, a banal repet i t ion of whatHermundr and S ty rmi r have a l r eady sa id .

Ja rn sk eg g i, son of th e fam ous E in ar r Eyjolfsson offvera in EyjafjgrSr, is cha racte r ised by Ofeigr as im m od erate ly va in ; in th at respect he recal ls h is pr ou d un cle ,GuSmundr inn riki of MgSruvellir (cf. p. xxxv below).

Skegg-Broddi , of the wel l -known Hof family inVapnafjgrSr, gets on the ot he r h a n d a no ta bl y f latteringmention by Ofeigr and is himself modest in his reply.This accords with the impress ion we get of Skegg-Broddi


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The satire; and the saga's relation to history.B can be called a comedy in saga dress but i ts sat ir icalch ar ac te r is a lso evid ent . I t m ust have been wri t ten wh enthe Ice landic commonweal th was in the th roes of rad ica lchange. In the th i r teenth century the old farming socie ty ,with re la t ively l i t t le d is t inct ion between ordinary farmersand chieftains, was finally replaced by a society in whicha rich an d d o m in a n t u p p er class of chieftains ' familieshad emerged, who were caught up in a ruthless s t rugglefor supremacy. Some, l ike Stur la Sighvatsson and GizurrP o r v a l d s s o n , aimed to become sole rulers in the country,and a t tempted to s t rengthen the i r pos i t ion in Ice land byen te r in g the se rv ice of K ing H ak on of No rwa y, whoseown in ten t ion was to br ing the Ice landers under h i sco nt ro l . Th e m em or y of this per iod of bit ter strife m usthave remained fully al ive in Iceland long after the Icelan de rs h ad a cce pte d the N orw eg ian king as their overlord in 1 2 6 2 - 4 .

It has bee n cla im ed (cf p. xxxiv below) t h at B is anexpress ion of in di gn at i on a t and oppo si t ion to the chieftain class and the lawless condit ions of that t ime. Theremust be a t leas t substant ia l t ruth in th is in terpreta t ion.T h e selection of chieftains in the confed eracy from all


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came into being a t a t ime when saga-wri t ing was in ful lflower, a nd i t is a n at ur al as sum ption th at the au th o r k newa work such asLaxdcela saga. In that saga, and for thatmatter in others too, l ike Egils saga a n d Njals saga, theIcelandic leaders of the Viking Age are por t rayed in away which makes them a kind of su pe rm en . And we knowtha t th i r te en th-c en tury Ice land ers tended to look backon the earl iest period of their country 's history as a lostGolden Age. One cannot then ignore the possibi l i ty thatB was a b ar b a im ed at th isliterarygildin g of chieftains an dcond i t ions of the Ice lan dic p ast as m uc h as , or even m orethan , an a t tack on the contemporary s ta te o f Ice landicsociety. Parallels from other l i teratures may be ci ted C e r v a n t e s ' Don Quixote, for exam ple , a par od y ofcu r ren t Span ish ro m an ce , o r J . H . W esse l' s KiarlighedudenStremper, a pa ro dy of c lass ical F re nc h t r a g e d y , i*

In B the form a nd tec hn iqu e show such logic an dar t is t ry , both in the main plot and in the deta i ls , and thechief events are in themselves so im p ro ba b le a nd folk-ta lel ike, that we must conclude that the saga tel ls very l i t t lethat ever actual ly happened. St i l l , there is reason tobel ieve th at O d d r an d his fa ther Ofeigr were real pe oplein e leventh-cen tury Ice land , par t ly because we see tha t


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separate f rom the account in B. With the except ion ofE>orgeirr H al ld or us on a ll the confederates are knownfrom other Icelandic sources . But otherwise the contentsofBan d th e verse i t con ta ins are com plete ly un kn ow n inother wri t ings and, a l l th ings considered, must be countedthe pure invent ion of the author . This appl ies to thena r ra t iv e abo ut M ar Hi ld isson and s t rophe 6 a t the endof th e saga as well , th o u gh i t has been g ene rally held th atthis s tanza was der ived f rom an older t radi t ion. But thereare factors which indicate that both the s t rophe and theprose around i t are the work of the author ofB, who heremade use of mater ia l f rom Porgils saga ok Hqflida andGunnlaugs saga (cf. p. xxxix be low) ,i

In the past it was c la ime d tha t B pro vide d ev idence ofthe pover ty of Icelandic chief ta ins in the e leventhc e n t u r y . ' Recent ly , on the other hand, i t has beensuggested that the background for the s tory was thepover ty of Icelandic chief ta ins in the th i r teenth century,the t ime the saga was composed, i' Both views appear tobe mis taken. B te l ls us nothing about a s ta te of generalimpover i shment among Ice landic ch ie f ta ins . In ch . loi t s ta tes qui te the opposi te , when both Styrmir andHermundr a re descr ibed as wel l - to -do . The on ly chief


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tains in B w ho are har d up are Egil l an d G ell ir , bu t the yhav e to be to m ake Ofeig 's br ib ery of th em m or e pla usible.

Dating the saga.B ap pe ars to ha ve been c om posed in the la t te r pa r t of thethir teenth century. A decis ive terminusadquern is the age ofMoSruva l labok , the codex conta in ing the main tex t o fthe saga (M). I t seems cer ta in that th is was wri t ten about1350.' The o the r manusc r ip t con ta in ing the who le t ex t ,G l. kgl. saml. 2845 4to ( the K recension) , i s dated to thefirst q u a rt e r of the f if teenth ce n tu ry ,i M and K have aremoter common source (cf . p .xlv be low) , and a n um be rof textu al deta i ls pro ve th at M w as copied f rom an old ere x e m p l a r2 that is to say, i t is out of the question thatthe M text is the original text of the saga. But whetherM's exemplar was i t se l f the au thor ' s manuscr ip t o r anintermediate copy der ived f rom i t cannot be told .

T h e terminus is take n far th er ba ck t h an the da te ofM oS ruv al lab ok by a reference to B in Grettis saga, ch. 14.Grettissagaas we hav e i t is gen eral ly th ou gh t to dat e f romthe ear ly four teen th cen tury .2'


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crow n. A n in te res t in g cor respo nden ce be tw een B and thel awbooks Jdrnsida a n d Jbnsbok has recent ly been pointedout.^^ The first of these codes was valid, in part or as awhole , f rom 1271 to 1281, the second after 1281. If Bshows inf luence f rom these lawbooks we there have aterminus a quofor it s com pos i t ion. But m ore po ints h aveto be considered.

Pe te r Hal lbe rg has m ain ta in ed tha t B mu s t have beenw r i t ten com par a t iv e ly ear ly in the th i r tee n th cen turybecause of the relat ive frequencies of the verbs hittaskj

finnask (in the sense "to m e e t " ) , ^ ^ but this point , howeverone may assess it in general terms, hardly seems sufficientto decide the case.

G uS ni Jo ns so n bel ieved tha t B was w ri t ten, nea r th em idd le of t he th i r t een th cen tu ry .^ There were twoth ings in par t icu la r which he thought ind ica ted a da te ofcom pos i t ion before the end of the co m m on w eal th . O neis the s t rong a t tack on bl ind legal formal ism which wefind in the saga. The other is the contempt for the godar.Both a t t i tudes , he beheved, must have been especia l lyprevalent in the lawless period before the free statef inal ly succumbed. But too much weight cannot beat tached to these arguments e i ther , s ince pervers ion of


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at its highest and most refined level. This makes it difficultto place the saga among the ear l ies t works in the genre .A nd if i t is r ig ht to in te rp re t the saga as a l i te rar y trav estyof sagas in the pre va i l ing t ra di t io na l form, w ith theirceleb rat ion of gre at m en an d heroes larger th an life , weare bou nd to bel ieve th at B cam e into bein g a t a r a t h eradv anc ed s tage in the deve lo pm ent of saga l i t e ra tu re .

Several cha rac te rs and c i rcum stances in B bec om e m oreahve and stand out in clearer rel ief if they are seen againstthe background of por t ra i t s and events which o ther sagasprovide. I t cannot be mere chance, for example , that r ighta t the beg inn ing of B we learn th at Ofeigr SkiSason isdescended on his mother 's s ide f rom the pla in farmer ,Ofeigr JarngerSarson of Sk9r3 , w h o m w e h e a r m u c habout in Ljosvetninga saga, wh ere he t ime and aga inhum bles the overw eening ch ie fta in , G u S m u nd r inn r ik iof M93ruvellir in Eyjafj9rSr. O n e of the two red act io nsoiLjosv. tel ls how O feigr Ja rn ge rS ar so n helps to se t t le alawsui t by a r r an gin g a m arr iag e wi tho ut consu l t ingthe prospec t ive br ide and groom.^ In some ways thisoffers a str iking parallel to the account in B, whereOfe igr SkiSason uses a m atc h be tw een O d d r an d R ag n-heiSr Gell isdo tt ir as a chief m ea ns of sec urin g victo ry


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beca use of his ar ro ga nc e. Jar ns ke gg i is a lso men t ione d inLjbsv. H e is sa id to ha ve bee n a re ta ine r of K ing H ar al d rSigu rSars on an d is descr ibed as an aggress ive ch ara cte r .

A pa r t from B an d Qlkofra pattr, Ljosv. is the only textth a t t e ll s an yt h in g p ar t ic u la r of Skegg-Broddi . He thereap p ea rs as on e of th e foremost chieftains of East Icela ndand i s por t rayed th roughout in an a t t rac t ive way , as healso is in Qlkofra pattr. We find that he gets a notablyfavourab le ment ion by Ofe igr in B.

If we know the descr ipt ion of the out lawed robberchief ta in , Ospakr Kjal laksson, in Eyrbyggjasaga,we hav e apo r te n t o f the ch ara c te r a nd des t iny of h is g rand son ,Ospakr Glumsson , in B.

In the case of bo th O feigr a nd O sp ak r the correspondences be tween them and the i r fo rebears , in character and role , are c lear ly under l ined by their ident icaln a m e s .

Eyrbyggja saga gives the same inform at ion ab ou tOspak's family origins as is given in B. Eyrbyggja saga,ch. 62, says that Glumr Ospaksson marr ied I 'o rd is ," d a u g h t e r of A s m u n d r haerukollr and sister of Grett irthe s t rong , and the i r son was Ospakr who contended wi thOddr Ofeigsson of MiSfJ9rSr".^ W he n B also includes


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been based on an earl ier saga.^ The tex t we now haveconta ins in form at ion ab ou t O spa kr Glum sson ' s fami lywhich corresponds to what we are to ld in Eyrbyggja sagaand B. Ospakr himself p lays a par t in two or three scenesan d is descr ibed as pug nac ious a nd am bi t ious (kappsmadrok framgjarn).As has often be en poin ted o ut , O d d r O feigsson resembles Oddr in Odds pattr Ofeigssonar. Th i s pattr is inthe Mork insk inna codex (wr i t t en c. 1275) and severalla ter medieval manuscr ipts . I t has been suggested that i twas composed in the f i rs t half of the th i r teenth century,^an d th ere is every reason to bel ieve th at i t ante da tes B.In the pattr O d d r is a p ro m ine nt t r ad er from MiSfj9rSr,renowned for the skil l and success of his voyaging (far-snilli). H e was often ho no ur ab ly rece ived by H ar a l d rSigurSarson of N orw ay b ut the s to ry ends w i th en m i tybetween him and the king. As in B, Oddr tends to take acharacter is t ica l ly shor ts ighted view of th ings and needsother men 's advice , but he takes good care of peopleunde r h im.

O d d r Ofeigsson is a lso an im po r ta n t ch ara c te r inHem ings pattr Aslakssonar, wh ich is tho ug ht to hav e beenwri t ten in the las t par t of the th i r teenth century.^ O d d r


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w h om he is on b ad term s by the end of the s tory. A pa r t icu lar po int of res em bla nc e to B is found in the acco un t inHemings pattr of ho w O d d r sails thr ou gh the barr ier ofKing Harald 's ships. He sets sai l in spite of the derision ofthe Norwegians ashore and his extraordinary ski l l getsh im ou t and away to I ce l and .3 This reminds us of hisd e p a r t u r e f r o m E>orgeirsfJ9rSr in B, ch. 11.

As we have seen, the character and fa te of Ospakr , thechief vil lain in B, are presaged by allusions to narrativemater ia l known o therwise f rom Eyrbyggja saga andtradi t ions about Gret t i r . Similar ly , the person and s ta tureof the young hero of B, Oddr Ofeigsson, are thrown intorel ief and enhanced by the connect ion that comes to bemade be tween h im and the events and people oiLaxdalasaga. As a whole , one can regard Laxdcela sagaas a m onu m en t raised to glorify the family of the hi gh bo rn brid eOddr ul t imately wins in B. Her fa ther 's fa ther , PorkellEyjolfsson, was a great trader and one of Iceland's leading chieftains, as we learn from a number of sources,including Snorr i ' s sagas about St Olafr . In Laxdala saga,ch. 68, we read that E>orkell "owned two ocean-goingvessels on t r ad in g voy age s; on e of th em arr ived a tBorSeyrr in HrutafJ9rSr".3i In B, ch. i, it says of Oddr


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and phrases tha t show formal cor respondence wi thexpressions in B.^^

In Laxdcela saga iJorkel's s tanding i s par t icu la r lyenhanced by h is marr iage to GuSriin Osvifrsdott ir .This saga is the only source to make GuSriin so outs tanding a person. In ch. 78 there we read, "I t i s a lsouniversally said that GuSrun was the noblest of al lwomen ever born of her rank in Iceland."^ G uSru n w asthe mother of Gel l i r in B and so grandmother of the br ideof the hero , O d dr .

T w o of th e lea di ng chieftains in B are Egill Sk ulaso nof B o rg a n d H e r m u n d r Illugason of Gi l sbakki . T he ybelong respectively to the two families which stand at thecentre of Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu. Sev eral p oin ts inGunnl. are rem inisc ent of B. O d d 's se lf -willed d ep ar tu refrom his fa ther 's home is a c lear paral le l to Gunnlaug 'sa t te m pt to do som eth ing s imilar . I t is in acc ord w ith thefamous scaldic tradit ions of the Borg family that Egil l isqu ick to res po nd to ve rse; an d the last s ta nz a in B has suchstriking affinity w ith th e last w ord s of the dy ing H rafn inGunnl.tha t inf luence o ne way or the oth er is ind isp uta ble .As we have ev idence tha t t rad i t ions abo ut G un nl au grwere wel l known in Ice land th roughout the th i r teen th


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Isfrdings, K ings ' Sagas , Porgils saga ok Haflida in theSturlunga sagacom pi la t ion , an d , as was m ent ion ed ear lie r,edda ic poems .^ A paral le l text occupying a specia lposi t ion remains to be considered. This is Qlkofra pattr.

In this short s tory, as in B, a group of great chieftainsband together to exploi t a t r iv ia l i ty and br ing a lawsui tagainst a weal thy man in order to lay hands on hispr op er ty . Th e defen da nt himself is com plete ly helplessbut receives cunning ass is tance f rom an outs ider , BroddiB jarna son ( the Sk egg-B roddi of B) . T w o of the prosecutors are persuaded to betray the others . The lawsui tends in a complete f iasco and a glorious senna be tweenB rod di an d th e ins t igato rs of the case . T he saga and thepattr also disp lay a series of stra igh tfo rw ard formalco r re spondences .^

Everyone seems to agree that there must be a l i teraryconnec t ion be tween the pattr and B. The saga lies on ah igher l i t e ra ry p lane and depar t s more no tab ly f rom thec o m m o n r u n o fsagas . W as the pattr a model that inspiredthe author of B, or is i t a more art less imitat ion of thesaga? In recent t imes most scholars have incl ined to theform er e xp lan at io n, th ou gh on e is forced to be con tentwith arguments that are less than decis ive . ''


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oral c i rcula t ron and exis ted in that mode behind andalongside the l i terary transmission.^^ This applies forexample to Oddr Ofe igs son , Gre t t i r Asmundar son andOfe igr Ja rn ge rS ars on in B. But where re la t io nsh ip incon tent is extensive and deta i led, a nd especia lly wh ere i tis acco m pan ied by com para t ive ly c l ea r and c i r cum s tan t ia l cor respondence in vocabula ry and syntax (d i s regarding verse and f ixed idioms) , one may be compel ledto assume direct influence from one writ ten text onanother. As far as I can see, such a conclusion is assuredin the case ofBan d Qlkofra pattr discussed above.

But even if s im ilar i ty betw een two surviving w orks ca nbe counted the result of direct influence, i t may as withB and Qlkofra pattr still be difficult to decide whichway the inf luence went . No general rules have as yet beenpro po un de d for the so lu t ion of thi s p ro ble m , beyo nd theguidance provided by es tabl ished chronological facts .

Exc lud ing Qlkofra pattr a n d p e r h a p s Porsteins sagaSidu-Hallssonar,ha rd ly a ny of the texts th at ca n otherw isebe used to throw light on the contents of B, show suchextensive mater ia l or formal correspondence with i t thatwe mu st con clud e tha t th e au th o r of B cam e by hisknowledge f rom the work in i ts extant l i terary form rather


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death. The man who l inked these two i tems can hardlyhave been a ny on e bu t the au th or of the ex tan tLaxdcelasaga.Bu t, as no ted ab ov e, this detai l rec urs in B (where ithas the c h ar ac te r of a blin d m otif) . As show n a bo ve, it isalso only Laxdcela saga in i ts l i ter ary form an d no ot he rsource which gives GuSrun Osvifrsdot t i r such uniques ta tus , a status which helps to explain why i t is that in Bprecisely her granddaughter is chosen for the marr iage-match to crown the success of the hero, Oddr .

For tuna te ly we can have more conf ident op in ionsab ou t the d ate of or igin o{Laxdcelasagath an of most oth ersagas . I t has long been held that i t was wri t ten about them iddle of the th i r te en th cen tu ry , bu t Rol f Hel le r hasrecent ly presented persuasive reasons for bel ieving that i tcannot have been composed unt i l af ter 1255. He himselfwould prefer to assign the saga to a still later date.^If this is co rre ct , an d given th at B builds onLaxdcela saga,B can no t hav e been wr i t ten before ab ou t 1260, i .e . aboutthe t ime the Ice landic commonweal th came to an end .

If B is thus to be put between Laxdcela sagaa n d Grettissaga,we ha ve a pr o b a b le s pa n of, say, f if ty years, betw eena b o u t 1260 a n d 1310, in which to place i ts composit ion.If B is influe nce d by Jdrnsida (cf. p. xxxiv) it must be


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Where the saga was written.T h a t the au th o r w rote in Ice lan d is evid ent from expressions such a s : pa var hann bedinn af vinum sinum atstadfestaskher (M and K) 3 /8 ; her a Islandi ( M ; hera landiK) 3 /17 ; her a landi (M and K) 3 /21 . It is not so easy tosay where he belonged in Iceland. The events in the sagachief ly take place in the Hunavatn dis t r ic t and a t theAl th ing . The M tex t shows no topographica l e r ror inthese p laces , though the au thor appears vague aboutlocal condit ions in E>orgeirsfJ9rSr a n d BorgarfJ9rSr (cf.notes to 34/4, 35/2). The writer who tel ls us in M thatOfeigr SkiSason lived vestr i Midfirdi ( i / i ) and tha tOfeigr J a rn ge r Sa r so n was nordan br Skqrdum (i /4) mus thave l ived in Nor th Ice land somewhere be tweenMiSfJ9rSr and the dis t r ic t where Sk9rS lies*i (cf MapsA-B) , bu t we hav e no mea ns of dec id ing w he the r these a rethe words of the or iginal au th or or of a la te r copyis t . T he reare th ings which suggest that MoSruval labok was i tse l fwri t ten in that same area , poss ibly a t the monastery ofM9Sruvel l i r in H9rgardalr*2, and i t i s known that thescribe of this codex could on occasion omit statements of


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redact ions . I t i s a lso important that M contains f ivestanzas a t t r ibuted to Ofeigr , which are not in K, whi le thes tan za ascr ibed to Os pa kr in the las t ch ap te r of the sagais in bo th M an d K .

These c i rcums tances have m ad e B a cen t ra l sub jec t o fdispute in the long controversy about the or igins of Sagasof Icelanders . Several o ther sagas a lso survive in deviantredac t ions . Schola rs (espec ia l ly Andreas Heus le r andK n u t Liestol) who mainta ined that sagas exis ted in oralform before being wri t ten down have taken the deviantredac t ions to be ind ep en de nt record ings of com ple te ora lsagas . He usler , w ho pu bl ish ed two ed i t ions of B (in th eM text) , thought that this was the case here as well , whileother scholars , such as Bjorn Magnusson Olsen , F i n n u rJonsson an d GuS ni Jon sson , have reckoned th a t the twoversions ofBwere der ived from a com m on l i t era ry so urcebut had been dif ferent ly moulded by the edi tor ia l ac t ivi tyofscribes."*^ I n Studiar iBandam.anna saga (1957) I tried todemons t ra te tha t th i s l a t te r v iew i s neare r the t ru th andtha t M and K mus t share a common wr i t ten source .*

This conclusion was largely based on a systemat ic s tudyof the synta x an d style of the tw o reda ctio ns . I t cam e to


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the points of co rres po nd en ce can be sor ted into represen ta t ive groups . As examples may be c i ted : word-pa i r s(e.g. storaudigr madr ok dgatr; 24 exx.) ; ant i thet icalconstruct ions (e .g . dtti lendur miklar en minna lausafe;32 exx.); echoing replies (e.g. Ospakr malti: .. ertumjqk lofadr afmqnnum . . Oddrsvarar: Ekki ertu mjqk lofadraf mqnnum . .." ; 20 ex x.) ; a l l i tera t io n (e .g . at Idniokleigu;seg uppsettina eba sitfyrir svgrum).

The primacy of M (including Ofeig's strophes).Having es tab l i shed a common l i t e ra ry source for M andK , th e next q ue stio n to ask is w hich of the two represe ntsthe or iginal more fa i thful ly . There has been dispute aboutthis too.T h e first schola rly edit io n of the saga, by H all do rFriSriksson in 1850, was chiefly based on M, but thesecond , by Gus ta f Cedersch io ld in 1874, had K as itsmain source . Most scholars have s ince regarded theshorter K text as closer to the original . In Studiar (1957)the presen t ed i to r reh ab i l i t a ted the pr im acy of M , bu tthis was cri t icised by Walter Baetke, who stuck to the K


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H ere we m ay take jus t a few exa m ples to show thena tu re of the evidence in M 's favour .In several places we find better logic in the way the

act ion develops in M than in K.In ch. I Oddr Ofeigsson becomes a r ich man by these

s teps : money on loan capi ta l of h is own share in aboat in coasta l t rade ownership of the boat share ina m er ch an tm an ow nersh ip of tha t vesse l and of asecond. K has the same but does not specifically mentionthe share in the merchantman. Ins tead i t says tha t Oddr"now buys s tockf i sh and goes abroad" , which may implya part-share ( later i t says that he becomes sole owner ofthe ship ) , bu t never theless break s the order ly progress ion .I t mus t also be cou nted an an ach ron ism because Ice la nd icfish-export h a rd ly existed on an y scale before the fou rteen th cen tury after B was or iginal ly com pose d, th atis, though i t was in full swing when the K text waswrit ten.*^

In ch. 9 Ofeigr asks Gell ir for the hand of his daughterfor Oddr . In M the dia logue fol lows the pat tern found inch. 6 , w here Ofeigr pers uad es th e jud ge s , a nd in ch. 8 ,where he wins over Egil l . Ofeigr f irst uses elaboratearguments to demolish object ions , and only af ter he has


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heard of these men.*^ Nei ther is support of kinsmen inkeeping with the se t pat tern of Ofeig 's t r iumphs in thesaga he wins al l his victories single-handed.

As was said earl ier , there is not a single sentence in Mw hic h is no t d i rect ly l inked to the m ain a ct ion. In K onthe o th e r ha nd a nu m be r of s t a t emen t s a r e i n t roducedth a t a re i r re lev ant to the dev e lop m ent of the s to ry andsom et imes ev ident ly inco r rec t . T he po in t jus t m ent ioned ,that Ofeigr took his kinsmen from Sk9rS with him toL9gberg, i s one such superf luous addi t ion. Another isthe list of ancestors of t>6rarinn LangdoelagoSi in ch. 4in K, whose e r roneous na ture was demons t ra ted long agobyGuSbrandur Vigfusson. ** A th ird in stan ce is at the endof ch . I. M illu stra tes O d d 's spe cial luck as a sailor bysaying tha t he a lways made land be tween EyjafJ9rSr andHrutafJ9rSr that is , never far from his home in MiS-fj9rSr. K says th at " h e nev er ca m e to lan d fur ther no r th( = eas t ) th a n inEyjafJ9rSr and never fur ther west than inH v i t a , and most often in HriitafJ9rSr". Hvita in Borgar-fJ9r3r is so far from Mi3fJ9rSr th at as proof of O d d' s goodfor tune as a voyag er K's s ta tem en t is nonsen sical . T he re isno me nt io n of any la nd in g in H vi t a la ter in the saga e i ther .But the a f te r tho ug ht , "a n d m os t o ften in H ru ta f i9 rS r"


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INTRODUCTION xHx12 M tel ls US th at a priest , un n a m e d , w as fetched fromSiSumuli to min is te r to the dy ing Hermundr , who hasonly been able to get as far as E>orgautsstaSir. In K theprie st is ide ntifie d as E>6rSr S9lvason f rom Re ykja hol t ,and he comes to Hermundr a t G i l sbakk i . E>6rSr S9lvasoni s ment ioned in other sources but he is nowhere sa id tohave be en a pr ies t .* W hen B was compo sed a chu rch ha dlong stood at Gilsbakki, with a resident priest to serve i t .I t seems unl ike ly tha t the au thor would have thoughtof fetchin g a priest th er e from else w he re least of allfrom a place as far aw ay as R ey kja ho lt b ut the ch an gein K m ay be associa ted w ith its edi to r 's in teres t in we sternIcelandic matters, cf . p. xl iv.*'

W hen H er m u n d r was s tr icken he ha d been to Hvamms-leid.In M it says th at this was in the a u tu m n (i .e . afterthe su i t aga ins t Oddr a t the Al th ing in the summer) ,which is what one would expect s ince the leid was th eregular autumn meet ing. But in K i t says that he went toHvammsle iS "when sp r ing began" (er vara tok), whichis obvious ly un acc ep tab le .Later in th is same chapter , ch . 12, K reads , " I tha pp en ed on e m orn ing w hen m en wen t ou t o f doors on


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ignorant of the way the law worked in the days of theIce l and ic commonwea l th . ' ' ^

Another mistake in K, though not quite so self-evident,may be detected in ch. lo . Egi l l there mainta ins that thechieftain I^orgeirr Hal ldoruson had been bea ten aboutthe head by a smallholder and had let himself be satisf iedwith a r id iculously smal l compensat ion for the disgrace heha d suffered. In M this is said to ha ve ha pp en ed atRangarleid, in K at Arnessleid. T he la t te r may app earreasonab le because Lauga rda l r , whe re E>orgeirr lived,belongs to ArnessJDing, but such an affray could equallywe l l have happened a t Rangarleid, th e asse m bly for th eneighbouring dis t r ic t to the eas t . The s i te given in Km ig ht the n possibly be an o th er reflection of the K ed itor 'sinterest in shift ing episodes and locations in a westerlydire ct io n (cf p . x l iv) .

T h e sus ta ined a r t i s ti c econ om y of the M redac t ionneed not deter us f rom regarding the f ive s tanzas a t t r i buted to Ofeigr as original in the saga. They are not in Kand many have thought them in te rpola ted in M. But aswas shown above (pp. x ix-xx) , they a l l have an importantfunct ion in the s t ru ctu re of the na rra t iv e . Several scholarshave m ain ta i ne d th a t pa r t icu la r ly s t rophe 3 , the last


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I N T R O D U C T I O N ll

have made i t c lea re r than before tha t fundamenta l lysaga l i terature follows art ist ic laws. The art of the sagasdoes not aim first and foremost at imitat ion of real l i febut a t a t ta in ing the maximum aes the t ic and psychologica leffect on the audience, whether i t be in accordance withnature or not . As a resul t saga authors can of ten int roduces t rophes a t moments in the i r nar ra t ion where they mus tappear qu i te absurd to anyone who expec ts the ac t ion ofa s aga to be "na tu ra l " . ^ "

To a large extent the dif ference between the M and Kredac t ions lies in var ia t ion in nar r a t iv e seque nce . W he rethe same mater ia l appears in dif ferent p laces in the twoversions it usually fits the context wefl in M but less wellin K. In K mater ia l t ends to be in t roduced sooner thani t should b e . An exa m ple of such "a n t ic ip a t io n " i s in ch . 5,where in K Styrmir takes the t rouble to explain a point oflaw to P o ra r i n n , a chief ta in w ho is h imself wel l versedin the law. In M Styrmir offers his explanat ion in s imilarterms a t a la ter point in the chapter , and here the man heis ta lking to is Oddr , natural ly enough for i t i s par t of thep lo t tha t O d d r should be ign ora n t o f l egal m at te rs .Another example comes in ch. 7 . In M Ofeigr advisesO d d r to re ad y his ship wh i le the assemb ly is in prog ress ,


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c ip a t io n" of Ofe ig 's r eco m m en da t io n in M ch . i i . ^ 'T h e edi to r of the K red ac t ion was na tur al ly faced witha d i f f icu l ty when , hav ing a l ready in t roduced mater ia l by"ant ic ipa t ion" , he came to the po in t where i t p roper lybelonged. He frequent ly t r ied to solve the problem by a"repa i r" , rewr i t ing the tex t to provide the necessaryc o n t i n u i t y .*2

He was also moved to revise the text for other reasons.As was ment ioned above, he shows a s t r ik ing predi lect ionfor people and places in West Iceland, especia l ly Borgar-fJ9r3r, and he l ikes to add genealogical and topographicalin fo rm ati on from this ar ea ( th ou gh his detai ls are oftenw r o n g ) .63

Because of the m an y ins tances of e r ror , abr id gm en t anddis pla cem en t of m ate r ia l in K , i t is na tu ra l to prefer Mas the main text . Though by no means faul t - f ree ,M appears to reproduce the or iginal qui te c losely .I t omits words and shor ter passages and sometimes hasobvious mis takes where K has a correct reading (cfthe se lect var iant apparatus with the text below). Buterro rs in M can a l l be acc epte d as or din ary scr ibalmis takes and reveal no tendency towards consciousedi tor ia l reorganisa t ion .


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have been strongly divided. Probably very few peoplenow countenance the old s imple view that the s t rophesare "genuine" i .e . that the his tor ical Ofeigr SkiSasoncomposed the Ofeigr s tanzas and the his tor ical OspakrGlumsson composed the s ingle Ospakr s tanza. But evenif they are not genuine in this way, they might st i l l beolder than the saga i tse lf Pa r t ic ula r ly O sp ak 's s t ro ph ehas been seen in this fight. * But to the present editor i tseems much more l ikely that the author of the sagacomposed all the verse himself. There are several reasonsfor th is conclusion. Thus, nei ther Ofeigr nor Ospakr areknow n as scalds outs ide B, an d th e verse a t t r ib ut ed toth em is found only in B. I t was sho w n a bo ve th a t in al lprobabil i ty more or less the entire contents of B wereinvented by the author , and no one has put forwarddecisive arguments to prove that the verses are not inthe same case.^^ I t was long ago unders tood that Ospak 'ss t rophe could not be authent ic , because in the supposedcircumstances i t could not possibly have been learnt andpassed to anyone else.^^ In addi t ion , th is s tanz a con tainsa str iking echo of w ord s ut te re d b y Hra fn in Gunnlaugssaga (cf p. xxxix ab ov e). But th ere are oth er echoes ofGunnl. in B, an d i t is s imp lest to env isage the a u th o r of


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liv INTRODUCTIONEarly Icelandic law.

T o co m pr eh en d the ac t ion of B some knowledge ofIc el an di c law is essential . Th e following is an extre m elysummary account (some points are ampli f ied in theGenera l Notes ) . The day-da tes g iven a re those appropr i a te for the e leventh century.^ '

The men who se t t l ed Ice land a round A.D. 900 were6/9,7/21,11/14-15, used to o p e n -a ir assem blies (ping) a t which mat ters of17/17,17/29-18/6 pub l ic m om en t were d i scussed , d isputes c om po un ded ,

charges of w ron gd oin g sub s tan t ia te d a nd offenderscondemned. Al l f ree men might par t ic ipa te bu t headsof ho us eh ol ds h a d m ost say in affairs. Som e of these w ererecognised as chieftains, with varying degrees of social ,

4/2IH9,5/25,6/5, m il i ta ry a n d re lig io us a u th o r i ty . T h e ti tl e given su ch a7/17-18,8/48 leader in Ice land was godi (chieftain; also referred to bythe less specific hqfdingi,lead er or lo rd ) ; h is au tho r i ty was

the godord (chief ta incy) . When the Icelanders organised ana t iona l a s sembly (alpingi, Althing^ just before 930, then u m b e r of chieftaincies w as fixed at 36, an d each h ouse h o l d e r (bondi), an d th ro ug h h im his depe nden t s , con-

1/11,4/290. tracted himself as a follower (pingmadr,assem bly m an^ of28/15-16 one chieftain. A chieftaincy was usually owned by one


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I N T RO D U CT I O N Iv

person but somet imes by more than one, and i t couldbe t ransferred temporar i ly or sold l ike other personalproper ty . Later some new chief ta incies were added to the36 "full an d an ci en t" ones .

At the Althing the chief ta ins were vot ing members ofthe Law Counci l (Iqgr'etta).Th ey nom ina ted the men w hoac ted as judg es in any law cou r t (domr) tha t was es tabl ished, an d rep laced th em by othe rs if l i t igants found goodcause to chal lenge those f i rs t nominated. They e lectedthe Lawspeake r (Iqgsqgumadr)w ho a cted as pre s iden t ofthe whole assembly an d ch a i r m an of the La w Co unci l .The Lawspeaker served for three years in the f i rs t ins tanceand could be re-e lected. He had a par t icular seat a t theL a w R o c k (Lqgherg), the centra l p lace a t the assembly 15/25-31w h e r e a n n o u n c e m e n t s w e r e m a d e .

The Lawspeaker had to know the laws by hear t andrec i te them, one- th i rd each year wi th annua l repe t i t ionof the section on conduct of Althing affairs . Some lawsare s t ipu la tory bu t many envisage a prec ise prac t ica lcase : if som eone does som eth ing , the p ena l ty is suc h-an d-such and the m an ne r of p rosecut ion is so-an d-so ; somet imes what const i tu tes an acceptable defence is included.


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lvi INTRODUCTIONAt the local si tes a spring assembly (varping) met for4 nigh ts an d u p to 7 days be tw een 7 and 27 M ay . Sui ts

cou ld be ju d g e d before a co urt th ere , an d i t was the lawfult ime and place for var ious t ransact ions . A chief ta inmight there give his fol lowers not ice of a t tendance a t the

11/11,17/30,18/5, A l th in g ; he h a d to ta k e a t least one in n in e of th e m w it h26/2M9,2/B-io. h im , a n d he n a tu ra l ly to ok m o re if a sh ow of force w as33/12-13 needed. Those who did not go contr ibuted to the expenses

of those w ho di d ; an d i t was the chieftain 's respon sibil i ty12/18.13/23,15/21-24 to housc hls mcu in his booth (biid) at the assembly.

The Althing i tself was held for two weeks between 18J u n e an d 8 Ju ly , s ta r t ing on a T hu rsd ay . The re was then6/16,7/22-jo a n a u t u m n a s se m b l y (leid, haustping), held for not less

than one day and not more than two n igh ts be tween16J u ly an d 23 A ug ust . I t was chiefly in ten de d to publ ic isedecisions of the A lth in g. N o cou rt was ins t i tut ed a t i t .

6/17.7/29-30 All these assemblies we re in au g ur at ed by some kindof re l ig ious ce rem on y w hich es tabl ished a specia l san ct i tyw ithin the bou nd s and for the du ra t io n of the m eet ing(at helgaping). T h e gods superseded by the Alm ighty

14/19-23 in C hri st ia n t im es oth erw ise f igured in the oath s th ateveryone h ad to swear before par t i c ip a t in g in any capac i tyin legal procedures .

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s u m m a r y r e p e t i t i o n (reifing; at reifa) o f t h e p r o s e c u t i o n , 13/27,15/15,o n e o f t h e d e f e n c e , a t t h e e n d o f t h e p l e a d i n g . 35/18Befo re l i t i g a n t s g o t a s f a r a s t h e c i r c l e o f j u d g e s , t h ey

h a d m u c h t o d o to p r e p a r e t h e c a se (a t biia mal) i n t h el o c a l i t y (heiman) a n d a t t h e a s s e m b l y itself. W h e n a w r o n gw a s d o n e it h a d t o b e f o r m a l l y p u b l i s h e d b y o r o n b e h a l fo f t h e p e r s o n w h o s u f fe r e d i t. ( I n t h e c a s e o f p e r s o n a li n j u r y it w a s a ls o a n n o u n c e d b y t h e m a n w h o h a d d o n ei t e s sen t i a l a f t e r a k i l l i n g i f i t w as n o t t o b e c o u n te din d e fen s ib l e , c f . n o t e t o 11/4-6 . ) T h e r e w e r e t h e n t w or e c o g n i s e d w a y s o f m o u n t i n g a c a s e . O n e w a y s o m e t i m e sp r e s c r i b e d w a s fo r t h e p r o s e c u t o r to c a ll n e i g h b o u r i n gh o u s e h o l d e r s (at kvedja heiman bua) t o a t t e n d t h e a s s e m b l y 11/12-14,13/2,1t o p r o v i d e t h e f o r m a l m e a n s o f p r o o f h e n e e d e d t o m a k eh i s c a s e b e f o r e t h e c o u r t . T h e s e n e i g h b o u r s , five o r n i n edepending on the nature of the sui t , had to be thoseotherwise qualif ied who l ived nearest the scene of theaction or nearest the home of the accused as the lawsspecified. If the prosecutor had eye- or ear-witnesses tosupport h is case , he cal led them to a t tend the Althingas well . Then at the start of the assembly he formallypubl ished his charges , and the pleading took place in duecourse before the Quar te r Cour t . The o ther way of

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took five or nine from those qualif ied who happened to bepresent .Before th e ju dg es the pros ecu tor presen ted his eye-

a n d ear-witnesses and put the facts of the case and of hispr o ce du re (a lso su bs tan t ia t ed by witnesses) to the pan elof ne igh bo urs , w ho va l ida ted his points by m ajor i ty11/16-12/16,12/29 verd ic ts . T he defence m igh t a lso br in g witnesses, an d

-13/2,i3/2ii w ha tev er g ro un ds of defence (vqrn, varnir) were pleadedalso had to be val idated by a panel verdic t , e i ther givenby all f ive of the prosecutor 's panel or , i f there were nine,by five of them selected by the defence. Defence mighthing e on a de m on str a t i on of legal r ight to do w ha t h adbeen done repossession, for example, or just if iable

12/12-14,13/M re ta l ia t ion or of procedural faul t on the par t of theprosecut ion. After the presenta t ion, the se lected mensu m m ed up , an d the jud ges gave the i r ind iv idu a l vo ices12/27-29,14/14-16, as to whcthcr the de fendan t was unde r pena l ty (sekr) or

24-6,15/22,26 uot (syku). Thc ju dg m en t was ann oun ced in the courtby the m an w ho sum m ed up the prosecut ion if the charg ewas up he ld , by the ma n wh o sum m ed up the defence if i twas not . As with a l l procedural mat ters th is was done15/23 form ally w ith specific witnesses n am ed in orde r togu a ra n te e a co r r ec t r eco rd . A va l id ju dg m en t needed a

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W he n ju dg m en t had been g iven in a cour t and theresul t af terwards publ ished a t the Law Rock, the sentenceseems generally to have been counted effective from theend of the assem bly. T h e chief pen al t ies (sekdir) s t i pu la t ed 16/19,22/21in the laws are: fines; loss of office if a godiwas at fau lt ;" lesser" ou t lawry (fjprbaugsgardr), ban i shmen t f romIceland for three years wi th safeguards which gave theout law a chanc e to ge t ou t of the cou nt ry un m ole s ted ;and " fu l l " ou t l awry (skbggangr), wh ich dep r ived a manof a l l r igh ts and was v i r tua l ly a dea th-pena l ty . Var iousin te rmedia te pena l t ies could be a r ranged by pr iva tese t t l ement (scett,salt; at scettask). A r r a n g e m e n t s for th e 18/28,27/17-18te rms (gord) to be im po sed u n d e r p r iv a te t re a ty v a r ied 22/24,26/11,30/17w ith c ircum stan ces , from one side's so le r ig h t to dec id e -31/5,32/23-30the ou tcome (sjalfdcemi) to verdicts left to an agreed 16/20,22/21,27/122th i rd pa r ty .Sen tence of ou t la w ry was not legal ly co m ple ted unt i la court of confiscation (feransdbmr) had been held a t theout law 's home. This had to be ins t iga ted by the prosecutor but was super intended by the local chief ta in ,who took a fee from the estate. When goods had been setas ide for deb ts an d m ain ten an ce of wife and de pe nd en ts ,th e re m a in in g p ro p e r ty w as h a lv ed b e tw een th e p ro - 21/1-3,25/3-10

Ix I N T RO D U CT I O N


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author wrote . As explained above (p . Hi) , M must bethe chief source, with occasional preference for theread ing of K o r o the r em end a t ion .

The tex t has genera l ly been normal i sed in accordancewith the pract ice of the edi tors of Islenzk fornrit. Thisno rm al is a t io n reflects the s ta te of the Ice lan dic lan gu ag ein the f irst half of the thir teenth century. I t is a convenientconvent ional form for a s tudent text , but a l i t t le archaicfor B, p r ob ab ly comp osed tow ards 1300.

T h e scrib e of M often ab br ev iat es forms of verbs ofspeech (segja, svara, mala) by writing only the first letter.In such cases the full forms given here follow the expans ions adopted in the ed i t ion in IF VII .

For the abbrevia t ions used in the textual notes ande lsewhere see pp . x -x i i i . Forms in quote -marks in thetextual notes are quoted l i tera l ly f rom the manuscr iptsbut wi th s i len t expans ion of abbrev ia t ions .


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B A N D A M A N N A S A G A '

I

Ofeigr het maSr er bjo vestr i MiSfirSi a Jjeim boe er atReykjum hei t i r . Hann var SkiSason, en moSir hans hetG u n n l a u g ; moSir h e n n a r v a r JarngerSr^, dott ir OfeigsJa rnge rSa r sona r no rSan o r Sk9rSum. Hann va r kvsen t rmaSr, ok het E>orgerSr kona hans ok var V ala do t t i r , 5asttstor kona ok inn m esti kve nsk9 rung r . Ofeigr v arspekingr mikil l ok inn mesti raSagorSamaSr. H a n n v a ri 9IIU m ik i lmenn i , en ekki var hon um fjarhagrinn hoegr,at t i lendur miklar en minna lausafe . Hann sparSi viSengan mann ma t , en J36 v a r mJ9k a f9ngum Jjat er til 10busins Jjurfti a t hafa . Hann var JjingmaSr Styrmis fraAsgeirsa er Jja {jotti mes t r h9fiSingi vestr {)ar. Ofeigr at t ison viS kon u s inni er O d d r h et ; ha n n v ar vaenn maSr okb r a t tvel menn t r . Ekk ihafSi h a n n mikia ast affeSr s i n u m ;engi var hann verklundarmaSr. 15

Vali het maSr er { ar ox up p he im a h ja Ofe ig i ; h an nvar vaenn maSr ok vinsaell . Oddr ox upp heima meSfeSr s inum JDar t il er h an n va r tolf vetra ga m all . Ofeigr

2 B A N D A M A N N A S A G A


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E r a{ja le iS ," sagSi hann , , , a t |)u leggr til min litla soemS;em ek ok ekki nytsa m ligr ySru r aS i . " Ofeigr svarar: , ,Ekkim u n e k m i n n k a till9g viSIpik or Jivisem Jauhefir til u n n it ;mun ek ok \)vi nasst ge ra , ok mun tu J)a vita h ve rt fuUting

5 Jjer erat Jjvi." Oddr sagSiat littmattihann viS JjatstySjaskmega, ok skilja viS Jjat talit. Annan dag ep t i r t ekr OddrvaS af Jjili ok 9II veiSarfoeri ok tolf alnar vaSmal s . Hanngengr mi i brot t ok kveSr engan mann. Hann fe r r u t aVatnsnes ok rezk jaar i sve i t meS verm9nnum, })iggr a t

10 {jeim hagraeSi J)au s e m h a n n {sarf nauSsynl igast a t lani okleigu. Ok er Ipeir vissuastt hans goSa, en var vinsasll sjalfr,{ja haetta Jjeir til |)ess a t e iga a t ho nu m . K au pi r han n m iallt i skuld ok er meS J)eim Ipaum issa ri i fiskiveri, ok ersva sagt at Jjeira hlutr vaeri i bezta lagi er Oddr var i sveit

15 meS . E>ar v a r h a n n JDrja vetr ok {jrjii sumur, ok var |3asva komi t a t hann hafSi Jja aptr goldi t hver jum {)at erat t i , en Jjo haf^i hann aflat ser goSs kaupeyris . AldrivitjaSi h a n n f9Sur sins, ok sva lata Jjar hvar i r sem enguaett i viS aSra at skylda. Oddr var vinsasll viS sina felaga.

20 E>arkemr a t ha nn raezki flutningar norSr t i l St randa meSfarma ok kaupir ser i ferju; aflar Ipa sva fjar. Nii groeSirhann b ra t t f e Jjar t i l er hann a einn ferjuna, ok heldr n usva milli MiSfjarSar ok S t r a n d a n9kkur sumur ; t ek r hann

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a tva kn9rru i ka up fe rS um ; ok sva er sagt at engi maSrvaeri |)ann t im a i kau pfe rSu m sa er jafn au Sig r vaeri semOddr. Hann var ok farsaefl i en aSrir menn; aldri komh a n n norSar skipi sinu en a EyjafJ9rS ok eigi vestar en iHrutaf i9r3 .

I IE>ess er get i t e i t thv er t su m ar a t O d d r kem r skipi s inu aHrutaf]9rS viSBorSeyri ok aetlar at vera her um vetrinn.f>a var ha n n b eSin n af vin um sin um at staSfestask h er, okept i rbeen Jjeira gerir hann sva, kaupir land i MiSfirSi Jiater a Mel heit ir . Hann efl ir Jjar mik inn biinaS ok gerisk lorausnarmaSr i buinu, ok er sva sagt at eigi J)6tti u m Jjatminna ver t en um ferSir hans aSr, ok mi var engi maSrjafnagaetr sem Oddr var fyr i r norSan land . Hann varbetri af fe en flestir menn aSrir, goSr or lausna v iS pa erhans {)urftu ok i na nd ho nu m va ru , en f9Sur s inum gerSi 15hann aldri hagraeSi. Skip sitt se t t i hann upp i Hrutaf i rSi .E>ater sagt at engi m aS r vaeri jafn au Sig r her a Isla nd i se mOddr, heldr segja menn hi t t a t hann haf i e igiatt m i n n afe en jsrir Jjeir er auSgast i r varu. I 9IIU lagi var hans fe

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flutningum miUi S t randa ok norSrsve i ta , gerviligr maSrok ger isk rammr at af l i . Ei t t sumar kom hann i Mi3fi9rSok seldi fang sitt . Ok einn dag fekk hann ser best ok reiSupp a Mel ok h i t t i r Odd. I>eir kv9ddusk ok spurSusk

5 almaeltra t iS en da . O sp ak r maelti : A JDa leiS e r, O d dr , "sagSi hann, , ,at goS fret t ferr um ySvart raS; ertu mJ9klofaSr af m9nnum, ok allir Jjykkjask jaeir vel komnir erm eS \)er eru. Nu vaenti ek at mer muni sva gefask; vildaek hingat raSask t i l j^in." Oddr svara r : , ,Ekki e r tu mJ9k

10 lofaSr af m9nnum ok eigi ertu vinsccll; {jykkir J)u hafabr9g8u n d i r b r i in u m ,sva sem{jiiert aettborinn t i l ." O sp ak rsva ra r : , ,Ha f viS r a u n J)ina en eigi S9gn a n n a r r a , {jvi a tfat t er betr latit en efni eru til. BeiSi ek{)ikekki gjafar a t;vilda ek hafa hus Jiin en foeSa mik sjalfr ok sja })a hversu

15 J)er gezk a t . " O d d r svar a r : , ,Mik l i r e ru Jaer fraendr oktors ott ir ef ySrbySr viS at horfa, en viSJaaterJ)u skorar am ik til viSt9 ku,J am eg u vit aJ)athaettavetrlangt." Ospakrtekr}jatm eSJ59kkum,ferr u m ha us ti t a M el meS feng sinnok gerisk bratt hollr Oddi, syslar vel um biiit ok vinnr sem

20 tveir aSr i r . O d d i likar vel viS ha nn . L iSa Jjau missari, oker vara r , bySr Oddr honum he ima a t vera ok kvezk svabetr Jaykkja. Hann vill mi ok jaat; annask Ospakr umbiiit, ok ferr J)at storvel fram. E>ykkir m9nnum mikils um

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I I IOdd i hugna r ve l viS Ospak , l e t hann mJ9k raSa fyrirb i i i nu . Hann va r baeSi h a g v i r k r ok m ikilvirk r ok Jjarfrbu inu . LiSr af ve t r inn , ok hu gn ar O dd i nu be t r viS O s p a ken fyrr, Jjvi at mi hefsk hann at f leira. A haustum heimtirhann fe af fj^-Hi, ok ur3 u goSar h ei m tu r, m issti einskis 5sauSar. LiSr mi af vetr inn ok varar . Lysir Oddr pvi a thann aetlar litan um sumarit , ok segir at Vali , fraendi hans,skal taka jaar viSbiii . Vali svarar: , ,Sva er hattat , fraendi,at ek em ekkiJjvi vanr, ok vil ek heldr annask um fe okkartok kaupeyr i . " Oddr snyr mi a t Ospaki ok b iSr hann taka loviS bu i . Osp akr s va ra r : ,,E'at er mer ofraS, {)6at m i flytiskfram er J)ii er t v iS ." O d d r le i tar ept i r , en O sp ak r ferrundan ok e r Jjo oSfusi til; ok JDarkem r a t han n biSr O d draSa, ef h an n h ei t r ho n u m sinni asja ok t rau st i . O d d r segirat hann skal sva fara meS hans e ign sem hann verSr mestr 15maSr af ok vinsaelstr, sagSisk { at rey nt hafa a t eigi m u na n n a r r maSr be t r ku nn a nevilja ha ns fe varS ve i ta . O spa krbiSr nil a hans valdi ve ra . Liika mi sva ta l inu. Oddr byrmi skip sitt ok laetr be ra V9ru til. E>etta frettisk ok erm a r g t a l a t u m . O d d r Jjurfti eigi langan b u n a S . VaU ferr 20m e S h o n u m . O k JDae r han n e r a lb i i inn , leiSa m e n n h a n n

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jafnvel til fallinn sem faSir J^inn; er hann inn mestim ala m aS r ok forv i t r i . " O d d r kvezk e ig i m un du h on um ihendr fa ,,ok vil ek at J)u takir v iS." Ospakr ferr undanok vildi |)6 feginn. O d d r segir a reiSi sina ef h an n tekr

5 eigi viS, ok at skilnaS i Jjeira tekr O sp ak r viS goS orSinu.Ferr Oddr nu utan, ok teksk vel hans ferS, semvanSi hansvar t i l . Ospakr ferr heim, ok var margta la t um Jjettam a l ; |)ykkir O d d r m i k i t vald hafa {jcssum manni i hendrfengit . Ospakr r iSr t i l{)ingsum sum ar i t m eS flokk m an na ,

lo ok teksk h o n u m JDatvel ok hSm ann l iga ; kann }3at allt velafh9ndum at leysa er hann skylda l9gt i l ; riSr afJiingi meSsoemS. Hann he ldr kappsaml iga s ina menn, ok la ta hverg isinn hlut, ok er ekki mJ9k a JDage ng it ; h an n er goSr okgreiSr viS alia s ina nagranna. Hvergi J jykkir mi minni

15 ra us n ne risn a a biii nu en aS r. Eigi sko rtir um syslu, ok fararaSin vel fram. LiSr mi a sumarit . RiSr hann t i l leiSar okhe lgar hana ; ok e r a leiSha ust i t , ferr ha nn a fjall er mennganga a t geldfe , ok verSa heimtur goSar; er r ik t fylgt, okmissir einskis sauSar hvarki fyrir sina h9nd ne Odds .

I V

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Jjar tekit viS h o n u m vel at eins. H a n n hefir mi up pi sit tor-en di ok biS r SV9IU.E>6rarinnsvarar: , ,Ekki kann ek at girn-ask tilJjinsmaegis ; er m ar gt a l a t um Jjinar meSferSir . K a n nek J)at sja at ekki ma i tveim^ h9ndum hafa viSs lika m en n ,verSr^a n n a t h v a r t a t ta k a u p p biih en na r ok la ta ha na fa ra 5h inga t , ella m u n u Jjit gera sem ykkr l ikar. Nii mun ek mereng u af skipta, okkalla ek ekkiJjetta mi t t r aS . " Ep t i r Jjettaferr Ospakr a brott ok kemr a Sv9lustaSi ok segir henni svabui t . Nii gera Jjau raS sitt, ok fastnar hon sik sjalf, ok ferrhon meS honum a Mel , en Jjau eigu bii a Sv9lust9Sum ok 10fa menn tfl fyrir at vera. Nii er Ospakr a Mel okhelt rausni b i i inu ; hann Jjotti p6 vera odaeldarmaSr miki l l .

Nii liSr af ve tr inn , ok um s um ari t kom O d d r l it iHru ta f i rS i ; hafSi honum enn orSit gott t i l f jar ok mannhei l la ; kemr heim a Mel ok litr yfir e ignirsinar, Jjykkir vel 15varSveizk hafa ok gezk vel at . LiSr nu a su m ar it . E>ater eit ts inn at Oddr vekr t i l viS Ospak at vel muni fal l i t at hanntoeki viS goSorSi s inu. Os pa kr sag Si : , J a , " segir h an n ,,,Jjar er sa hlutr er ek var ofiisastr til meS at fara ok sizt tilfoerr; em ek Jjess ok a lbuinn, en Jjat setla ek m9nnum Jjo 20tiSast at Jjat se g9rt a n n a t h v a r t a leiSum eSa J) ingum."O d d r s v a r a r : ,,E>at ma vel vera ." LiSr mi a sumari t a tleiSinni fram. Ok leiSarmorgininn e r Oddr vaknar , l i t ask

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F a r a m e n n h e i m , ok liSa JjaSan n9kkurir dagar. E>atvarenn e inndag er O d d r sat un di r borSi ok O spak r gegnth o n u m , ok er m inns t var i r , h leypr O d d r und an borSinuok at O s p a k i ok hefir re id da oxi i h e n d i ser, biSr ha nn

5 milaust la ta goSorSit. Ospakr svara r : , ,E ig i muntu JjurfameSsvamiklu k a p p i at soekja; Jjegar hefir Jjii goSorSerJju vill, ok vissa ek eigi er Jjer vaeri alvara viS at t aka . "R e t t i h a n n Jja fram h9ndina okfekk O dd i goSorSit.Varmi kyrr t umhr iS ,okh e S a n " gerisk fatt m eS Jjeim'^ O dd i

10 okO s p a k i . ErO spak r he ld rygrviSskiptis . G ru na r m ennu m at Ospakr mynd i ha fa aetlatserhafa goSorSit en eigiO d d i , ef eigi hefSi ver i t kiigat af h o n u m at hann maettieigi 13u n d a n k o m a sk . Nii verSr ekki af b i i sumsys lunni ;O d d r k v e S r h a n n at engu, maeltusk Jjeir ok ekki viS. t>at

15 vare inndag atO s p a k r byrferS sina. O d d r laetr sem h a n nviti Jjat e ig i ; skiljask Jjeir sva at hva r rg i kveSr a n n a n .Ospakr fe r rmi aSv9lustaSi tilbiis sins. Oddr laetrmisemekkise at orSit , ok er mikyr r t umhr iS .

tess er get i t at um hau st i t fara m en n a fjall, ok skaut20 mJ9kitvau ho rn umh e i m t u r O d d s fraJjvier verit hafSi.

Hann sko r t iatha us th ei m tu fjora t igu gelding a okJja aliaer bezt i r varu af fe h a n s ; er mi viSa leitat um fJ9llokheiSar,ok f innask eigi . Undarligt Jjotti Jjctta vera, J)viat

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J)ik hryggi r slikt," Oddr sva ra r : , ,E ig i h rygg i r mikgeldingahvarf i t , en hitt J)ykki merve r r a er ekveit eigi h v er rstolit hefir." ,,E>ykki Jjer J)at vist," segir Vali, ,,atJjatmunaf orSit, eSa hvar horfir Jjii helzt a ? " O dd r sva ra r : ,,Ekk ier Jjviatleynaat ekaetla Ospak s to l i t hafa . " Val i svara r : 5Ferskmiv ina t t a ykkur fraJjvierJjii settir hann yfir alltJ)itt goz . " O dd r kvaS Jjat verit hafa it mesta glapraeSiokva nu m be t r t ek izk hafa . Val i maelti: , ,M ar gr a m an n am al varJjat at Jjat vaeri undarl igt . Niivil ek at Jjii sniiireigi sva skjott m alin u til afe l l is honum; er Jjat haett viS 10orSi at omerkil iga J)ykki verSa. Nii skulu vit J)vi s a m a nkaupa ," sagSi Val i , ,,atJjii skalt mik lata fyrir raSa hversuaterfarit, en ekskal verSa viss ins sa n n a ." Nuk a u p a J)eirJjcssu. Valibyr miferS sin aokferr m eS var ni ng s inn , riSrlit til V a t n s d a l s ok L a n g a d a l s ok selr v a r n i n g i n n ; var 15hann vinsaell ok t i l lagago Sr . H a n n ferr mi leiS sina Jjartilerh a n n k e m ra Sv9lustaSi, okfekk J)argoSa r viSt9k ur.O s p a k r var al lk atr . Va li bjosk JjaSan um morg in inn .Ospakr le idd i hann or garSi ok fretti m arg s fra O d d i .Vali sagSi gott afhans raSi . Osp ak rlet velyfir h o n u m ok 20k v aS h a n n v e ra r a u s n a r m a n n m i k i n n ,,e3a er h a n nfyrir sk9Sum orSinn i h a u s t ? " V a l i kvaS J)at satt ve ra., ,Hver ja r erug e t u r a umsauSahvarfit? Hefi r Oddr lengi

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bandamanna saga. ed. hallvard magerøy

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