Gripla

						ALAN J. BERGER

TEXT AND SEX IN GÍSLA SAGA

Chapter II of Gísla saga is not a pretty story. The action begins with

a rumor: 'some people said that Bárðr was seducing Þórdís,' the sister

of Gísli and Þorkell. The father objects, but Bárðr says he pays no

attention to the words of a weakling—'and I shall do as before.' Gísli's

opinion is the same as his father's, but Þorkell is a good friend of Bárðr,

and 'lent him a helping hand,' var hann í bragði með honum. Gísli kills

Bárðr, but Þorkell is so displeased he goes to a certain Holmgang-

Skeggi—'he was closely related to Bárðr'—and encourages him to

avenge Bárðr and marry his sister. Skeggi responds to the latter sugges-

tion, but when he arrives to ask for the sister's hand, the father refuses,

and moreover, 'it was said that Kolbjörn was intimate with (í þingum

við) Þórdís.' Skeggi challenges Kolbjörn to a duel, but Kolbjörn turns

out to be a coward. Skeggi orders wooden figures made of Gísli and

Kolbjörn, 'and the one should stand behind the other.' Gísli steps for-

ward and fights Skeggi, cutting off his leg. Þorkell now goes home with

Gísli, 'and the kinship between them now went well, ok þykkir Gísli

mikit hafa vaxit af þessum málum'

Several things are wrong with this story. No other sister in the sagas

is courted by a scoundrel, a coward, and a near-berserkr in such rapid

succession. No other brother in the sagas is abnormally involved with

his sister's villainous boyfriends. No brother seeks revenge the way

Þorkell does. Apart from this, Þorkell's change from enmity to friend-

ship with his brother is entirely unmotivated.

No objections on moral grounds have been made in the published

commentary on this chapter. On the contrary, the chapter has been

found psychologically and narratively satisfactory, principally because

of certain parallels found between these events and later ones in the

saga. Anne Holtsmark said of the events of chapter II, 'they set the

tune, and the tragic discord between the three children of Þorsteinn