Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1960, Page 78

82
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
helli stóran og dóttur gilda vexti og sköruliga." 3) Á þriðja staðnum
segir frá því, er Grímur frá Kroppi vá að Hallmundi við Arnarvatn:
„Hinn brá við hart og hafði á rás með meisinn suður á fjall. Grímur
sneri eftir honum og vildi vita, hvort honum hefði tekið. Þeir fóru
allt suður undir Balljökul. Þar gekk þessi maður inn í helli. Eldur var
bjartur í hellinum.“ 4)
Ljóst er, að höfundur Grettis sögu hugsar sér helli Hallmundar á
svipuðum slóðum og þessi er og ef til vill svipaðan honum („í (hrun)-
ketil“, „helli stóran“). Ef ekki fást nýjar sannanir fyrir því, að
byggð hellisins sé yngri, má geta sér þess til, að söguhöfundur hafi
haft sagnir af íbúum þessa hellis, og sé þá nokkur fótur fyrir sög-
unni um Hallmund.
(Áður prentað í bók Ólafs Briem, Útilegumenn og auðar tóttir, Reykjavík
1959.)
SUMMARY
A recently discoverecl cave of outlaws in the interior of Iceland.
In 1956 a farmer came upon a hitherto unknown cave in the great lavafield
Hallmundarhraun, which is situated north of the glacier Eiríksjökull in the
interior of Iceland. The farmer noticed some unmistakable traces of human ac-
tivity in the cave, so he notified the National Museum in Reykjavík of his find.
The author of the present paper visited the spot in 1958, but a thorough inspec-
tion of the cave was made very difficult by great quantities of sand, which,
duiúng the last 2 — 3 centuries, had blown into the cave and almost filled it. It be-
came clear, however, that the cave once upon a time hád served as a shelter for
human beings. A massive stone wall, built across the cave some 15 m inside its
opening or entrance, obviously was meant as a defence against intruders. Behind
that wall there was a sleeping bunk of stones and near it, on the floor, traces of
ashes and charcoal, a number of sheep bones and a small whetstone. The in-
vestigation of the cave was incomplete because equipment, necessary to handle
the masses of sand, was lacking. Nevertheless it is evident that the cave was in-
habited by outlaws, possibly as early as in the Saga Period. In that connection
it is interesting to note that the Grettis Saga presupposes the existence of out-
laws in these very tracts. Little or no historical value is usually attributed to
this or other similar stories of outlaws. As for the passage in Grettis Saga,
however, a re-evaluation of its historical worth is called for by the discovery of
the cave in the Hallmundarhraun.
3) S. st., bls. 184.
4) S. st., bls. 202.