Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1966, Page 77

ÁKVÆÐI UM BEINAFÆRSLU
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sonar, sem að flestra áliti er höfundur Eglu, og að öllum líkindum
hefur Guðný einnig verið nákomin höfundi Eyrbyggju. Það má að
minnsta kosti álykta, að höfundar beggja sagnanna hafi það frá
fyrstu hendi, að gröftur kirkjugarðs hafi átt sér stað. En svona
vaxin heimild, þó góð sé, hefur samt aldrei sama sönnunargildi og
góð fornleifarannsókn, því sjón er sögu ríkari. Eg tel því mjög mikils
um vert að gerð sé tilraun til þess, að sannprófa frásagnir Eglu og
Eyrbyggju um beinafærslu, með því að leita uppi hina fornu kirkju-
garða að Hrísbrú og Sælingsdalstungu. Jákvæð niðurstaða rann-
sóknarna myndi gefa rétt mat á gildi ákvæða kristinna laga þáttar
um færslu kirkjugarða, jafnframt því sem hún veitti ómetanlega inn-
sýn í vinnubrögð eins af okkar fremstu sagnariturum, sem um 14
ára bil var lögsögumaður og því trúandi til að kunna allra manna
bezt skil á fornum lagaákvæðum.
SUMMARY
Ancient Law Provisions as to the Removal
of Bones from Disused Churchyards.
In the ecclesiastical section of the laws of the ancient Icelandic Republic (Krist-
inna laga þáttr in the Grágás, i. e. the lawbook) provisions are made for the
removal of bones from a disused churchyard to a new one when a church had
to be moved from one place to another. In the present paper the author considers
how far these provisions could possibly be used as a criterion for dating ancient
disused churchyards in Iceland.
The law section in question was made just after 1122 A. D. and was valid till
1275 in the diocese of Skálholt (in the south of Iceland) and till 1354 in the diocese
of Hólar (in the north of Iceland). These laws were replaced by bishop Árni Thor-
láksson’s ecclesiastical laws which do not contain any provisions as to the removal
of bones in the case of a church being moved. Therefore, during the period menti-
oned above, the provisions on the removal of bones from disused churchyards have
certainly been valid, and certain points make it likely that they had already been
adopted by the church of Iceland before 1122.
Fairly detailed descriptions of bone digging in a churchyard when a church had
been moved are to be found in the following ancient sources: Egil’s Saga, Eyr-
byggja Saga, The Saga of St. Olaf, The Saga of Björn Champion of the Hítardalur
men, Grettis Saga, Flóamanna Saga. These records may be more or less mixed
up with popuiar folk-tale stuff, but two of them are based on sources from reliable
eyewitnesses. All these removals of bones take place during the period 1122—1275
except the one related in the Flóamanna Saga; that one should have taken place
in the first half of the llth century.