Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 115

Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 115
ANTIPAGAN SENTIMENT IN THE SAGAS 111 The church of Skarð was later built on the place where the rowan bush grew: ‘according to what we have heard wise men say’, says the author of the þáttr. This passage reflects superstitions connected with the rowan bush, which was sacred to Þórr in pagan belief. In Gísla saga (ch. 22) it is the better dream woman who foretells the coming of Christianity in the first of a series of dreams. She ad- monishes Gísli to renounce the pagan faith and to abjure all magic and witchcraft. She urges him to deal kindly with the blind and the lame and the poor and the helpless. As the admonition of the good dream woman shows, the renunciation of paganism implied much more than the abandonment of sacrifice to heathen gods. (Gísli had already given up blood sacrifice following a visit to Denmark, where he presumably first came in contact with Christianity.) The renuncia- tion of paganism also implied the rejection of witchcraft and magic and all forms of demoniac behavior. In Eyrbyggja (ch. 61) we are told that Þrándr stígandi had been a shape changer as long as he was a pagan ‘but most witchcraft ceased when people were baptized’. Under Christian law the berserksgangr was punishable by heavy pen- alties, and even the hólmganga, which is referred to several times in saga literature as a pagan practise, was abolished by the Alþingi shortly after the advent of Christianity. We shall return to the matter of witchcraft and sorcery presently. Since Hávarðar saga exhibits many traits of travesty or caricature, it is not surprising that Hávarðr should receive his revelation of the advent of Christianity under somewhat farcical circumstances. Actu- ally, it is less a revelation than a recollection. During the crucial fight to avenge the slaying of his son, the rejuvenated hero is swimming in hot pursuit of his archenemy, Þorbjörn. Þorbjörn comes to land first, and as Hávarðr approaches, he sees his adversary waiting with a huge rock poised above his head. At that moment Hávarðr recalls having heard abroad about a religion different from the one in the North. He promises to accept this as the better and loftier faith if he succeeds in overcoming his enemy. No sooner has he made this de- cision than Þorbjörn slips and falls over backward, the huge stone striking him on the chest. Thirteen chapters later Hávarðr learns that King Óláfr is proclaiming the true faith in Norway. With his wife and a kinsman named Þórhallr he hastens abroad to receive baptism.
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