Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 116

Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 116
112 GRIPLA A similar case of conversion through recollection occurs in Þor- steins saga uxafóts (ch. 10), where the hero is on the point of having his throat bitten asunder by the troll woman Skjaldvör: Þorsteini kemr þá í hug, at sá mun mikill vera, er skapat hefir himin ok jörð. Hafði hann ok heyrt margar sögur ok merkiligar frá Oláfi konungi ok þeiri trú, er hann boðaði, heitr nú af hreinu hjarta ok heilum huga at taka við þeiri trú ok þjóna Óláfi, meðan hann lifði, ef hann kæmisk heill ok lífs í brott, af allri kunnáttu. Then it occurred to Þorsteinn that he who had created heaven and earth must be powerful. He had also heard many remarkable stories about King Óláfr and the religion he proclaimed. He promised with a pure heart and sincere mind to embrace that faith and to serve Óláfr to the best of his ability as long as he lived if he escaped alive and well. Þorsteinn does escape, of course, but not quite so easily as Hávarðr. A simplified repetition of the motif occurs in the following chapter, where Þorstein’s companion Styrkárr promises the creator of heaven and earth to accept the faith proclaimed by King Óláfr if he finds Þorsteinn alive and well. The same phraseology is used in a similar situation in Bárðar saga Snœfellsáss: ‘Þá hét Gestr á hann, er skapat hafði himin ok jörð, at taka við trú þeiri, er Óláfr konungr boðaði, ef hann kæmisk í burtu lífs ór hauginum.’ The close association here and elsewhere in saga literature of the religion proclaimed by Óláfr Tryggvason with the creator of heaven and earth (and/or of the sun) suggests that in the minds of these saga writers, at least, this creator is identical with the Christian God. In- deed, Bishop Friðrekr in Vatnsdœla saga (ch. 46) makes this identi- fication to Þorkell krafla, who thereupon hurriedly has his kinsman Óláfr baptized before he dies even though Þorkell himself, perhaps for political reasons, prefers to postpone his own baptism until Christi- anity is officially adopted by the Alþingi. Þorstein’s recollection of remarkable stories about King Óláfr is foreshadowed by the initial sentence of the preceding chapter: ‘It is clearly stated that there was a change of rulers in Norway that sum- mer. Hákon the Heathen Jarl was killed and was succeeded by Óláfr Tryggvason, who proclaimed the true faith to all people.’ (Glöggliga er þat sagt, at þetta sumar yrði höfðingjaskipti í Nóregi, felh frá Hákon blótjarl, en í staðinn kom Óláfr Tryggvason. Hann boðaði öllum mönnum rétta trú.)
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