Gripla - 01.01.1975, Qupperneq 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.)