Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 118

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GRIPLA
The prophecy is completely fulfilled, and among GuðríS’s ‘bright and
splendid’ descendants are the bishops Brandr (d. 1201), Þorlákr (d.
1133), and Bjöm (d. 1162).
Since we have reviewed such a wide variety of forebodings of the
advent of Christianity or the conversion or elevation of individuals, it
will suffice to refer to a few typical statements regarding the superior-
ity of the Christian faith over paganism. In Grœnlendinga saga (ch.
6) Þorsteinn Eiríksson brings his ship to land after an unsuccessful
attempt to sail to Vínland. He and his wife Guðríðr are invited to
spend the winter at the home of a farmer named Þorsteinn. The
farmer concludes his invitation with the comment that he has a faith
different from theirs, but that he regards their faith as the better one.
There seems to be little point to this statement at this point in the
story, yet it is scarcely surprising in view of the fact that both the
Vínland sagas abound in comments about paganism and Christianity,
which may or may not be significant in the contexts in which they
occur. Sometimes the significance is not immediately apparent, as
when the author of Grœnlendinga saga (ch. 2) concludes his introduc-
tory character sketch of Freydís Eiríksdóttir with the remark that at
that time Greenland was still pagan. It is only when we read about
her monstrous crimes late in the story that we recall the sentence:
‘Heiðit var fólk á Grænlandi í þann tíma.’
In Gunnlaugs saga (ch. 5), following the introduction of several
characters including Gunnlaug’s adversary Hrafn and Skapti the Law-
speaker, the author states:
Ok þessu nær urðu þau tíðendi, er bezt hafa orðit hér á íslandi, at landit
varð allt kristit ok allt fólk hafnaði fornum átrúnaði.
At about this time the best event in the history of Iceland occurred, in that
the whole country became Christian and all the people abandoned the
heathen belief.
There seems to be no reason for placing this statement at this point
in tlie story unless the author thereby wished to anticipate the aboli-
tion of the hólmganga later on in the story, since this form of legal
duel was associated by some writers with paganism.
Another striking announcement of the conversion occurs in the sur-
viving summary of the lost section of Heiðarvíga saga (ch. 8):