Gripla - 01.01.1975, Page 120

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GRIPLA
skírðir ok kristnir at kalla.) Very similar to this is the observation in
Fóstbrœðra saga (ch. 2):
En þó at þá væri menn kristnir kallaðir, þá var þó í þann tíð ung kristni
ok mjök vanger, svá at margir gneistar heiðninnar váru þó þá eptir ok í
óvenju lagðir.
Even though people were called Christian, still Christianity was young and
very imperfect, for many sparks of heathendom remained and had become
evil customs.
Although the author himself takes a dim view of the remnants of
paganism and the attendant vices, many persons in those days thought
it advantageous, he tells us, to be skilled in magic því at kristni var
ung ok vanger (ch. 9). And even though Christianity was young (ch.
18), it was not customary to plunder the slain. In other words, even
though paganism was evil and many Christians were not yet firm in
the faith, people did not stoop so low as to plunder the bodies of
those they had slain. Could this, perhaps, be an ironic allusion to
contemporary practices as described in Sturlunga sagal
The author of this saga (ch. 23) also indulges in a bit of ironic
humor in the episode dealing with Gríma, who sheltered and nursed
Þormóðr in Greenland. Þormóð’s enemies search for him in Gríma’s
house, where they find a chair with the likeness of Þórr carved on the
chairposts. When chided by her rival witch Þórdís about this witch-
craft (fyrnska), Gríma explains with a feigned ingenuousness that de-
lights the modern reader no less than it must have amused the
author’s contemporaries:
‘Ek kem sjaldan til kirkju at heyra kenningar lærðra manna, því at ek á
langt at fara, en fámennt heima. Nú kemr mér þá heldr í hug, er ek sé
líkneski Þórs af tré gert, þat er ek má brjóta ok brenna, þegar ek vil, hversu
miklu sá er meiri, er skapat hefir himin ok jörð ok alla hluti sýniliga ok
ósýniliga ok öllum hlutum gefr líf ok engi maðr má yfir stíga.’
‘I seldom get to church to hear the sermons of priests, for I have a great
distance to travel and few men at home to accompany me. But whenever
I see the wooden likeness of Þórr, that I can break or burn at will, I think
of how much greater he is who has created heaven and earth and all things
visible and invisible, and who gives life to all things and cannot be sur-
passed by anyone.’