Gripla - 01.01.1975, Síða 135

ANTIPAGAN SENTIMENT IN THE SAGAS 131
At the outset we considered three ways in which saga writers
stressed the superiority of Christians over pagans: through the quali-
fied praise of pagan heroes, through the attribution of superiority of
heroes to the fact that they were Christian rather than pagan, and
through the declaration that the individual, although pagan, was the
equal in morality and conduct of the very best Christians. Still an-
other effective method is through the use of contrastive characteriza-
tion. One of the best examples of this technique is found in Vápn-
firðinga saga (chs. 4-5), where the avarice and truculence of two
chieftains, Brodd-Helgi and Geitir, are made to seem all the more
reprehensible when contrasted with the gentleness and generosity of
the sea-faring trader Þorleifr hinn kristni.
Þorleif’s partner, a Norwegian named Hrafn, is slain under circum-
stances that strongly implicate the two chieftains as the instigators of
the crime. Brodd-Helgi and Geitir appropriate Hrafn’s property, but
Þorleifr retrieves it and returns it to his partner’s kinsmen in Norway.
The two chieftains suspect each other of having stolen a gold ring
and a chest (thought to be full of gold and silver) that belonged to
the slain Norwegian, and as this suspicion increases, their friendship
decreases and eventually tums into hostility. Upon his retum from
Norway, Þorleifr is cited for nonpayment of the temple tax by a
woman named Steinvör, the priestess of the chief temple. The case
against Þorleifr is assumed by Brodd-Helgi, who manipulates a certain
Digr-Ketill into summoning Þorleifr for this infraction of the law.
After reluctantly carrying out this task, Digr-Ketill is forced by a
fierce snowstorm to accept shelter from Þorleifr; and by the time the
storm abates, the relationship between the two has become so cordial
that Digr-Ketill refuses to prosecute Þorleifr, leaving Brodd-Helgi to
suffer moral defeat and disgrace. Having served his purpose, Þorleifr
hinn kristni quietly disappears from the story. Brodd-Helgi’s disregard
for the rights of others eventually becomes so gross that Geitir is
compelled to kill him. Geitir in turn is killed by Bjarni Brodd-Helga-
son, and when Geitir’s son Þorkell seeks to avenge the death of his
father, it seems as though the curse (œttgeigr) put upon Helgi by the
first victim of his axe will continue ‘meðan landit er byggt’. But
eventually Bjarni’s good will and moderation prevail over Þorkel’s
stubbom demand for revenge, and tranquility is once more restored.