Gripla - 01.01.1977, Page 35

UM KRISTNIBOÐSÞÆTTINA
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the mentioning of the manor Saurbœr where there was a monastery for a short
period in the beginning of the 13th century, indicate that Þorvalds Þáttur Víðförla
was composed about 1200.
On the other hand, Þangbrands Þáttur was apparently known already in the
12th century and Þangbrandur, a German priest, was in the Middle Ages a famous
missionary not only in Iceland but also in the Faroe Islands and in Norway. Þang-
brands Þáttur is therefore older than Þorvalds Þáttur, but how old is it?
Þangbrands Þáttur is preserved in three 13th century redactions, in Olafs Saga
Tryggvasonar en mesta, in Kristni Saga and in Njáls Saga.
The redaction that corresponds best to the information given about Þangbrand-
ur in Islendingabók is the Ólafs Saga-redaction, both regarding chronology and the
number of men slain by Þangbrandur.
The Kristni Saga-redaction is obviously interpolated with local legends from the
west of Iceland.
The Njáls 5aga-redaction is also obviously interpolated with local legends, but
these are from south-eastern Iceland and it has been maintained that this redaction
shows influence from the monastery of Þykkvibœr. Besides, the Njáls Saga-redac-
tion contains the most detailed descriptions of the killings carried out by Þang-
brandur and his companion, the Icelandic chieftain Guðleifur Arason.
According to a marginal note in the Landnáma-redaction Þórðarbók, which can
be traced to a lost manuscript of the mediaeval Landnáma-redaction Melabók, a
scald named Ljóðarkeptur composed a panegyrical poem about the above men-
tioned Guðleifur Arason. In the lists of scalds included in Snorra-Edda he is men-
tioned, under the name of Óðar keptr or Óttarr keptr, among the scalds of Canute
the Great, i.e. from the first half of the 11 th century.
Textual criticism indicates that the Njáls Saga-redaction of Þangbrands Þáttur
has used a Þangbrands Þáttur very similar to the Ólafs 5aga-redaction and also in
all probability the poem on Guðleifur Arason by Ljóðarkeptur. Furthermore, one
group of manuscripts of Ólafs Saga can be shown to be specially related to the text
used by Njáls Saga.
The author of íslendingabók seems to have used a written narrative about
Þangbrandur, and in this narrative the poem on Guðleifur Arason was used as a
source and treated in the same manner as in the Ólafs Aaga-redaction of Þang-
brands Þáttur. Accordingly, íslendingabók has not used the poem on Guðleifur
A rason directly. Þangbrands Þáttur was apparently composed in the beginning of
the 12th century and among its sources were a poem on Guðleifur Arason and
clerical literature.