Saga - 1988, Page 130

128
EINAR PÁLSSON
á vandamálum íslenzkrar fornmenningar af skynsamlegu viti, fyrr en
glímt hefur verið við gátur Ingólfs og Njáls.
Pótt sagnfræði íslenzkra fornrita varði framvindu atburða í tiltekn-
um samfélögum verður hún aldrei skilin frá rannsókn á goðafræði -
af þeirri einföldu ástæðu, að eigi er fyrirfram gefið, hver hluti efnis í
miðaldasögn byggist á sagnfræði og hver á goðafræði. Hins vegar get-
ur goðminni varpað ljósi á tiltekna atburðarás og samfélag. Tákn Ing-
ólfs og Hjörleifs, Rómúlusar og Remusar, Njáls og Flosa, fullnægðu
kröfum ákveðinna samfélaga. Pað er einungis notkun táknanna sem
þýða ber. Sé því sleppt að rannsaka táknmál aldanna, skilst ekki hinn
sagnfræðilegi hluti efniviðarins.
Summary
This paper consists of a proposition of method and a prediction. The method
proposed for the eliciting of meaning from symbolic material is that best
known by the physical sciences, the Hypothesis. Proposing „views" and
„opinions" is discouraged; that kind of approach ties the scholar emotionally
to his material. A simpler method is to follow the leads of results gained from
tests of hypotheses. Such a method is particularly useful when tests show
results previously unexpected or different from prevailing opinions.
Two of the best known myths in Iceland are selected for the prediction in
question, that of Ingólfur-Leifur - our principal settlement myth - and that of
Njáll-Flosi, contained in' the allegorical symbolism of Njáls saga. The predic-
tion states simply that both of these myths will be found to have been used
in ancient Rome. What is here referred to is symbolic particles, not the pro-
per names used in the Icelandic sagas within an Icelandic context. Briefly
put: Njáll-Flosi will be found to correspond to Neleus-Pelias of Minoan/Myc-
enean descent and to be connected with „Trojan" mythology. The myth of
Ingólfur-Leifur will be found to coincide in major particulars with that of
Romulus and Remus.
This prediction is based on the studies named The Roots oflcelandic Culture
(abbr. RÍM). Mythological symbolism is there the main object of research.
The meaning of myth and symbolism as outlined in RlM has been elicited
from such material within an Icelandic setting. The conclusion suggests
strongly that there is a correspondence between, on the one hand, the myths
conceming the establishment of Alþingi in Iceland and the marking of its site
at Þingvellir, and, on the other, the establishment of the Roman kingship
normally related to Numa Pompilius - as well as the marking of ancient
Rome.
RÍM is a study in meaning, where separate isolated units of text are first
interpreted, then applied to more wide-reaching areas of research. General
principles thus obtained in Iceland suggest that Greek-Roman mythology