Gripla - 20.12.2010, Page 212

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plausibility in its depiction of the encounter between the religions.
Although he accepts truth in what Þangbrandr says, Hallr still seems to be
approaching the religion from a pagan and polytheistic mindset. He is
impressed by the position which Michael holds in the hierarchy and by his
influence and therefore surmises that he should position himself in as close
relation to Michael as possible. Although pagans believed in many gods,
some would associate themselves closely with a particular deity, whom
they would think of as patron or friend (see for example Hrafnkell Hall-
freðarson of Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða who was a friend to Freyr or Þorgils
ørrabeinstjúpr of Flóamanna saga who owes the debt of an ox to Þórr).
Such a desire to have a deity as a personal patron or advocate is comparable
with the desire expressed by Hallr in his request to have Michael as a
fylgjuengill, a detail not present in the Kristni saga account. The reader’s
attention is drawn to this word by its echo of Hallr’s question (Hver rǫk
fylgja engli þeim?) earlier in the paragraph. This term, fylgju + engill – clearly
blends the Christian concepts of guardian-angels with pagan traditions of
guardian spirits. Medieval Christian tradition sometimes mentions good
and bad angels which accompany men throughout their lives urging them to
act morally or reprehensibly17 and it is possible that a literal translation of
the term (if not an etymological one) might have been ‘accompanying angel’.
The term thus combines the pagan tradition of the hidden or invisible part
of the soul in the form of an animal associated with a man’s birth, with the
Christian tradition of guardian angels associated with his Christening guard-
ing his moral path and acting as intermediaries between him and God. This
continues the theme of guardian spirits pervading the tradition surrounding
Hallr’s family. Hallr is giving up the protectorship of the guardian spirits
who accompanied Hrollaugr to Iceland and ensured the success of his family
there. He therefore expects to receive a powerful protector in return.
17 On traditions of guardian angels in saga literature in particular relation to Gísla saga
Súrssonar see Cochrane 2004, 154–157. Examples in Old Norse include a description in the
Old Norse Homily Book (Indrebø 1931, 142) that each man gets both a good and bad guard-
ian angel (varðhaldsengill) at baptism who encourage him towards good or evil throughout
his life. Similarly Michaels saga (Unger 1877, I, 683) says that each man has a good and bad
nærg†ngull engill (‘accompanying angel’) – a construction strikingly similar to the fylgjuengill
above. In an exemplum preserved in Old Norse, a man in York named Vilhjálmr sees a
vision of two spirits, one of whom belongs to God, the other is an evil spirit (Gering 1882,
I, 303–305).