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surely lead quickly to social disintegration, anarchy and civil war. Hallr
realises the precariousness of the position and that civil war will benefit
no-one, especially not him. Hallr is aware of the honour bestowed on him
by the Christian chieftains, but not overawed by it and thus gives it up. He
hands over the decision as to whether Iceland will be Christian or pagan to
Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði and in so doing increases the likelihood of being
on the victorious side (through the generosity of this act and the payment
made to Þorgeirr by Hallr) and reduces the risk of being on the losing side.
Such a strategy is undoubtedly a risk, but probably a lesser risk than the
prospect of social division leading ultimately to social breakdown.
One aspect that Hallr does seek to control is the payment made to
Þorgeirr to make the decision. The amount paid to Þorgeirr varies consid-
erably in the different versions of the stories. Íslendingabók merely states
that a payment is made (ÍF I, I, 16), Oddr’s Óláfs saga states that Þorgeirr is
paid half a mark of silver (KS I, 108), Njáls saga gives the value as three
marks (ÍF XII, 271), and Kristni saga as a massive half hundred (i.e. sixty)
weight of silver (thus over seven marks) (ÍF XV, 33). The exact nature of
this payment is not clear. Dag Strömbäck (1975, 30–31) suggests that it is a
cynical bribe on Hallr’s part to influence the decision (rather than a legiti-
mate fee for Þorgeirr to make the decision). For my part I think this
reflects the plurality and diversity in the presentation of Hallr across all the
texts that mention him. He is both a benign Christian (which I will discuss
further below) and a shrewd realist. All the texts play upon this plurality in
their silence as to the exact nature of this payment. Hallr pays for the deci-
sion – he pays to ensure that a decision is made, to ensure that he is not
making that decision and perhaps to influence that decision too. Even if
this money was merely Þorgeirr’s due as Law-Speaker, the fact that it is
Hallr – a Christian – who hands it over (a detail consistent in all versions)
can only have helped his cause.20 Þorgeirr retires beneath the cloak and
emerges to rule in favour of the Christians, that Iceland will become a
20 Paul Schach (1982, 190) observes that this may not actually be Hallr’s money but that
of King Óláfr sent with his envoys and missionaries to help encourage the adoption of
Christianity in Iceland, nonetheless this only underlines my point that the money is being
paid to Þorgeirr from the Christian camp. Schach’s observation must, however, be regarded
as speculation given there is no preserved account indicating that Hallr is using money
provided by the King.
SÍÐU-HALLS SAGA OK SONA HANS