Gripla - 20.12.2010, Page 218

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the fact that few sources tell of any significant enemies of the old chieftain
(though he surely must have had some) it seems likely he died of natural
causes. Had Hallr been dramatically murdered (either in history or oral
tradition) one might have expected some evidence of an account preserved
in one or other of the sources mentioning him. One can date his death,
however, with relative certainty to the years 1012 to 1014 as he is present at
the Alþingi following the burning of Njáll in the summer of 1012, but his
son Þorsteinn seems already to be in possession of the goðorð of the Síðu-
menn before the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.23 Although less impressive,
Þorsteinn’s story is rather better documented than his father’s. Þorsteinn
has a saga named after him, which is preserved in two paper manuscripts
(AM 142 fol. and JS 435 4o). Þorsteins saga Síðu-Hallssonar is notable for
having the greatest number of dreams preserved in any of the sagas of
Icelanders.24 Although the dreams themselves contain many interesting
examples of word-play and metaphor, the rest of the saga is somewhat less
exceptional and resembles slightly the plot of Bandamanna saga. It tells of
Þorsteinn’s conflict with the scoundrel Þórhaddr Hafljótsson. The opening
of the saga is missing and therefore can give us no clue as the circumstanc-
es of Hallr’s death. The end of the saga mentions that Ljótr was indeed an
elder brother of Þorsteinn (ÍF XI, 319) and one might suppose the early
part of the saga made mention of him and perhaps explained how Þorsteinn
inherited the goðorð unexpectedly. It also mentions Kolr, Þorsteinn’s broth-
er in Landnámabók (see above). The missing opening must also have con-
tained an account of the initial friendship between Þorsteinn and Þórhaddr,
as, despite misgivings about his character, Þorsteinn entrusts Þórhaddr
with looking after his goðorð while he goes abroad. Þorsteinn goes to the
Orkneys which are under the rulership of Sigurðr jarl Hlǫðvisson, a
descendant of Rǫgnvaldr, Þorsteinn’s pre-eminent ancestor. Þorsteinn
accompanies Sigurðr to Ireland and takes part in the battle of Clontarf (ÍF
23 These dates come from the timeline of Einar Ól. Sveinsson (ÍF XII, lxi–lxii) (based in turn
on earlier work by Guðbrandur Vigfússon).
24 There are a total of 15 dreams in Þorsteins saga, the next greatest number is in Flóamanna
saga where there are 13 and even this is a conjectural figure assuming that we can add the
dream preserved only in the fragmentary ‘longer’ redaction of the saga to the complete
‘shorter’ redaction. On saga dreams, and in particular number and distribution, see
Cochrane 2004, in particular 255–258.