Gripla - 20.12.2010, Page 222

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no extant manuscript which preserves both Þorsteinn’s saga and his draumr
and the exact relationship between the two is uncertain.27 It is therefore
impossible to be certain whether the fox in Þórhaddr’s dream is identical to
the thrall in the Draumr. Nonetheless the treachery of the slave fits well
the fox-symbol’s sly and cunning nature (even if the modern sympathy for
the thrall is somewhat greater than that of the medieval audience).28
In the last of Þorsteinn’s three dreams the woman who is nearest to
him asks where they should go after his death. Þorsteinn tells them to go
to his son Magnús, to which they reply (ÍF XI, 325): Litla stund munum vér
þar mega vera (‘We might be there but a little time’). The women who warn
Þorsteinn are undoubtedly his fylgjur or those of his family. I do not believe
it is too far-fetched to relate these women to the fylgjur mentioned in
Rǫgnvaldr’s prophecy about his son and descendants, to both sets of guard-
ians who appear to Þiðrandi shortly before his death and to Hallr’s concern
over guardian spirits at the moment of his conversion to Christianity (even
though this is linking episodes preserved in quite distinct texts). These
spirits have accompanied the family throughout the generations, first en -
suring their success in the settlement era and later being transformed and
translated into more Christian forms through the piety in the family
(although in the Draumr they still display a surprising number of strik-
ingly pagan characteristics). Realising the failure of their attempts to avert
Þorsteinn’s doom, his family guardian spirits look where they will move to
after his death.29 However, their reservations about Magnús inadvertently
reveal that his death will quickly follow his father’s. Although we have no
preserved text recounting Magnús Þorsteinsson’s untimely demise, the
allusion to it both here and in Morkinskinna strongly suggests that such a
27 Þorsteins saga Síðu-Hallssonar is preserved in JS 435 4o and AM 142 fol. The draumr is
preserved in AM 564 c 4o, AM 165 m fol. and AM 594 a 4o.
28 The only counter-argument to equating Gilli with the fox, is that the end of Draumr
Þorsteins reveals Gilli is actually descended from King Kjarvalr of Ireland (ÍF XI, 326) and
therefore a more noble fetch might be expected to represent him; however, one can scarcely
expect such perfect allusion in a single text, let alone when combining details from multiple
and possibly indirectly related texts. As to the medieval audience’s lack of sympathy with
the slave, although probably providing entertainment for many members of the household,
the world-view of most sagas is that of the more senior members of society, the bœndr and
goðar, and as such the quality of loyalty in the lowest classes is praised most highly.
29 As in the examples from Víga-Glúms saga and Hallfreðar saga cited above.