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like], while rögnvaldr is ‘manna … fríðastr sýnum, vitr ok vinsæll, góð[g]
jarn ok forsjáll, hverjum manni líkaði vel við hann … þat var mælt at hann
kynni framar íþróttir, enn konungr’ [the most handsome of men, wise and
beloved, kind and foresightful, and everyone liked him … it was said that
he was better at manly skills than the king].53 Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar
and Þorsteins saga’s brothers are similarly described, while variation on the
theme is found in Sigurðar saga þǫgla, featuring three brothers: Hálfdan,
an unwise hothead, Vilhjálmr, popular, generous, athletic and wise of
counsel, and Sigurðr, who has kolbítr characteristics in his youth but ends
up surpassing both his brothers.54 the superior qualities bestowed on the
younger brother seem to compensate for his inferior position according to
the rule of primogeniture and the importance of the first-born, often lead-
ing to a sibling dynamic filled with tension and rivalry if not processed.55
the older brother becomes involved in disputes or dangerous situations
that not only pose a threat to his own life but also that of others, generating
(some of) the saga’s plot; this tendency is not just a question of a flawed
temperament but signs of a failure to learn successfully to navigate class
and political tensions.56 It is up to the younger brother to bail him out of
difficulties, sometimes against his will and better judgement. In Þorsteins
saga and Mágus saga, parallel situations arise where Þórir and Vígvarðr,
provoked by their higher-ranking opponents, commit murder after ice
hockey and chess matches, respectively.57 this leads to feuding and disas-
ter for the entire family; the killer’s brothers (and sometimes father) must
defend him and resolve the situation, sometimes with the result of further
53 Bragða-Mágus saga með tilheyrandi þáttum. Skrifuð upp eptir gömlum handritum, ed.
gunnlaugur Þórðarsson (Copenhagen: Páll Sveinsson, 1858), 36 (hereafter Mágus saga);
‘godgiarn’ in ms.
54 Sigurðar saga þǫgla, in Late Medieval Icelandic Romances, vol. 2, ed. Agnete Loth, editiones
Arnamagnæanæ, vol. B.21 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1963), 99. the brothers Ásmundr
and Hálfdan of Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra have traces of this binary: the younger Hálfdan
is said to be the more promising of the two brothers; see Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra, in
Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda, vol. 3, ed. guðni Jónsson and Bjarni Vilhjálmsson (reykjavík:
Bókaútgáfan Forni, 1944), 323. For taciturn, silent, unpromising kolbítr types in AM 152
fol., consider also Grettir, Göngu-Hrólfr, and starkaðr and Refr in Gautreks saga.
55 Michael Jackson, ‘Ambivalence and the Last-Born. Birth-order Position in Convention and
Myth,’ Man new series 13 (1978): 341–361; for further discussion, see Larrington, Brothers
and Sisters, ch. 2.
56 Larrington, ‘Awkward Adolescents,’ 159.
57 Þorsteins saga, 204, Mágus saga, 45.
IDEoLogY AnD IDEntItY In LAtE MEDIEVAL WESt ICELAnD