Gripla - 20.12.2014, Qupperneq 111

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Þorsteinn, presumably not set to inherit his father, was nevertheless not
ignored by his family: he received an education as a scribe and farmed at
the manor (höfuðból) Svignaskarð in Borgarfjörður, in whose purchase his
father Þorleifr seems to have been involved.85 Besides feelings of fraternal
love and solidarity, Þorseinn may have felt secure enough that more was at
stake for him to support his half-brother than compete with him.
During the inheritance dispute, Björn guðnason also continued his
legal feud with the Bishop (the so-called Vatnsfjarðarmál), and in 1515, he
was excommunicated.86 Björn appears to have become belligerent at this
development, and he physically attacked and mistreated jörundr, a priest
sent by the Bishop to deliver a message to Björn. Using violence against
a priest was clearly scandalous behaviour, perhaps especially for someone
of his social standing, and for this offence, Björn was condemned as an
óbótamaðr, a punishment that amounted to outlawry.87 It is tempting to
imagine that Björn and Þorsteinn’s dealings with their cousin might have
had an effect, whether a conscious or an indirect one, on the selection
of sagas for their manuscript. Considering the repeated legal claims that
Björn Guðnason continued to make on Þorleifr’s inheritance over the
years, and the vehemence with which he pursued these claims, could it
not be possible that Björn and Þorsteinn might have seen certain parallels
between their cousin and some of the villains in the sagas? these villains
have terrible tempers (e.g. king Hlöðvir), relentlessly harrass and attack
the protagonists (e.g. Özurr and Þorbjǫrn ǫngull), act unreasonably and
without moderation (e.g. ubbi), go to great lengths to deceive their victims
(e.g. Vilhjálmr) and commit excessive violence (e.g. Þorbjǫrn ǫxnamegin).
Could it be that the patron of AM 152 fol. wished to draw comparisons
between its moderate and wise heroes and himself? Did the emphasis
on brotherhood, despite differences of temperament and ability, send a
message to supporters and opponents alike that Björn and Þorsteinn’s re-
solve would not break? Perhaps AM 152 fol. can be regarded as part of an
early-sixteenth-century project of image-building: a contribution towards
a public relations campaign surrounding the dispute between the two
85 DI, 8:363 (no. 299), 8:400 (no. 327).
86 guðrún Ása grímsdóttir, Vatnsfjörður, 212.
87 guðrún Ása grímsdóttir, Vatnsfjörður, 213; for a more detailed description of the incident,
see Páll eggert ólason, Menn og menntir, 2:105.
IDEoLogY AnD IDEntItY In LAtE MEDIEVAL WESt ICELAnD