Gripla - 20.12.2004, Page 102

GRIPLA100
ok kunnigt at Sigur›r hefir verit göfgastr allra herkonunga ok bezt at sér í
fornum si›. On a more personal note, Nornagestr says that Sigur›r was greatly
loved by all because he was bæ›i blí›r ok lítillátr ok mildr af fé (Flb. I:349).
He seems in all ways exemplary but for the matter of being a man of the
heathen age. Sigur›’s milder virtues get more attention in Nornagests fláttr
than in Völsunga saga or Konungsbók Eddukvæ›a. Bergur fiorgeirsson has
shown that the treatment of Reginsmál and surrounding prose in Nornagests
fláttr, contrasted with that in Konungsbók, shifts reponsibility for some of the
more excessive parts of the heroic idiom (the cutting of the ‘blood eagle,’
greed for gold) from Sigur›r to Reginn, leaving Sigur›r an even more exem-
plary hero from the standpoint of the pious reader, even a temperate one in the
sense of temperantia (Bergur fiorgeirsson 2000:80, 82–3). He even detects a
resemblance between the lord-retainer relationship between Sigur›r and
Nornagestr and the relationship between Christ and his apostles (Bergur
fiorgeirsson 1997:77). But even barring the last, in Sigur›r we find a super-
lative hero, one rendered even more admirable in this specific context.
The other items also provide connections to Sigur›r. The lock of hair from
Grani’s tail is a pars pro toto representation of Grani, gift of Ó›inn to the
youthful hero. Grani is an impressive enough part of the heroic past on his
own to be worth establishing a connection with. Grani’s sire was Sleipnir him-
self, and Grani was a noble-hearted beast to judge by his having braved Bryn-
hild’s wall of flame, but these details are all still part of his role in Sigur›’s
life. The tooth, even, though it is a part of Starka›’s body, is emblematic of Sig-
ur›’s strength and heroism, especially as compared to Starkar›r. Since it was
Sigur›r who struck it from the other’s jaw, a blow that caused Starka›r to flee
the field in a cowardly manner, the tooth itself is like an embodied mann-
jafna›r in which Sigur›r is the clear superior. In other words, the physical
goods Nornagestr carries with him provide a symbolic link to Sigur›r Fáfnis-
bani, and Sigur›r seems to stand for the best and most admirable of the forn-
öld.
Gesterf› or a law or custom like it could provide the social frame for the
transfer of these goods. Just as hospitality permits the guest a temporary place
in the home of the host but does not integrate him into the family structure as
an inlaw, gesterf› suggests that the inheritance relationship between guest and
host is similarly asymmetrical. The host may inherit from his guest, but the
reverse does not seem to be reflected in the laws. The guest, along with being
a bearer of news and provider of entertainment, is potentially a channel