Gripla - 20.12.2004, Blaðsíða 114

GRIPLA112
and by the Hnikarr episode, and that tension is not disarmed by the explana-
tory material about the wiles of the Fiend. The tale set at Ögvaldsnes falls out
in such as way that a thread left hanging in Nornagests fláttr is taken up anew
and woven into a different sort of text. On the plane of narrative expection,
this is a resolution. But on the level of plot, this very resolution leaves us with
the unsettling knowledge that Ó›inn/Satan is out there still.
As far as the other gestir are concerned, the konungs gestir, the time of
year is quite explicitly Easter, such that they should be in attendence, if the
laws are to be believed. They are not mentioned explicitly. However, the
episode at Ögvaldsnes is only scant pages past the end of Nornagests fláttr (the
gap is between 47v and 49r), so they may still be in mind. Furthermore, the
Fiend is really a former hir›ma›ur of God, and we are reminded of this fact in
the short theological tag already mentioned, at the end of ch. 304:
Óláfr konungr var á Ögvaldsnesi.
En svá sem margheyrt <er> ok sannprófat at sí›an er allsvaldandi gu›
haf›i sér skipat til fljónustu háleita hir› himneskra krapta svá steypti
öfund ok ofmetna›r fleim englinum er einna var ágætastr skipa›r ór
hæstu sœmd ok sælu er honum var gefin af gu›i ok svá öllum fleim er
honum voru samhuga í ofbeldi mót skaparanum, ok svá sem hann var
á›r fegri ok frí›ari öllum englum í hinni hæstu d‡r› svá var› hann flá
ok æ sí›an ljótari ok lei›inlegri öllum djöflum í hinu ne›sta helvíti svá
illskufullr ok öfundar me› sínum árum ok örendrekum at hann kost-
gæfir allra mest fyrir at koma hverju gó›u rá›i ok byrlar optliga eitr
sinna slæg›a mannkyninu me› ‡mislegri ás‡nd e›r yfirbrag›i, flví at ef
hann sér nökkut sinn ey›az flokk sinna fljónustumanna en fjölgaz sau›i
gu›ligrar hjar›ar af fortölum ok fagrligri áeggjan örendreka Jesú Krists
flá leitar hann vi› á alla vega at tæla me› nökkurum svikum flá er hann
flykiz skömm e›r ska›a af hafa hlotit ok ætlar sí›an aptr at lei›a í
myrkr ótöluligrar villu flat sama fólk er hann flykiz á›r hafa t‡nt ok
tapat, sem s‡naz má í flví sem eftir ferr (Flb. I:375).
King Óláfr was at Ögvaldsnes
But as (is) often heard and truly proven, that after All-Powerful God
had appointed to his service a hir› of heavenly powers, then jealousy
and pride cast down that angel who was best placed of all from the