Gripla - 20.12.2005, Page 141

KRISTNI SAGA AND MEDIEVAL CONVERSION HISTORY 139
dedicated to Maurer. Drawing selectively on a wide range of sources, includ-
ing Eddaic verse, Björn M. Ólsen weaves his material into a plausible whole
and develops at length Maurer’s analysis of Icelandic political history. Al-
though an episode is occasionally dismissed as „tilbúningur sí›ari tíma“ (‘the
invention of a later time’), his general tendency is to accept the information in
his sources and to smooth over the many differences between them (Björn M.
Ólsen 1900:36, 89).
Interestingly, both men acknowledge in theory the greater reliability of
Ari’s work, but in practice rely heavily on later, more detailed accounts of the
conversion. Maurer (1965:407, 416), for example, states explicitly that he
follows Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta because of its „Ausführlichkeit“
(‘detail’) rather than its reliability, while Björn M. Ólsen (1900:70-71) looks
to other sources to bulk out Ari’s meagre narrative: „Filgjum vjer frásögn Ara,
fla› sem hún nær, enn hendum fla› úr ö›rum sögum, er oss flykir næst sanni“
(‘We follow Ari’s narrative, as far as it goes, and take from other accounts
what seems to us nearest the truth’).
If Maurer and Björn M. Ólsen write in the tradition of Ranke, aiming for
objectivity and scientific rigour, the church histories by Adolf Jörgensen (pub-
lished in 1874-78), Bishop Jón Helgason (1925-27) and John Hood (1946) are
rather different in nature. These men conflate the sources on the conversion
without making any note of their differences and incompatibilities, and no
particular prominence is given to Ari. The religious motivation behind their
work is evident from a number of interpretative comments: Jörgensen and Jón
Helgason openly express their Christian sympathies, warmly praising the
Christian pioneer fiorvaldr and the evangelical missionary Fri›rekr at the same
time as they condemn the violent approach of Stefnir and fiangbrandr
(Jörgensen 1874-78:274-75, 284, 360-61, 363; Jón Helgason 1925:31-32, 34).
For Jörgensen (1874-78:358), the superiority of Christianity is self-evident
and sufficient in itself as an explanation of Iceland’s rapid conversion:
Det lå i sagens natur, at det nye i den henseende havde en stor fordel
for det gamle, det svarede til den længsel, som var så levende i
Islændingens bryst, det lovede opfyldelse af den dybeste attrå, det stod
i forbund med alt det ædleste og bedste i mennesket.
It lay in the nature of the thing, that the new in that respect had a great
advantage over the old, it answered the longing which was so intense