Gripla - 20.12.2007, Blaðsíða 14

GRIPLA
magic by bad people until the idealised lovers are in the end united with the
help of the good people. The hero always wins every fight although the odds
are against him, and characterization is highly exaggerated; the whole at-
mosphere is romantic while the style is a successful mixture of Íslendingasaga
style and that of translated romances. Although totally incredible and ana-
chronistic Víglundar saga is in a historical mode and strives to keep the out-
ward appearance of an Íslendingasaga. There are several stanzas in skaldic
metre, but the style is more related to the skaldic verse of the fifteenth century
than that of earlier times.
Króka-Refs saga is also told in traditional saga style, although what hap-
pens is equally incredible. In the beginning it is pinned down in time through
a reference to King Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, in place by names of farms, and in
genealogy by connecting the hero with the well-known Gestr Oddleifsson.
Later the author disregards chronology in order to stage a confrontation
between Refr and Haraldr Sigurðarson harðráði. The hero, although certainly
a brave and good fighter, solves all his problems with his outstanding in-
telligence and cleverness with words as well as his great engineering talents.
The saga is unique for its pseudo-rationalism. Króka-Refr is a great trickster
but his tricks all have a rational explanation, however incredible. There is a
recent and excellent analysis of this saga in Martin Arnold’s book about the
post-classical saga. Its essence is well described by Arnold: „Króka-Refs saga
is less concerned with the ethicality of heroic fortitude than with establishing
a superhero whose pedigree owes more to the fantastic hero of Märchen than
to the drengskapr of the classical Íslendingasögur.“ (Arnold 2003:196). This
statement applies to many of the fourteenth century heroes, although Króka-
Refr is, with Hávarðr Ísfirðingr, the one most likely to be a figure of parody or
at least exaggeration created to evoke laughter rather than naive admiration in
the audience.
In Hávarðar saga a young hero has repeated fights with a very physical
ghost in the first part of the saga. When the young hero has been killed his
mother demonstrates both fantastic foresight and probably some command of
magic, but the really fantastic element in the saga is the incredible revival of
the old and for a long time infirm protagonist, Hávarðr, who rises to prove
himself an inconquerable champion having lain in bed for three years over-
come by grief and, according to his own words, without sleep (although his
wife says that that must be a great lie, allmikil lygi). It might be said that this
saga includes a very unusual version of the male cinderella motif, since Há-
varðr is elderly and has a past as a warrior when he rises up from the ashes
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