Gripla - 20.12.2007, Side 15

THE FANTASTIC ELEMENT
and shows his true nature. Everything in this saga is exaggerated and in-
credible, but apart from the introduction supernatural motifs are not important.
Hávarðar saga shows a marvellous sense of humour, and it is not unlikely that
it is intended as a parody or at least a tongue-in-cheek comedy (Halldór Guð-
mundsson 1990).
Flóamanna saga has this in common with Hávarðar saga, but not much
else, that the protagonist Þorgils ƒrrabeinsstjúpr retains his valour into old age,
and like Króka-Refr in his saga Þorgils has exciting adventures in Greenland.
He is introduced into the saga after a long and learned introduction about his
forefathers and their dealings with other chieftains in Flói (in the south low-
lands of Iceland), and he is strikingly similar to Egill Skallagrímsson in some
ways; for instance, he kills one of his step-father’s horses when he is five years
old to prove that he is worthy of playing with other boys. At nine and ten he is
already behaving like a teenager, outdoing and bullying grown-ups, and at
sixteen he embarks upon his first voyage abroad, and soon wrestles with two
ghosts, one after the other, and subdues them, cutting off the head of one and
burning the other. There follows a series of victories over viking champions,
and back home Þorgils continues to be unbeatable although the adversaries
now seem much less formidable. Contrary to his character, as it seems, al-
though this is common in fourteenth century sagas, Þorgils receives Christi-
anity eagerly and subsequently disregards both threats and offerings of help
from the god Þórr. Þorgils decides to move to Greenland, and the voyage in-
volves him in severe hardship where various strange and fantastic events
occur. After a period with many conflicts in Greenland and an episode in Ire-
land, where he once again proves his valour, he resumes farming in Iceland
and becomes an extremely grumpy but quite vital old man. Dying in old age
like Egill he is equally unbeatable and has faced more hardship and more for-
midable adversaries than most heroes. He is a memorable character, and there
is great variation in his adventures. The fantastic element adds colour to his
saga, but apart from the section about Þorgils’ youth the realistic and fantastic
modes are evenly mixed.
Svarfdæla saga cannot be described by concentrating on a protagonist
because it deals with several generations, and it is difficult to say about one of
the main characters, Klaufi, whether he is a hero or an adversary. In the first
part of the saga Þorsteinn svƒrfuðr is the hero, and he kills formidable vikings
and gets an earl’s daughter as wife. In the second generation his nephew
Klaufi, who has a monstrous appearance and immense strength, proves his
might at fighting and killing, but after he has been killed himself, he becomes
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