Gripla - 20.12.2008, Side 83

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ones he already had and ascertained that they were of the same tree. When
the king heard the whole story he concluded that the Icelander had been
a very fortunate man and thus not only pardoned him but also rewarded
him generously. For, as king Haraldr explained, in having acted in this
way he was evidently meeting the wishes of the one who had taken care
of Þorsteinn throughout his journey, and that is Saint Óláfr, his brother.
Then Þorsteinn parted from the king and returned to Iceland, but as it is
reported at the very end of the þáttr he later died with Haraldr in England
(Flat III, 431–32).
The story of Þorsteinn’s travelling employs supernatural elements on a
larger scale than most of the other útanferðar þættir.3 Moreover, it contains
exotic motifs, which is exceptional for Íslendinga þættir in general. And last
but not least it is easy to see, that this story is patterned entirely after the
common scheme of a folktale as outlined by Vladimir Propp. The follow-
ing ‘functions’ of dramatis personae may be detected in it (although some
in slightly modified form): III. The Interdiction is Violated (The very fact
that the interdiction itself is not verbalised within the þáttr is irrelevant
since the Interdiction and Violation of the Interdiction constitute a binary
element in which, according to Propp’s analysis of the magic tale, “The sec-
ond half can sometimes exist without the first” (Propp 1979, 27)); VIIIa (3)
Wondrous Objects are Lacking; IX. Misfortune or Lack is made Known;
The Hero is approached with a Request or Command; IX. (B2) The Hero
is Dispatched Directly; XI. The Hero Leaves Home; XIV. Hero acquires
the use of a Magical Agent (here this function is manifested in one of its
traditional varieties, namely F9
6 — various magical creatures suddenly
appear without any warning, or are met on the way, offer their services and
are accepted as helpers); XV. The Hero is Transferred, Delivered or Led
3 In fact, of thirty one tales of this type (for details see Harris 1972) only Þorleifs þáttr
jarlsskálds may be compared to Þorsteins þáttr forvitna in this respect. There we find three
episodes each having the supernatural at its core: one depicts the magical effect of a níð
poem, in another there is a wooden man with a human heart, a ‘robot’ produced with
the aid of sorcery in order to kill the hero of the þáttr, and the third tells of a fantastic
procedure which turned Hallbjörn hali, a man who had never composed verses, into
a competent poet. As to the other þættir of Icelanders abroad, those tales that resort
to the supernatural at all are mostly content with the motif of saintly assistance (Egils
þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar, Gísls þáttr Illugasonar, Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar I, Hrafns þáttr
Guðrúnarsonar, Þorvalds þáttr tasalda, Þórarins þáttr Nefjólfssonar) which is sometimes
preceded by the hero’s encounter with a malevolent marvellous creature (a demon in
Ögmundar þáttr dytts ok Gunnars helmings; a visitor from Hell in Þorsteins þáttr skelks).
THE FANTASTIC IN Í SLENDINGA ÞÆTTIR