Gripla - 20.12.2008, Page 84

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to the Whereabouts of an Object of Search (here G4 — the route is shown
to him); XIX. The Initial Misfortune or Lack is Liquidated — the hero
obtains the object of his quest; XX. The Hero Returns; XXI. The Hero is
Pursued; XXII. Rescue of the Hero from Pursuit (Propp 1979, 27; 35–36;
39; 43–45; 50; 53; 55–57).4
The close relationship with folktale does not, of course, preclude the
fact that the story of Þorsteinn’s adventure is nevertheless an útanferðar
þáttr and that as such, as has been mentioned above, it shares the common
formal properties and subject-matter of this genre. As in other tales of
Icelanders abroad, we find in Þorsteins þáttr forvitna both the general nar-
rative structure typical of this group of þættir (Introduction — Journey
In — Alienation — Reconciliation — Journey Out — Conclusion (Harris
1972)), and its most common topic, namely the success of an Icelander who
after undergoing a series of trials has managed to win the king’s favour and
to get on in life. It is not sufficient, however, just to state that the story
is modelled on the folktale. The very fact that such a tale has been associ-
ated with the name of Haraldr Sigurðarson and placed among the stories
accompanying the saga of this king in Flat needs an explanation, not least
because this is the only útanferðar þáttr narrating conflicts between the
Icelanders and king Haraldr in which fantastic elements are used at all. In
contrast to other tales of the Icelanders and Haraldr harðráði, which never
deviate from the realistic mode of representation, the entire narrative here
is centred round extraordinary wonderful objects and an unprecedented
quest set in some vaguely defined distant land.
It seems that the latter circumstance deserves a closer look, for it may
become the starting-point of an inquiry into the origins of the story of
Þorsteinn’s adventure. Strangely enough, this very short and condensed
tale contains a detail which is of no practical use in the action. Although
the king told Þorsteinn to try to guess where he could have got the golden
handles, the hero did not even try to think where Haraldr had travelled
and preferred to appeal directly to Saint Óláfr. It is evident, however, that
the reader of the þáttr should have understood the king’s reply as a hint at
Haraldr’s long sojourn in the East, which was related in the preceding text
4 Attempts to find a parallel to Þorsteinn’s tale, either in I. M. Boberg’s Motif-Index of
Early Icelandic Literature (on the quest for marvellous golden wood for a knife handle —
see Boberg 1966, 159), or in the Aarne-Thompson Tale Type Index, yielded no results.