Gripla - 20.12.2008, Page 91

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“perfectly faithful to the actual events” served as a sort of authorisation
which applied to the written saga as well, for the latter was ultimately
going back to the same oral source (ÍF XI, CXIV; Gurewitsch 1992).
What is particularly remarkable about the storytelling of the ‘sagawise’
Icelander is that his success was owing to the fact that he learned his saga
from Halldór Snorrason, one of Haraldr’s comrades who, as we know,
participated in the fight with the serpent.
Íslendings þáttr sögufróða is contained in Mork, Hulda and Hrokkinskinna
but it has been left out in Flat. Could it be for that reason that the com-
piler of the respective part of the book replaced the tale of an anonymous
story-teller with another tale intended to verify the most shaky episode of
Haraldr’s travels in the southern lands? There are good grounds for think-
ing that one possible function of Þorsteins þáttr forvitna in Flat could have
been the authentication of the king’s fantastic adventure with the serpent.
Although their plots are unlike, there are important similarities between
the two narratives which speak in favour of their interconnection. In each
of the stories we find a hero who has fallen out with a mighty king and in
consequence of this conflict is compelled to face a fierce serpent; in both
stories the hero shows courage in his dealings with the monster but all the
same owes his life to Saint Óláfr, to whom he appeals for help. And last but
not least, both stories give most prominent place to short daggers which
are somehow connected with monsters. That these common features
could really underlie the associations between an adventure of the curious
Icelander and an incident with the future king of Norway may be testified
by the fact that by design of the compiler of Flat Þorsteins þáttr forvitna was
placed in this book immediately after a story hinting at ambiguous attitude
towards the episode of Haraldr’s fight with the dragon, i.e. Halldórs þáttr
Snorrasonar I. It is striking that Halldórs þáttr I was recorded in Flat twice:
once in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (Flat I, 506–11) and again, in a considerably
reduced form, among the þættir accompanying Haraldr’s saga (Flat III,
428–31), although the latter king (in contrast to his position in the omitted
Halldórs þáttr II) did not play any noticeable role in this story. According to
this tale Halldór killed an offender who dared to mock and lampoon him
for stories “from his travels abroad with king Haraldr”. The full version
of the þáttr provides more specific information about this incident. As we
learn from it, Halldór was particularly insulted by a slanderous statement
THE FANTASTIC IN Í SLENDINGA ÞÆTTIR