Gripla - 20.12.2008, Blaðsíða 106

GRIPLA104
ous, encompassing dróttkvætt, fornyrðislag, repetition of entire lines and of
only certain words, and near-, rather than exact, repetition. It is thus prob-
ably wisest to regard final-line repetition as part of a continuum of sound
effects, systematised by Snorri in his usual way into a fixed form, galdralag
(and possibly drag, see the commentary in Faulkes 1991, 52). The reason for
the repeated final lines in the verses in Bergbúa þáttr is the move that their
sonority facilitates beyond mere communication into magical efficacy and
affective power. Just as Hallmundr’s tread makes the earth roar, as Stefán
aptly observes slík endurtekning [hefur] verið nóg til þess að láta Íslendingum
renna kalt vatn milli skins og hörunds (‘such a repetition has been enough to
cause a shiver to run down the spines of Icelanders’) (1951, 113–14).
Talking heads
Svarfdæla saga exists in a single vellum fragment dated to the late fifteenth
century (AM 445c II 4to) and a number of post-medieval manuscripts.
Chapter 19 of the saga begins with Karl inn rauði and eight companions
sitting at home by the fire:
[Þ]eir heyra, at nǫkkut gnauðar á húsinu, ok kom kviðlingr:
Sitk á húsi
sék til þess
heðan munu vér
oss hefnda vænta.
Karl mælti: “Alllíkt er þetta róm þeim, er Klaufi, frændi várr, hafði,
þá er vér heyrðum til hans, ok má vera, at hann þykkist nǫkkurs
mikils við þurfa. Fellr mér svá14 í hug kveðskapr sjá, at víst er þetta
fyrir stórtíðendum, hvárt sem þau eru fram komin eða eigi.” Ok fara
þeir út eptir þetta alvápnaðir ok ætla at snúa yfir til Hofs. Þá sá þeir
ekki lítinn grepp suðr við garðinn, ok var þat Klaufi ok hafði hǫfuðit
í hendi sér ok mælti:
14 The vellum fragment of Svarfdæla saga begins at this point; from here on Íslenzk fornrit’s
text is taken from AM 445c II 4to, rather than the seventeenth-century paper manuscript
AM 161 fol.