Gripla - 20.12.2012, Blaðsíða 184

GRIPLA182
of Christianity in spite of being heathen himself.16 Later, in Íslendingabók
ch. 9, we are told some of Ari’s personal history, namely that at the age
of seven he went to stay with Hallur (by then almost eighty years old;
Grønlie 2006, 28), es bæði var minnigr ok ólyginn (íf 1, 21), “who both had a
reliable memory and was truthful” (Grønlie 2006, 11). Ari gives no further
details about Hallur but his description does serve to underline Hallur’s
position as an authority regarding the historical events surrounding the
kristnitaka.
there are three other medieval sources which describe the formal con-
version of Iceland. All three are from the fourteenth century, all three
clearly draw on Ari and use his twelfth-century account as their main
source, and all three supply additional information regarding Hallur and
the circumstances of his personal conversion.
Ch. 7 of Kristni saga (dated to c. 131017) elaborates on Hallur’s conver-
sion. Þangbrandur, the saga says, was shunned by the Icelanders once
they realized he was a Christian and had been sent out to Iceland by king
ólafur; Hallur, however allowed him to stay on his farm. the day before
Michaelmas,18 Þangbrandur and his men begin to observe this feast by
stopping work. Hallur asks why they were doing this, and Þangbrandur
tells him about the archangel Michael and how he receives the souls of
Christians. Hallur is impressed by what he hears. the next day, he and
his household go to watch the Christian rites. Hallur asks his household
how they like what they see; they say that they like it well and everyone
is baptized the following easter (íf 15, 17–19; Grønlie 2006, 41).19 In this
version of the event, Hallur hears about Michael but does not actually
acquire any special attachment to him.
16 the way in which Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði came to the conclusion that Iceland should
become Christian has been much discussed (see for example jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson
1999; Cochrane 2010, 214–215).
17 Kristni saga is preserved in Hauksbók (AM 371 4°), c. 1302–1310 where it follows the text
of Landnámabók. the manuscript is fragmentary but does contain ch. 7 of Kristni saga; the
beginning and ending of Kristni saga are found in the seventeenth-century manuscript AM
105 fol. (Grønlie 2006, xxxii; kålund 1888–1894 1, 589–590).
18 Michaelmas falls on september 29.
19 easter and Pentecost were, at least in Rome, the proper seasons for baptism since these
festivals carry are strongly associated with the transition from death to life. the easter-
Pentecost ruling about baptism remained in force until the twelfth century and beyond
(Cramer 1993, 137–138, 155–156).