Gripla - 20.12.2012, Page 188

GRIPLA186
149), “but with things as they are they were incapable of doing so” (CSI
2, 461).29
this story is interesting for its portrayal of Þiðrandi as a “noble hea-
then”, a Christian before the conversion to Christianity, and a favourite
son who is claimed by the heathen deities on the brink of losing their grip
on the community.30 But the ox and the dísir likewise merit some attention
since they too play significant parts.
the sacrifice of an animal during the Winter nights is not surprising in
any way; it fits with what is known about the heathen traditions connected
to this feast. the sacrifice of an ox called spámaðr in conjunction with
Þórhallur’s predictions about Christianity approaching, as well as with the
death of the favourite son Þiðrandi (who is said to be “unassuming and
kind to every child”), however, looks a little suspicious when presented as
part of a heathen feast.31
the “prophet” who is killed at the Winter nights is, of course, the ox
called spámaðr. But it is also possible to regard Þiðrandi as the “prophet”
in the sense that he is a visionary whose vision and death are interpreted as
heralding the coming of Christianity.32 Moreover, it may even be possible
to see Þórhallur as the “prophet” since he is clearly a spámaðr and since the
heathen beliefs that he represents are about to be “sacrificed” in the sense
of being supplanted by Christianity. In their fourteenth-century context,
all three candidates may be said to function as disguised manifestations of
Christian symbols: the ox represents Christian sacrifice; Þiðrandi is the
Christ-like “noble heathen”, the promising young man who is a Christian
before Christianity and who dies a tragic death; Þórhallur is the wise hea-
then who foresees that the old ways of his ancestors will die out as a new
and better way is imminent.
29 this brings to mind Laxdæla saga ch. 31, where ólafur pái, having had his precious ox Harri
slain, is visited in his dreams by a furious woman who accuses him of having killed her son.
this woman foretells that ólafur, too, will see his beloved son slain (íf 5, 84–85), thereby
predicting the killing of kjartan (cf. ström 1952, 92).
30 In fact, all three men (Þórhallur, síðu-Hallur and Þiðrandi) may be classified as “noble
heathens”. Lönnroth says about the “noble heathen” that: “it is primarily his natural nobility,
in combination with his good sense, and a half-mystical insight into the workings of nature,
that makes him act as if he were already on the verge of conversion” (Lönnroth 1969, 2).
31 I am grateful to Marteinn sigurðsson for drawing my attention to this.
32 see also Lindow 1997, 41 and kaplan 2000, 386, who both use the term “prophet” to de-
scribe Þiðrandi.