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here is, nonetheless, to present a symbolic interpretation of Ljótur’s death
that focuses as much on Hallur as it does on Ljótur himself.
As Cochrane (Cochrane 2010, 217) points out, there are potential
paral lels both between Ljótur and Christ (both are pierced by spears) and
between Ljótur and Baldur (both are favourite sons and innocent victims
killed in a place of sanctity) but neither of these is exploited in Njáls saga.51
More striking, however, are the parallels that emerge when the death of
Ljótur is compared to that of Þiðrandi.
the battle at the Alþingi took place a mere dozen years after krist-
nitaka; it is therefore not at all unreasonable to interpret Ljótur’s death
against the background of heathen traditions which would still have been
known by all Icelanders, and possibly still adhered to by some. If one rec-
ognises that heathendom still had a strong presence although supplanted
by Christianity, one might be more sensitive to the heathen-Christian
contrasts in the portrayal of Ljótur’s death. In the context of the recently
converted Iceland, the spear might very well have recalled the prominent
heathen deity óðinn, whose weapon was the spear and who was closely as-
sociated with warfare, fortune or misfortune in battle and also with human
sacrifice. With this in mind, Ljótur’s death could have been interpreted in
such a way that óðinn was making his powers felt by claiming a would-be
Christian chieftain for himself — not unlike the way in which the black
dísir claim Þiðrandi — thereby showing that óðinn remained a force to be
reckoned with and was capable of taking what he regarded as his share.52
Considering that Hallur loses his first favourite son, Þiðrandi, in such a
way that, had he been Christian, he might well have become a saint, Ljótur
deserves attention since he is the second favourite son of Hallur to die in
circumstances that provide the potential for sanctity, albeit unexploited
in both cases. Indeed, with reference to Þiðrandi, kaplan (2000, 385)
says: “such persons are saints when they have heard about Christianity”
51 Cochrane furthermore draws a parallel between the blindness of Baldur’s killer, Höður, in
the mythological narrative and the anonymity of Ljótur's killer in the saga narrative (2010,
217).
52 the mysterious spear apparently hurled by nobody also recalls a number of Christian mar-
tyrs, again opening up possible symbolic perspectives on Ljótur. one parallel, for example,
is the death of st Canute who, according to saxo in Gesta Danorum 11,14,15 (friis-jensen
2005, 58–59), was killed in 1086 by a spear flung through a window into st Alban’s Church
in odense.
st MICHAeL AnD tHe sons of síÐu-HALLuR