Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1992, Page 39

Women and Men in Laxdæla saga
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beltið og kenndi kerling gripina og varð grátfegin, kvað það bæði vera að sonur
Melkorku var skörulegur „enda á hann til þess varið.“
Var kerling hress þann vetur allan. (21:1564)
Robert Kellogg has described how “the whole atmosphere of the saga has
prepared us to recognize the wonder and profundity of this image” in
which Ólafur “transmits a familial affection from one woman to another,
transcending the differences between generations, sexes, and cultures. It is
not easy to imagine a context in which this image would be appropriate
outside of the sagas” (Kellogg 1973:255).
The other way in which women are of central importance in Laxdæla
saga is in shaping the primary events of the plot. Again and again it is the
deliberate actions of women that either constitute the primary events or
prepare for them. Without attempting to be all-inclusive, I will give enough
examples here to substantiate this claim.
1. Unnur brings her family and followers to Iceland, establishes a home at
Hvammur and marries her granddaughter Þorgerður to Dala-Kollur (ch. 5),
the father of the line leading to Kjartan and Bolli.
2. Þorgerður, when widowed, goes to Norway, marries, and gives birth to
Hrútur Herjólfsson (ch. 7), who eventually comes to Iceland and is in
conflict with his half-brother and, later, his nephew Þorleikur.
3. Melkorka secretly teaches her son Ólafur Irish (ch. 13), making
possible his later reception by his grandfather.
4. Vigdís Ingjaldsdóttir shelters her kinsman Þórólfur, in defiance of her
husband (ch. 14) and later divorces Þórður goddi (ch. 16). This causes
Þórður to offer to foster Ólafur and leave his farm Goddastaðir to Ólafur on
his death.
5. Jórunn Bjarnardóttir delivers a strong lecture to her husband
Höskuldur which dissuades him from attacking Hrútur (ch. 19), thus
averting a violent scene and bringing harmony to the half-brothers.
6. Melkorka marries Þorbjörn skrjúpur in order to have the means to
send Ólafur abroad (ch. 20).
7. The Norwegian queen mother Gunnhildur helps Ólafur to go to
Ireland by giving him a ship and a crew of sixty (ch. 21), thus becoming the
second woman to make this journey possible.
8. Þorgerður Egilsdóttir accepts a bribe from Geirmundur gnýr and
persuades her husband Ólafur to allow Geirmundur to marry their daughter
Þuríður (ch. 29).
9. Abandoned by Geirmundur, Þuríður steals his sword Fótbítur, on
which he then places a curse, “að þetta sverð verði þeim manni að bana í
yðvarri ætt er mestur er skaði að og óskaplegast komi við” (30:1577).
Þuríður gives this sword to her cousin Bolli, and he later uses it to kill
Kjartan.