Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1992, Side 58

56
Robert Cook
the leading males of this saga. Þorkell is described as “frægur maður og
kynstór” (57:1623) and “höfðingi mikill. Hélt hann sér mjög til vinsælda og
virðingar. Hann var maður héraðríkur og málamaður mikill” (70:1641). He is
clearly a man of distinguished lineage: early in the saga his father Eyjólfur
grái is mentioned as a grandson of Ólafur feilan (7:1541), and Þorkell is
mentioned in a number of other texts. But in this saga, as with the other
heroes of Laxdæla, he is not given a career worthy of his genealogical
background. In the only three actions against other men in which he is
involved he comes out as a loser. First, he fails to kill the outlaw Grímur,
though he has the advantage of attacking him from behind with a magic
sword (ch. 58). Second, he fails to apprehend the outlaw Gunnar
Þiðrandabani when his bride Guðrún shelters him at their wedding feast (ch.
69). Third, he and his kinsman Þorsteinn Kuggason fail in their attempt to
force Halldór Ólafsson to sell the farm Hjarðarholt to Þorsteinn (ch. 75).
This discrepancy between language and deeds in the case of Þorkell has
been noticed by A.C. Kersbergen, who comments: “Þorkell must also have
been known for some successes in his life, otherwise he could never have
been a powerful and influential chieftain. But he is here presented in a special
way, as a man who was smaller than his fame and than his own large
words.”9
What Kersbergen says here about Þorkell is true of the heroes of Laxdœla
in general. It would have been an easy matter, and in accordance with the
pattern of other sagas, for the author to assign deeds of prowess to his heroes
- at least a viking expedition or so, or a bout with berserks - whether he
took them from tradition or invented them. That he chose not to do so is
significant, for he leaves us with a picture of men who enjoy great prestige
merely on the basis of their good looks and family connections, who fail
pointedly to measure up with their deeds to the splendor that surrounds
them.
Conclusion
At the same time that the author has presented his leading male characters in
a way that points to a discrepancy between their supposed excellence and
their actual behavior, he has been careful not to praise his female characters
beyond their deserts. Only the portrait of Guðrún seems to exceed the
actuality of her life:
9 “Þorkell moet in zijn leven ook successen hebben kunnen boeken, anders was hij
nooit een machtig en invloedrijk hoofdling geworden. Maar hier wordt hij belicht van
een bijzonderen kant: als een man, die kleiner was dan zijn faam en zijn eigen groote
woorden.” (Kersbergen 1934:56-57)