Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1992, Page 227

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“FjQlkunnigri kono scallatu ífaðmi sofa”
thus thus polluted their services - and in addition, pride and avarice.” (“...
leiðiligr hórdómr, er þú hefir framit, er þú hefir lagzt undir ij presta ok
saurgat svá þeirra þjónosto, ok þar með ofmetnaðr ok fégirni.” BS I 452, cf.
BS II 10). Jenny Jochens has noted this passage as an example in which the
responsibility for sexual misconduct is shifted from the man to the woman;
it should be pointed out, however, that the men involved are priests, which
puts them (at least technically) in a different category from the average
Icelandic male. In fact, the episode has clearly been adapted from Latin
literature, and is balanced by a more typically Icelandic example a few
pages later on. “There came running a woman called Þuríðr, who had
formerly lived with [lit. “followed”] Árni rauðskegg, and had previously
been excommunicated by Bishop Páll, but he couldn’t separate them. But
when she heard the teachings of the priest Guðmundr Arason, and saw his
miracles, then she desired nothing so much as to follow him. Now she had
to find a way to get away from Árni, because he loved her very much, and
they had many children ...” She never returned to her lover, but instead
followed Guðmundr, which was considered extremely noteworthy. (“Þar
kom laupandi kona sú er Þuríðr hét, er fylgt hafðe Árna rauðskegg, ok áðr
hafðe setið í banne Páls biskups, ok fékk hann eige skilit þau. En er hon
heyrðe kenníngar Guðmundar prests Arasonar, ok sá jarteinir hans, þá
gerðe hana engis jafnfúsa, sem at fylgja honum. Nú verðr hon at leita sér
ráðs, at komast or höndum Árna, því at hann unne henne mikit, ok átto þau
mörg börn ... hlaut hon svá mikit gott af funde hans, at hon viteaðe aldri
aptr síðan til hins sama vandréðis, ok fylgðe hon honum ávallt síðan, þá er
þau skilðe eige úfriðr manna, ok þótte mörgum mönnum mikils vert um
þenna atburð, með þeim hétte sem þar varþ, í andligre hjálp.” BSI 463). It is
the woman who escapes from the man rather than vice versa.
Aggressive female sexuality becomes prominent in these sagas only when
the supernatural is involved. It is however laymen, not saints, who are
subject to such temptation, which is clearly associated with heathendom.
Jóns saga describes Jón’s attempts to impose proper Christian practices, such
as using the sign of the cross, and to wipe out traces of heathendom in his
diocese - superstitions, sacrifices, and sorcery. This list is followed
immediately by his famous prohibition of dances accompanied by lascivious
verses sung back and forth between the sexes, specifically referred to as
“forneskja” in the C version.11
The connection between the supernatural and female sexuality is also
11 “leikr sá var mönnum tíðr, er úfagrligr er, at kveðast skyldu at: karlmaðr at konu, en
kona at karlmanni, klækiligar vísur ok hæðiligar ok óáheyriligar, en þat lét hann af
takast ok bannaði með öllu at gera. Mansaungs kvæði eða vísur vildi hann eigi heyra
kveðin ok eigi láta kveða, þó fékk [hann] því eigi með öllu af komit.” (BS 1165). It is
for my purposes irrelevant whether this in fact reflects the time of Bishop Jón or that
of the saga’s author.