Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1994, Qupperneq 86

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Fredrik J. Heinemann
portrayed Hrafnkell so unsympathetically that no modern reader would dream
of defending him. How much would we have to change in the extant saga to
achieve the incorrigible Hrafnkell of this fanciful, and imaginarily lost, saga?
Structure of * Hrafnkels saga
ójafnaðarmanns mikils
Certainly segments I—III could remain pretty much untouched. Hrafnkell un-
wisely swears allegiance to a pagan god and kills a boy whose only transgression
is to ride a horse in violation of a rash oath. In portraying the hero as we observe
him in these early sections, the extant saga has already performed for us our task
of blackening his character. We need only eliminate those subsequent features in
the saga which soften this portrait. And immediately in segment IV, Arbitration,’
we discover two acts that must be eliminated: the hero’s repentance, and his
attempted reparation, both atypical of his type. It is difficult to see how this
segment could contribute to the picture of a bad Hrafnkell. Either these scenes
must be scratched or completely rewritten.
Continuing with our further remodelling of this saga, we need not drastically
alter the recruiting scenes (segment V). After all, Þorbjörn, and in turn Sámr,
must fmd support for their seemingly hopeless but courageous undertaking.
Bjarni’s refusal to help his brother makes the latter’s plight seem all the more
hopeless, and Þorbjörn’s perseverance despite this rejection pushes Sámr, albeit
somewhat by default, into the limelight. But there seems no reason to make them
appear quite such pathetic buffoons, nor no reason to characterize one of their
helpers, Þorkell, as so ambitious (Heinemann 1975). The saga flirts with parody
in allowing such unlikely figures to defeat the hero, for a measure of a character’s
stature in any fight is the nature of the opponents who defeat him. It is one thing
to be bested by Þorgeirr, but quite another to be humiliated by these two. It seems
all too much like a game that need not be taken seriously. Be that as it may, we
can also leave the trial scene (VI) undisturbed. Using force to obtain a verdict
against an opponent is a motif that has analogues in other sagas and gratifýingly
cuts the proud hero down to size. But once again we would want to emend another
scene (VII), where Hrafnkell and his men are tortured. Banishment or death is
the rule in the Islendingasögur, and as our admiration for Sámr and company
diminishes in this scene, our hostility towards Hrafnkell likewise abates.
Segment VIII, Restoration, must also undergo drastic revision or cutting.
While experience in the actual world teaches us that evil people triumph, at least
on this earth, in traditional forms of fiction the victory of evil over good occasions
outrage. The morally superior characters win out in the end, and the evil
characters receive their just rewards. Thus, in the saga of the bad Hrafnkell any
fortune that he enjoys must be either temporary or scandalous. For this reason,
his early prominence justly ceases when he kills Einarr. In fact, the saga charac-
terizes his fall as overdue and welcome: Ápetta lögðu menn mikla umrœðu, hversu