Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1994, Qupperneq 93

Skömm er óhófi œvi
91
derived from an arbitration publicly conducted by men from the district. Because
his motives are not entirely clear from this scene alone, we might examine one of
the many analogous scenes in which negotiations break down because of the
plaintifFs excessive demands. Perhaps the classic example of such overreaching is
the scene in which Gunnarr attempts to compensate Otkell for losses caused by
Hallgerðr:
Otkell spyrr, hvert hann ætlaði at fara.
“Ekki lengra en hingat,” segir Gunnarr, “ok er þat orendi mitt at segja þér um skaða
þann inn mikla ok inn illa, er hér er orðinn, at hann er af völdum konu minnar ok
þræls þess, er ek keypta at þér.”
“Slíks var ván,” segir Hallbjörn.
Gunnarr mælti: “Hér vil ek bjóða fyrir góð boð ok bjóða, at inir beztu menn skipi
um í heraðinu.”
Skammkell mælti: “Þetta eru áheyrilig boð ok ójafnlig: þú ert vinsæll af bóndum, en
Otkell er óvinsæll.”
“Bjóða mun ek,” segir Gunnarr, “at gera um sjálfr ok lúka upp þegar ok leggja á
vináttu mína ok greiða nú allt féit, ok mun ek bæta þér tvennum bótum.”
Skammkell mælti: “Þenna skalt þú eigi þiggja, ok er þat grunnúðligt, ef þú ætlar at
selja honum sjálfdæmi, þar er þú ættir at taka.”
Otkell mælti: “Eigi vil ek selja þér sjálfdæmi, Gunnarr.”
Gunnarr mælti: “Skil ek hér tillögur manna, nærgi er launat verðr, enda dæm þú nú
sjálfr.”
Otkell laut at Skammkatli ok mælti: “Hverju skal ek nú svara?”
Skammkell mælti: “Þetta skalt þú kalla vel boðit, en víkja máli þínu undir Gizur
hvíta ok Geir goða; munu þat þá margir mæla, at þú sér líkr Hallkatli, föðurföður
þínum, er mestr kappi hefir verit.”
Otkell mælti: “Vel er þetta boðit, Gunnarr, en þó vil ek, at þú ljáir mér tómstundar
til at finna Gizur hvíta ok Geir goða.”
Gunnarr mælti: “Far þú nú með sem þú vill. En þat munu sumir menn mæla, at þú
kunnir eigi at sjá sóma þinn, er þú vill eigi þessa kosti, er ek hefi boðit þér.”
Ríðr Gunnarr heim.
The two scenes bear comparison not only because each depicts an unsuccessful
attempt at resolving a dispute by arbitration. In addition, the scene from Njáls
saga sheds light on Þorbjörn’s motives because it documents almost the entire
repertoire of the four options available to him in settling out-of-court. According
to Lúðvík Ingvarsson (1970:323), these four options were: (1) one party could
request the other to name one or more men to decide the issue; (2) the parties
could agree on the arbitrators or which party would name them; (3) without
reference to arbitrators the parties could declare themselves settled; (4) one of the
parties could grant the other self-judgment. In this scene Gunnarr attempts to
make use of three of the options, (2), (3), (4). Option (1) is initially skipped over
and then becomes irrelevant after Skammkell/Otkell declare their lack of interest
in (2). Let us look specifically at how this out-of-court settlement breaks down.