Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1994, Page 130

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Marianne Kalinke
outlaw: “Konungur gerði Þorgrím útlægan fyrir þetta verk af atgangi Ketils” (p.
1963). His fate, that is, being outlawed, is to be replicated in that of his son, but
for a different reason.
Þorgrímur’s bridal quest for Ólöf is anticipatory of, yet antithetic to the quest
in the narrative proper. The prefatory account is anticipatory in that the couple’s
absolute love for each other is to presage the love of their son Víglundur for
Ketilríður. Analogous to their parents’ situation is the nature of the obstacles to
their union. In the forestory Þorgrímur has to contend with the opposition of
both the father of the bride and King Haraldur, who sides with Ketill despite his
obvious fondness of Þorgrímur. Víglundur in turn confronts the animosity not
only of the bride’s mother and her brothers, but also rival suitors, and implicitly,
but not known to him, the antagonism of the suitor whom his mother had
rejected and his father offended, namely Ketill of Raumaríki.
Whereas the impediment to the marriage of Ólöf and Þorgrímur in the
forestory was the father’s rejection of Þorgrímur’s suit on the one hand but
acceptance of Ketill’s on the other, the primary obstacle in the main narrative is
not the father but rather the mother of the desired bride, who both explicitly and
implicitly opposes Víglundur’s suit by supporting that of others. While a major
conflict exists between Víglundur and Þorbjörg and her sons, another conflict,
one not as apparent but nonetheless significant, is that between Hólmkell and
his wife on the question of authority. In the prefatory narrative, Earl Þórir’s power
to decide his daughter’s future is at the roots of the conflict between the selected
bridegroom and the rejected suitor, namely Þorgrímur. In the narrative proper,
however, Hólmkell never explicitly asserts his authority as father in the question
of the marriage of his daughter. Indeed, he gives every appearance of being a
Pantoffelheld, who is at the mercy of the intrigues of his wife, while his sons are
the instruments of her machinations.
The bridal quest determines the plot of the main narrative, the conflict of
which is generated not only by Þorbjörg’s irrational dislike of her daughter
Ketilríður, which subsequently is translated into animosity toward Víglundur, but
also by her animosity toward Víglundur’s father. Þorbjörg’s hatred of her daughter
is announced in the opening chapter of the main plot as is the intrinsic and
inevitable affinity of Víglundur and Ketilríður, for “var það allra manna mál að
eigi karl né kona fæddist fegri upp og að öllu kurteisari í sveitum en þau Víglundur
og Ketilríður” (p. 1963). Hard upon this identification of the lovers with each
other follows the narrator’s comment on the parents’ feeling for their daughter,
which is anticipatory of the conflict to come: “Hólmkell unni dóttur sinni mikið
svo að hann mátti ekki í móti henni láta, en Þorbjörg munum minna” (p. 1963).
The difference in the emotion felt by each of the parents for Ketilríður and the
striking understatement of the mother’s relationship to her daughter is empha-
sized by the narrator’s following contrastive remark concerning the education of
the male and female protagonists. Whereas their father sees to it that Víglundur
and his slightly older brother Trausti are well educated — “enda sparði Þorgrímur