Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1994, Qupperneq 141

Víglundar saga
139
in the slaying of Hákon and Hólmkells two sons, although Þorbjörg eggs him
on to avenge the deaths by killing Þorgrímur, he refuses, arguing that the latter
was not to blame, while Víglundur and Trausti have expiated the killings through
their own deaths. Even when he then learns that Þorgrímur’s sons are still alive,
Hólmkell takes no action, and confesses to his daughter that this is out of
consideration for her feelings (p. 1977). Ketilríður’s poignant “ef eg skyldi ráða”
speech, discussed earlier, is followed by Hólmkell’s encounter with the brothers
before they leave Iceland (p. 1977).
Hólmkell’s subsequent meeting with his friend Þorgrímur initiates the denoue-
ment. “Sátu þeir Þorgrímur bóndi allan dag á tali og vissi engi maður tal þeirra”
(p. 1979). The sudden arrival of a new suitor raises suspicions in the mind of the
attentive reader. Unexpectedly and quite uncharacteristically, without any expla-
nation on his part, Hólmkell promises Ketilríður in marriage — ”hvort henni var
ljúft eða leitt” (p. 1979) — to an elderly man from the East Fjords named Þórður.
The wedding that was to be held in the East Fjords does not occur; nonetheless,
Þórður and Ketilríður share one bed. When Víglundur and Trausti return from
Norway, they make land in the East Fjords. Under assumed names they greet the
farmer from Gautavík and spend the winter with him and his young wife. One
theme runs through the following scenes: whereas Víglundur is “allókátur,” the
farmer is “allkátur,” while Ketilríður never shows any “gleðimót.” Víglundur’s
emotional state is so pitiful — “var hann maður svo óglaður að hann kvað aldrei
gleðiorð” (p. 1984) — that his brother Trausti finally suggests he find for himself
another woman. To this Víglundur responds with a stanza that concludes with
the inevitability and permanence of his love for Ketilríður:
Eigi kann, ef önnur
jafnblíð verðr mér síðan,
vindr rak knörr úr klandri,
kvinna nokkuru sinni. (p. 1984)
In many respects this fmal part of Víglundar saga is a striking analogue to the
concluding section of Friðþjófi saga, in which the eponymous protagonist also
spends a time under an assumed name at the home of his beloved and her
husband. Like Friðþjófur, Víglundur has an opportunity to remove his rival by
violent means, and like Fríðþjófur he chooses not to do so. Both the internal
conflict experienced by Víglundur and his decision not to claim his beloved by
violence contrasts with his father’s behavior in the prefatory narrative. The
extraordinary means Víglundur employs to avoid the least suspicion of adultery
suggests that one of the concerns of the author might have been to create an
exemplary protagonist, the antithesis of Tristan, a member of the most famous
love triangle in literature. When Þórður leaves on a trip, Víglundur, alias Örn,
suggests to his brother that they leave likewise, “því að það mun ellegar ætlat að
eg fífli Ketilríði konu hans” (p. 1985). Not only this episode but also an earlier