Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 53

Stœri ek brag
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of the saga, as Schach proposed. While one cannot deny that antagonistic forces,
including rivals in love on the one hand and the conflicting ideals of paganism
and Christianity on the other hand, play an important role in Hallfreðrs life, the
actual power struggle occurs between a father, or father figure, and son. Hallfreðar
saga is the story of the poet’s constant struggle against paternal authority, his
repeated attempts to assert himself, and his gradual recognition of the value of
subordination to the will of another. His life commences with a protest against
his father’s authority, evolves as he repeatedlý attempts to assert himself vis-á-vis
the royal and spiritual authority of King Óláfr, and finally concludes with his
subordination to the deceased king’s, and ultimately God’s higher authority. This
interpretation of the life of the poet is based on a medieval interpretation of the
life of the poet, that is, as found in the discontinuous text of the poet’s life that
has been woven into Óláfi saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, the life of the king whom
Folke Ström has characterized as a man “who carried out his work of conversion
with the zeal of a fanatic.”11
The man implicitly responsible for Hallfreðr’s expulsion from Iceland, namely
Gríss, Kolfinna’s husband, is also the man who in the end best understands the
poet’s psyche. Recall that after Hallfreðr’s amatory interest in Kolfinna has become
obvious, her father, Avaldi, suggests that the poet sues for her hand in marriage.
Quite unexpectedly and contrarily Hallfreðr refuses, but then just as contrarily
he objects to Gríss as the prospective bridegroom. He boasts that the decision will
not be carried out, and denounces Már’s contempt for his threat as the growling
of a big old dog (“ólítill gamall búrhundr,” 1:341,17—20). Hallfreðr threatens
verbal activity of his own, not the ineffective, incomprehensible sounds of his
rival but the elegant speech of the poet (“stæri ek brag” 1:341,19). Subsequently
he announces that he intends to challenge Gríss to a hólmganga. Hallfreðr has no
chance to make good on this threat, however, for his father and grandfather
connive to force him to leave the country.
Toward the end of his life, after Hallfreðr has returned to Iceland, he again
plans to confront Gríss in single combat (2:307:4—5), but once more his verbal
challenge remains just that. Here too paternal authority prevents Hallfreðr from
realizing his designs, this time in the person of King Óláfr who appears to him
in a dream. Hallfreðr meekly accepts the king’s counsel despite his recognition of
the fact that a failure to make good on his challenge will be interpreted as
cowardice. At the same time news arrives of the king’s death, and in his utter grief
Hallfreðr takes to his bed. Gríss’ men remark on his disgracefúl behavior, but
Gríss defends his rival by saying:
Minna soma hafði ek af Mikla garðz konungi en Hallftreðr) af Olafi konungi. ok þottu
mer þau tiðindi mest er ek fretta fall stol kongsíns. ok veit sa einn er missir síns lanar
drottíns. hversu heít uerða kann hpfðingia astin. (2:308,10-13)
^ FolkeStröm, “HallfreðrÓttarsson,” MedievalScandinavia:An Encyclopedia, ed. Phillip Pulsiano
and Kirsten Wolf (New York: Garland, 1993), pp. 263-64.