Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 58

56
Marianne Kalinke
til þeira at burða sem Olafr konungr verðr við staddr e(ðr) menn hans. sva sem enn
man synaz iþvi er eptir feR. (2:31,7—13)
The author’s point is that what may appear to be digressions are actually essential
for rounding out the life of King Óláfr, since they take their meaning from his
presence. This is especially germane in the case of Hallfreðr. The fact that the life
of the skáldis embedded in the life of the king is textual corroboration not only
of the subordination of the one vita to the other but also of the person of the poet
to the authority of the king. Interweaving the story of Hallfreðr’s life into that of
the king says as much, if not more, about the poet as about his royal patron. The
interpolation of Hallfreðar saga into the account of King Óláfr’s politics of
conversion serves to emphasize the theme of paternal subordination that is so
striking in the first part of Hallfreðr’s biography. Furthermore, the inscription of
the poet’s life into the biography of Óláfr Tryggvason also serves to draw Hallfreðr
into the sphere of the other Icelanders residing in Norway at the time, notably
Kjartan and Bolli. The attempt of Hallfreðr’s father in Iceland to mold his son
into his own image and likeness through coercion contrasts with King Óláfr’s
psychologically more astute paternal behavior in Norway not only toward Hall-
freðr but also the other Icelanders.
The fates of King Óláfr and Hallfreðr become intertwined when the latter,
who is anchored one time off the coast of Norway, at Agðanes, learns that there
has been a change of rulers and of religion: Earl Hákon has died and has been
replaced by Óláfr Tryggvason, who, in the words of Gwyn Jones, “in his day and
place was Christ’s best hatchet-man.”10 With the new ruler have come a new faith
and new laws. Here and there Hallfreðr and his companions decide to head for
a pagan country; they promise Freyr much wealth and three kegs of beer if they
make it back to Sweden, and Þórr and Óðinn the same if they reach Iceland. The
gods prove unresponsive, however, forcing the Icelanders to sail into the fjord,
but they are unable to reach the safety of the harbor because of the presence of
many longships. When a storm arises during the night, they are in great danger,
but at dawn they are rescued by a boat carrying thirty rowers. A large man, who
identifies himself as Akkerisfrakki,11 retrieves the anchor that has been torn loose,
and then pilots the Icelanders to a safe mooring place. They do not know the
identity of the large man but learn later that it had been King Óláfr Tryggvason
(1:347,3-349,8).
The author defers the account of Hallfreðr’s subsequent meeting with the king
in favor of introducing the other Icelanders. Kjartan and Bolli, like Hallfreðr, but
for different reasons, have gone abroad, and they arrive in Norway where they are
received well by the Icelandic colony. Uppermost on every one’s mind is the
question of Óláfr’s conversion politics. One day the newcomers observe a superb
10 Gwyn Jones, “The Legendary History of Olaf Tryggvason,” Background to Dylan Thomas and
Otker Explorations (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992), p. 164.
11 Bjarni Einarsson translates the name as “ankerspids” (To skjaldesagaer, p. 142).