Gripla - 01.01.1993, Page 214

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GRIPLA
kringla is relatively skeptical regarding saints, generally being content
to quote public opinion as such. It reports the local rumours of the
sanctity of Eysteinn Haraldsson, but describes his death in worldly,
rather than religious, terms. One wonders whether the source for this
account may have read more like a martyrdom.
Sturla Þórðarson was undoubtedly too familiar with the issues and
personalities of his day to credit secular figures with sanctity. While he
is clearly interested in showing that his friends and kinsmen made a
good end, he commits himself no further. It is revealing to compare his
treatment of Eyjólfr Kársson’s death with that in Arons saga.m In the
latter, Eyjólfr’s last moments are described in detail, in spite of the
lack of possible witnesses; Sturla, on the other hand, merely relates the
position in which the body was found, and leaves the reader to draw
his own conclusions. The most striking example of a ‘hagiographic’
death in íslendinga saga is that of Sveinn Jónsson, which occurred sev-
eral years before Sturla was born. Sveinn had been a follower of
Bishop Guðmundr, and association with the holy bishop may have
made the account of his actions more believable. Sturla could have
gotten the story either from Guðmundr and his followers, who stayed
at Hvammr in 1227, or from the materials collected at the church at
Laufás for the composition of the bishop’s biography. It may be noted
that the omission of Guðmundr’s miraculous doings in Steingríms-
fjörðr from íslendinga saga appears to have been due to their irrele-
vance to the subject rather than to Sturla’s disbelief.140
The compiler of Sturlunga also omitted material not pertinent to his
topic. Hrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, for example, is used only for the
period after Hrafn’s return from Norway with Bishop Guðmundr. We
would know nothing of Hrafn’s vow or pilgrimage, let alone his ex-
emplary life-style, if his saga had not been independently preserved.
The account of his death in the saga also contains details not found in
Sturlunga. The fact that in the latter he goes down on his elbows, rath-
er than knees and elbows, may be due to scribal error, as the descrip-
tions of his preparations for death and beheading are otherwise identi-
1-JQ
Quoted in note 29.
140 ‘urðu þar margir hlutir þeir, er frásagnar væri verðir ok jartegnum þótti gegna,
þótt þat sé eigi ritat í þessa bók.’ Stu I 254-5 / K I 290.