Gripla - 01.01.1993, Page 233

ABBOT ARNGRÍMR’S GUÐMUNDAR SAGA BISKUPS
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life of an established saint, in this case, one who championed the liber-
ty of the church, Arngrímr followed an established hagiographic pat-
tern. Simultaneously, he reassessed the protracted, fierce battle, still in
vivid memory, between church and state. He unabashedly glorified
Guðmundr, bishop of Hólar, the diocese in the north, for attacking un-
remittingly those chieftains who zealously defended their jurisdictional
competency and prerogatives against canonical claims.
Still, Arngrímr was bound, to some extent, by strictures imposed by
the authoritative text of íslendinga saga that also treated Guðmundr’s
struggle to uphold ecclesiastical liberty. Arngrímr implicitly, grudging-
ly and anticlimactically acknowledged this debt toward the end of the
saga. In the chapter that follows the report of Guðmundr’s death and
burial, he noted: “Hefir þessi sami Sturla skrifat marga merkiliga hluti
afherra Guðmundi byskupif ‘this same Sturla has written many nota-
ble matters about Sir Guðmundr, the bishop’ (ch. 76, p. 424). This
faint and belated praise suggests that Arngrímr felt constrained by,
rather than appreciative of, Sturla’s authoritative voice.
Arngrímr’s mission as advocate was, however, more pressing than
strict adherence to historical fact. His task was to compile an official
record of his hero’s martyrdom in office and saintliness that would
convincingly support Guðmundr’s candidacy for canonization.9 To this
tics (Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1973), pp. 116-17, on the custom of selecting
a model to confer greatness on a saintly protagonist. The argumentation either does not
include or only touches upon the following references to Thomas: chs. 1,4, 27, 29, 36,53,
71, pp. 147, 148,155,156,159-60, 245, 251, 272, 334, 417.
9 '
On Guðmundr’s life and influence, see Regis Boyer, “L’Evéque Gudmundr Ara-
son, Témoin de son temps,“ Études Germattiques, 22 (1967), 427^14; Jón Jóhannesson,
“Guðmundur biskup Arason,“ íslendinga saga 1. Pjóðveldisöld (Almenna bókaféiagið,
1956), pp. 236-53; Magnús Jónsson, “Guðmundur biskup góði,“ Samtíð og saga: nokkrir
háskólafyrirlestrar, 1 (1941), 115-34; W.P. Ker, “Gudmund Arason,“ Saga Book of the
Viking Society for Northern Researcli, 5 (1907), particuiarly pp. 86-93; Björn Sigfússon,
“Guðmundar saga biskups Arasonar," Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder
(Kpbenhavn: Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1960), V, 542-543, abbreviated hereafter as Kultur-
historisk leksikorv, Magnús Stefánsson, “Kirkjuvald efiist,“ Saga íslands (Reykjavík:
Sögufélagið, 1975), II, pp. 119-36. E.O.G. Turville-Petre and E.S. Olszewska, trans.,
Guðmundar saga biskups góða; The Life of Gudmund tlte Good, Bishop of Holar [Res-
ensbók] (Coventry, 1942), pp. ix-xxvii. For collections made for his canonization, see
Diplomatarium Islandicum. íslenzkt fornbréfasafn, (Kaupmannahöfn: Hið íslenzka bók-
mentafélag, 1896), III, 205-07 (dated February 2, 1365). For a bibliographic account of