Gripla - 01.01.1993, Page 242

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GRIPLA
Surprisingly, Arngrímr followed, if expansively, Sturla’s account.33
Sturla’s stark narrative implicitly champions Guðmundr’s cause. With-
out comment, Sturla recounts that 1. Guðmundr appeared at the as-
sembly with staff and stole; 2. Guðmundr prohibited secular judge-
ment in the case, under threat of excommunication; 3. Kolbeinn ulti-
mately yielded to the bishop the right of self-judgment, thereby
signifying his a priori acceptance of the penance and fines that Guð-
mundr might impose. One detail, however, indicates that Guðmundr
may have had, from a moral viewpoint and according to secular law,
the better cause. By reporting that some people considered Kolbeinn’s
claim on the property illegal, Sturla implies that this was a specious act
of litigation inspired by greed.
Sturla, in this case, appears to side with Guðmundr. The recital of
continued intransigence and overbearance, of misunderstandings and
outrages committed by both parties, records the impotence of men of
good will to effect a lasting settlement. Guðmundr disregarded the
sanctions imposed upon outlaws, as he sought to expand or, rather, de-
fend his right to jurisdiction in cases involving ‘criminous clerks’ and
property placed under the protection of the church. Kolbeinn contin-
ued to combat Guðmundr’s arrogation of jurisdictional power, thereby
abrogating agreements reached and violating canon law. From Arn-
grímr’s viewpoint, Kolbeinn’s actions would incite divine intervention.
Indeed, Kolbeinn’s violent defense of his secular rights, his march on
and attack of the episcopal see (1208), would lead, among signs of di-
vine wrath and mercy, to his defeat, death and redemption.34
Kolbeinn ’s Redemption: The Case of the Gratuitous Skaldic Stanza
In medieval thought, sanctity manifested itself in charity. This virtue
was mandatory also for as vengeful and intractable a saint as Guð-
mundr proved to be. Arngrímr expends much thought on Guðmundr’s
charitable acts and on his pronounced sense of justice that under-
Herder & Co, 1933) II, 453-57, who describes the stole solely as insignia of each of the
three degrees of ordination.
33 See Margeirsson, pp. 137-39, for arguments that both contestants might have used
the case.
34 On the defeat and death of Kolbeinn on account of his unjust cause, see Hrafns