Gripla - 01.01.1995, Blaðsíða 124

122
GRIPLA
church at that point.16 Furthermore, Órækja and his men were de-
tained by Sturla Sighvatsson on their return from church at Reykjaholt
on the feastday of Þorlákr, and it is unlikely that Sturla, if he took care
not to associate with his cousin for fear of clerical punishment, would
have allowed him to attend mass in his church.17 It seems more likely
that Sturla Þórðarson’s statement concerning the separate households
was a literary device, indicating hostility between the two factions.
That probability is strengthened by a similar statement in Hákonar
saga hins gamla: „hpfðu sín herbergi hvárir, jarl ok hans menn ok þeir
Hánefr. Hvárirtveggju liQfðu miklar sveitir, ok optliga skilði á sveit-
unga þeira, er þeir fundusk drukknir á kveldum.“18 We must conclude,
then, that there is nothing, except Sturla Sighvatsson’s statement, to
indicate that Órækja had been excommunicated in 1236, and the rea-
sons for Sturla Þórðarson’s need to go to confession, as well as for the
heavy penance inflicted upon him, remain obscure.
II. Sturla Sighvatsson's Motivation
In Hákonar saga hins gamla, also written by Sturla Þórðarson, we are
told that Sturla Sighvatsson spent the winter 1234-35 with King Hákon
in Túnsberg, and that the king was quite perturbed about Sturla’s re-
ports of unrest in Iceland. Sturla Þórðarson writes:111
Konungr spurði hversu mikit fyrir mundi verða at koma einvaldi
yfir landit, ok kvað þá mundu vera frið betra, ef einn réði mestu.,
Sturla tók þessu líkliga, ok kvað lítit mundu fyrir verða, ef sá
væri harðvirkr ok ráðugr, er við tœki. Konungr spurði, ef hann
vildi taka þat ráð. Hann kvazk til mundu hætta með konungs
ráði ok forsjá, ok eiga slíkra launa ván af honum sem honum
þœtti verðugt, ef hann fengi þessu á leið komit. Konungr sagði
svá, at hann skyldi eigi með manndrápum vinna landit, en bað
hann taka menn ok senda útan, eða fá ríki þeira með pðru móti,
16 Ibid., p. 568, n3 on ch. 114. On a later occasion, in 1242, Órækja and his men were
indeed excommunicated, and the saga describes how Bishop Sigvarðr released them
from the church ban and stipulated their penance (fasting) and a monetary fine to be
paid to the Church (ibid., pp. 463-64).
17 Ibid., p. 395.
18 Flat III, 104.
19 Flat III, 110.