Gripla - 01.01.2003, Page 100

98
GRIPLA
have pointed to different generic afEliations for the text in question. What can
we leam from these discrepancies?
One interesting result of grouping texts on the basis of their theme and
structure is that this procedure separates texts that are thematically paired
within their manuscript context or textual matrix. For example, Sörla þáttr is
a pagan-contact þáttr and Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts is a short but full fornaldar-
saga-like. biography (Harris 1989:3a), yet these texts are also narratives of a
father and a son, they fulfill closely related functions in a single textual mat-
rix, the central episodes of each deal with issues of paganism and Christianity
in very similar ways, and both have additional themes in common (e.g., the
proper relationship between a king and his retainers).7 Or consider Norna-
Gests þáttr, one of the pagan-contact þættir, and Helga þáttr Þórissonar, which
Harris (1989:3a) identifies as a fornaldarsaga-Uke analogue of Celtic tales
about a joumey to the otherworld. These texts are found next to each other
and are also linked by a forward reference in Norna-Gests þáttr. As a
negative exemplum, Helga þáttr tums out to have an extraordinary number of
parallels with Norna-Gests þáttr, and even its Celtic tale type becomes
morally significant, in that the fairy story supplies a narrative that can show
the dark side of paganism and apostasy without undercutting the positive view
ofthe heroic virtues just provided by the Germanic legends in Norna-Gests
þáttr. These examples suggest that when analyzing the theme of an embedded
text (a prerequisite for establishing its genre), it is not enough to interpret the
dependent narrative based on its relationship to the larger text in which it is
found; it may also be necessary to consider its relationships to other texts
interpolated into the same matrix, regardless of their genre.
Still other issues are brought out by a different set of examples. Þorsteins
þáttr bæjarmagns (not in Flateyjarbók) and Helga þáttr Þórissonar are clearly
related, not only on the basis of their theme and structure — according to
Harris (1989:3a), Þorsteins þáttr is also a fornaldarsaga-hke analogue of
Celtic tales about a joumey to the otherworld — but additionally by their use
of the same tradition about Guðmundr of Glasisvellir and a hom named Grímr
(Simpson 1963:505, 510).8 However, from a matrix-text/manuscript-context
7 Porsteins þáttr nsafóts is found in Flateyjarbók 1:249-263 and ÍF XIII:339-370 (Harðar
saga). The retainer of Olaf s who ends the Hjadningavíg in Sörla þáttr is the father of Þor-
steinn uxafótr. For a fuller discussion of the thematic similarities between Porsteins þáttr
uxafóts and Sörla þáttr, see Rowe (forthcoming).
8 Porsteins þáttr beejarmagns is found in Fornaldar sögur Norðttrlanda [1950] IV:319-344.