Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 38

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the saga of King Sverrir is for a fact put together during his lifetime, in the
view of some under his own supervision; even so, one finds in it some stu-
pid stories full of superstition.111 one finds less of such matter in Hákonar
saga gamla,112 but the least amount of all is in Sturlunga saga and nothing
there that I have been able to find mentioned which I am disinclined to be-
lieve in except for this and that recounted vision which nevertheless people
in that superstitious, credulous century as well as the saga-writer Sturla
Þórðarson himself, had certainly held to be true. the very same is to be
said about Landnáma, Njála, Vatnsdæla, Laxdæla, Svarfdæla, Ljósvetninga
saga, Eyrbyggja. they all appear believable even though in them one finds
here and there palpable exaggerations, in some more, in some less, and one
might present much more in confirmation of this if the space allowed.
In addition to all the sagas mentioned here and the others of their ilk,
which are a great many, the sagas separate themselves into completely
Icelandic ones and not treating other countries, or foreign ones having little
or nothing to do with Iceland and further those which involve both Iceland
and other countries. these last are the most numerous. now further are
those sagas which one indeed knows have existed and but which have now
so completely disappeared that nothing remains with us except the name
alone. of such have I found those which follow here. first is:
the saga of Einar Gillis who killed Gjafaldur the retainer of king
Magnús berbein in norway. their saga is mentioned in the saga of saint
Jón Ögmundsson, bishop of Hólar.113
gardieske samling nr. 8ii, ed. oscar albert Johnsen, Den norsk Historisk Kjeldeskrift-
kommission (oslo: Jacob Dybwad, 1922) and Saga Óláfs konungs hins Helga: Den Store saga
om Olav den Hellige, ed. oscar albert Johnsen and Jón Helgason, 2 vols., norsk Historisk
Kjeldeskrift-Institutt (oslo: Jacob Dybwad, 1941).
111 Sverris saga, ed. Þorleifur Hauksson, Íslenzk fornrit 30 (reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornrita-
félag, 2007).
112 Hákonar saga I og II, ed. Jónas Kristjánsson og Þórður Ingi Guðjónsson, 2 vols., íslenzk
fornrit 31–32 (reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 2013).
113 towards the conclusion of “Gísls þáttur Illugasonar” it says that Gisl (Gils) who killed
King Magnús’ retainer Gjavaldur had a son called Einar “ok er mikil saga frá honum” (and
there is great saga concerning him). Biskupa sögur, ed. Sigurgeir Steingrímsson et al., 3 vols.
in 4, Íslenzk fornrit 15–17 (reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1998–2003), 15.2: 317–35
at 334. In older editions of Jóns saga Helga attributed to the monk Gunnlaugur Leifsson,
“Gísls þáttur” is printed as chapters 9–14. Biskupa sögur, [ed. Jón Sigurðsson, Gubrandur
Vigfússon et al.,] 2 vols. (Copenhagen: Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, 1858–1878), 1:
213–260 at 221–27.