Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 39

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The saga of Sigurður hjörtur is named by Snorri Sturluson.114
the saga of Grímur frá Kroppi is named in Grettis saga.115
The saga of Þorgils Hölluson and the saga of the Njarðvíkingar are
named in Laxdæla.116
the saga of Böðmóður gerpi and Grímulfur and the saga of Þórður gelli
are named in Landnáma.117
The saga of Hröngviður the giant and the Vikings, of ólafur the king
of the Liðsmen, the saga of Hrókur svarti and Ormur Bárreyjarskáld are
all named in Sturlunga saga.118
Here in addition are Skjöldunga saga and Heiðarvíga saga.119
The saga of King Þórir hundsfót and King Agnar is mentioned in
Hrólfs saga kraka.120
114 See chapter 5 of Hálfdanar saga svarta in Heimskringla, ed. Bjarni aðalbjarnason, 1: 88.
115 See Grettis saga Ásmundarson, ed. Guðni Jónsson, Íslenzk fornrit 7 (reykjavík: Hið
íslenzka fornritafélag, 1936), chapter 62, 205.
116 See Laxdæla saga, ed. Einar Ól. Sveinsson, Íslenzk fornrit 5 (reykjavík: Hið íslenzka
fornritafélag, 1934), chapter 67 (Þorgils saga Hõllusonar), p. 199); chapter 69 (Saga Njarð-
víkinga [probably “Gunnars þáttur Þíðrandabana”]), 202 and fn. 2 with a reference to
xxxviii–xxxix).
117 See Landnámabók S 160 (Bõðmóðs saga gerpis ok Grímólfs) (Íslendingabók Landnámabók 1:
198); Landnámabók S 98 (Þorgils saga gellis), (Íslendingabók Landnámabók 1: 140).
118 In Sturlunga saga, ed. Jón Jóhannesson et al., 2 vols. (reykjavík: Sturlunguútgáfan, 1946),
see “Geirmundar þáttur heljarskinns,” chapter 2 (Hróks saga svarta) (1: 7); Þorgils saga ok
Hafliða, chapter 10 (Saga frá Hröngviði víkingi, Saga frá Óláfi Liðsmannakonungi, Saga
Orms Bárreyjarskálds) (1: 27). In Sturlunga saga, ed. Örnólfur Thorsson, 2nd ed., 3 vols.
(reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2010) the references are: Hróks saga svarta, 1: 3, Saga frá
Hröngviði víkingi etc., 1: 22.
119 Of Skjöldunga saga only the “Sögubrot af fornkonungum” and the Latin epitome of
Árngrímur Jónsson (1568–1648) survive (see Danakonunga sǫgur, ed. Bjarni Guðnason,
Íslenzk fornrit 35 [reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1982]. 46–71 and 4–38. the
manuscript containing the first 15 chapters of Heiðarvíga saga perished in the great fire of
Copenhagen in 1728, and their contents were reconstructed from memory in the heavily
Danish-influenced Icelandic of the eighteenth century by Jón Ólafsson frá Grunnavík
(1705–1769). for Heiðarvíga saga see Borgfirðinga sǫgur, ed. Sigurður Nordal and Guðni
Jónsson, Íslenzk fornrit 3 (reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1938), 213–328.
120 In Hrólfs saga kraka, chapter 21, it says that great stories (“miklar sögur”) were told of Þórir
konungur hundsfótur (Hrólfs saga kraka og Bjarkarímur, ed. Finnur Jónsson, Samfund til
udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur 32 [Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, 1904]), 57; Guðni
Jónsson, Fornaldar sögur 1: 55 [there chapter 29]). on the other hand, the saga merely
says in chapter 9 that agnar konungur Hróarsson is frequently mentioned in old stories
(“fornar sögur”) and that he became more famous than his father (finnur Jónsson, Hrólfs
saga kraka 27, 28; Guðni Jónsson, Fornaldar sögur 1: 24, 25 [there chapter 12]).
HALLDóR JAKOBSSON ON TRUTH AND FICTION