Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 40

GRIPLA40
the saga of the Espælingar is named in Ljósvetninga saga;121 and there
are without doubt many more such which have vanished and people do
not know what their contents may have been. I have truly often pondered
myself over this, that in this Enlightened century eager to write things
up, no one should have taken upon themselves the task to go through our
old sagas, to place them in accurate periods, and to indicate what of and
in them is true or not true — which to be sure is easier to say than to do.
although I do not doubt that the learned people in Copenhagen where
there are such good facilities and resources in many ways, might be able
get a great deal done.
as for the saga of Án bogsveigir. It seems to me all of it could have
happened, also [not]122 unlikely that this Án may have lived in norway a
few years before king Haraldur the Well-Haired123 made his way on to the
throne and wiped out all the regional kings.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
M A N U S C R I P T S
Landsbókasafn Íslands — Háskólabókasafn, Reykjavík
Lbs 519 4to
Lbs 1793 8vo
Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA
MS Icel. 32
121 Esphælinga saga is mentioned at the beginning of Þórarins þáttr, a text associated with
Ljósvetninga saga in manuscripts: Ljósvetninga saga, ed. Björn Sigfússon, íslenzk fornrit 10
(reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1940), 141–47 at 143.
122 See the textual note for this emendation.
123 It has proven difficult to succinctly translate hárfagri which means “having a splendid head
of hair” — presumably in opposition to the fate of many of having a skalli or bald head.
“fair-haired” is a problem for while “fair” may mean “adequate” or “excellent” it also means
“blond” (which Haraldur may have been), but hair colour is not necessarily implied in fagri.
“fine-haired” suffers from a similar problem in that while “fine” may mean “excellent” it
also means “thin” or “not-coarse.” “Well-haired” may not please everyone as it has been
suggested that it could be interpreted as having hair like a well (brunnur) or a hole in the
ground.