Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 114

GRIPLA114
Þórðr hreða varð sóttdauðr. Höfum vér ekki fleira heyrt með sann-
leik af honum sagt. Ok lýkr hér nú sögu Þórðar hreðu.66
[a large lineage is descendant from Þórður hreða and many noble
men, both in norway and Iceland. Men say, that it had become a
prophesy, the words which Þórður spoke, that there would always
be some contentiousness in Miðfjörður. More divisiveness has
always been there than in other districts. Þórður died of natural
causes. We have not heard anything else truthful said about him.
and here ends now the Saga of Þórður hreða.]
Interestingly, although Þórður’s speech itself is nowhere to be found in
the Complete version of the saga itself, it is referenced here at the conclu-
sion of the Complete version in such a way to suggest that it must have
been an especially well-known aspect of the saga.67 though the poor pres-
ervation of the fragmentary version makes us unable to know if other such
parallels exist, the speech receives considerable narrative weight in both
versions, even constituting the closing remark of the Complete version.
this indicates that his speech describing and characterizing the people and
landscape of Miðfjörður was fundamental to the saga before the two ver-
sions diverged. Indeed, Þórður’s speech defining the people of Miðfjörður
appears to be the narrative core of Þórðar saga hreðu.
the fragmentary version of the saga associated this important speech
act with a prominent boundary marker, which reinforces the efficacy of
his declaration. His words defined the character of the people while the
boundary marker physically defined the outline of the region. this kind
of feedback loop – a synergy between place and content – would assist in
the memorization and transmission of the saga, certainly. It is also a good
example of literature participating in the construction and maintenance of
cultural memory tied to a regional identity.68
66 “Þórðar saga hreðu,” 226.
67 arngrímur’s summary of the saga in Crymogæa also emphasizes Þórður’s move from Mið-
fjörður to Skagafjörður as a concluding sentiment: “In prædio Micklabæ Borealis Islandiæ
parochiæ Slettalyd postquam Midfjordesnes reliquiesset, bonus et fortunatus senex obiit”
[‘He died late in life, happy and fortunate, at the farm of Miklabær in the northern Icelandic
district of Sléttuhlíð after he had moved from Miðfjörður’], “Viðbætir úr niðjatali Ketils
Hörðakára i Crymogæu,” in Kjalnesinga saga, ed. Jóhannes Halldórsson, íslenzk fornrit,
vol. 14 (reykjavík: Híð íslenzka fornritafélag, 1959), 250.
68 Cultural memory theory as a means by which societies manage their shared identity is