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9. a negative Map
It is therefore worth asking if the Complete version of Þórðar saga hreðu
participates in other forms of cultural memory making, namely in response
to the shifting political tide that came during the late thirteenth century
when the Commonwealth collapsed, a period sometimes referred to as the
Sturlungaöld. The Fragmentary version of Þórðar saga hreðu, as discussed
above, directly references the Sturlungaöld through the genealogy at the
end of the saga, demonstrating an awareness and a desire by that version of
the saga to process the events of the period. the Complete version seems,
by contrast, silent on the matter.
this is especially odd given that the saga is set in the exact region
most directly affected by the bloodshed associated with the collapse of
the Commonwealth. Late in the Commonwealth period, the Sturlungar
family had laid claim to almost every district in Iceland, and Skagafjörður
became the physical center of the struggle to complete the process.69
the first of two major battles in Skagafjörður took place in 1238 at
Örlygsstaðir. Sturla, Sighvatur’s son, had amassed troops in the west of
Iceland, and then marched across Vatnskerð to Skagafjörður. En route,
chapter 133 of Íslendingasaga tells us he picked up support from the people
of Miðfjörður.70 then his father arrived with troops from Eyjafjörður, in
total over 1000 men. they took over the rich farmlands on the southeast-
ern side of the central valley, near the farms of Víðivellir and Miklabær.
Meanwhile, forces opposed to the Sturlungar in the south gathered up a
force of over 1600 men and began marching north. the resulting battle,
in the early morning of august 21, 1238, saw the death of both Sturla and
Sighvatur, along with dozens of others, while the forces of Kolbeinn and
Gizurr were largely uninjured.71
a growing field, see astrid Erll, ansgar nünning, and Sara Young, eds. A Companion to
Cultural Memories Studies (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010). for applications of this theory
to old norse studies, see Pernille Hermann, “Concepts of Memory: approaches to the
Past in Medieval Icelandic Literature,” Scandinavian Studies 81 (2009): 287–308.
69 Árni Daníel Júlíusson and Jón Ólafur Ísberg, eds. Íslandssagan í máli og myndum.
70 Guðni Jónsson, ed. Sturlunga saga (Haukadalsútgáfan, 1953), vol. II, 324.
71 Jón Johannesson, A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth, trans. Haraldur Bessason
(Winnipeg: university of Minnesota Press, 1974), 252
COMPLETING Þ Ó R Ð A R S A G A H R E Ð U