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number of separate narratives relating to him and his family that can be
found in different sources.13 Hallr, unlike Guðmundr, was not drawn into
the destructive oppositions of feuding in the way that so many chieftains
were; I would suggest that, unlike Guðmundr ríki, there were perhaps
fewer people interested in preserving the perspective of Hallr’s enemies.
When seeking to identify characters whose immanent biographies were
known to medieval audiences, there are two key requirements. the first
is that there is an underlying consistency in the portrayal of the character:
variations and discrepancies may exist, but they can be explained by their
contexts in different narratives, and serve to add depth to the character’s
portrait, rather than simply to support or discredit different sources. the
second is that a variety of apparently independent narratives exist regard-
ing the character: the individual does not appear only in a single scene or
event retold across a number of sagas, but they are involved in different
proceedings. often, the character is given only the most perfunctory intro-
ductions in these episodes, the saga narrator assuming a basic familiarity
with the character’s personality.
Narrative usefulness/uselessness
Both Hallr and Guðmundr were chieftains, and both (according to the
written sources in which they are mentioned) were prominent figures dur-
ing Iceland’s conversion to Christianity. Þorsteinn Kuggason seemingly
remained on the fringes of the power-struggles of this period, however,
and is never said to have been a chieftain, despite moving in the upper
echelons of society. In the surviving material, Þorsteinn nevertheless in-
teracts with, and is related to, major saga figures at a period that receives
a lot of attention in the sagas. Jesch has compared him to other recurring,
supporting characters such as the chieftain Ásgrímr Elliða-Grímsson and
the prophetic Gestr oddleifsson.14 Chieftains are ever-present in the sagas,
and assemblies are a convenient place to introduce them; similarly, Gestr’s
prophetic abilities make him useful to narrators. He is introduced into
Gísla saga with very little preamble, but the audience understands Gísli’s
13 Jamie Cochrane, “*Síðu-Halls saga ok sona hans: Creating a Saga from tradition,” Gripla 21
(2010): 197–234.
14 Jesch, “Lost Literature,” 269. another productive comparison might be Þorkell Geitisson,
whose immanent saga is discussed by Gísli Sigurðsson in his Medieval Icelandic Saga,
161–84.
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ÞORSTEINN KUGGASON