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a detailed character description functions somewhat like a prophecy in
narrative terms.25 this is no doubt why, in her discussion of *Þorgils saga
Hǫllusonar, Judith Jesch accused the “author” of Laxdœla saga of “bias” and
“falsification” in their portrayal of Þorgils.26 Although he is introduced by
the saga as “inn lǫgkœnsti maðr” [the most legally astute of men]27 he is
depicted as a vain buffoon, easily outwitted by Guðrún and Snorri goði’s
schemes (Laxdœla saga chs. 57–67).28 Similarly, Bjarnar saga’s introduction
of Þorsteinn misleads an audience familiar with the normal behaviour of
ójafnaðarmenn, because instead of killing anyone, or refusing compensa-
tion for his crimes, Þorsteinn goes on to win non-violent justice for the
tragically-deceased hero. naturally, the outcome of a lawsuit can be as
inequitable as any other aspect of the sagas,29 but one would not expect a
saga narrator to think negatively of the punishment handed out to Þórðr,
who is cartoonishly villainous throughout much of Bjarnar saga.
Bjǫrn is not a straightforward hero himself, however, and he has this in
common with Grettir; their affinities are emphasised by Grettis saga when
Bjǫrn supports Grettir in his outlawry.30 Grettir has several ambivalent al-
lies, from Hallmundr (who dies accused of ójafnaðr by his own daughter)31
to the ofsamaðr [overbearing man] Jǫkull Bárðarson.32 It is thus less re-
markable that Þorsteinn could have a troublesome disposition and yet be a
friend to these two saga heroes.33
25 Paul Schach, “Character Creation and transformation in the Icelandic Sagas,” Germanic
Studies in Honor of Otto Springer, ed. Stephen J. Kaplowitt (Pittsburg, Pa: K & S Enter-
prises, 1978), 248.
26 Jesch, “Lost Literature,” 260.
27 Laxdœla saga, 171.
28 I am not convinced that legal acumen in the sagas goes hand in hand with pragmatic intel-
ligence (cf. Eyjólfr Bǫlverksson in Njáls saga and Sámr Bjarnarson in Hrafnkels saga), but it
is Jesch’s response to the saga narrator’s introduction to Þorgils that is particularly telling
in this instance.
29 See William Ian Miller, Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law and Society in Saga Iceland
(Chicago, IL: university of Chicago Press, 1990), 302.
30 Grettis saga, 186–89.
31 Ibid., 205.
32 Ibid., 117; cf. robert Cook, “the reader in Grettis saga,” Saga-Book 21 (1985): 149.
33 Linking the portrayal of these difficult characters to their interactions with the norwegian
crown, Gísli Sigurðsson emphasises the way in which their presentation was affected by
the politics and events of the thirteenth century, particularly when viewed from the per-
spective of the Sturlungar: Gísli Sigurðsson, “‘I’m on an Island’: the Concept of outlawry
and Sturla’s Book of Settlements,” Sturla Þórðarson: Skald, Chieftain and Lawman, eds. Jón
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ÞORSTEINN KUGGASON