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several sources. Jesch felt that Grettis saga owed a lot to Bjarnar saga’s
portrayal of Þorsteinn, and although she agreed that he must have been “a
well-enough known character” to have been referenced despite the lack of
any single source for his life, she remained sceptical that his life was saga-
worthy at all.37 Yet, given the amount of authorial manipulation evident in
the portrayal of characters in the sagas, it seems likely that “saga-worthy”
stories were a mutable category, affected by the location and teller of a
particular tale. Indeed, the term “saga-worthy” might now be considered
somewhat out-dated and redundant, as material deemed such is only par-
tially represented by the surviving content of the sagas, and so much other
material, oral and written, has been lost.
In the next section, I will conduct a detailed examination of three
scenes. Analysing Laxdœla saga and Grettis saga, Jesch argued that Þor-
steinn’s presence served only to inform the audience about the personali-
ties of Grettir and Þorkell Eyjólfsson. I will interrogate the assumption
that Þorsteinn’s presence can only be explained by authorial inventiveness,
exploring wider details in the narratives of Laxdœla saga, Eyrbyggja saga and
Landnámabók. as a minor character, Þorsteinn brings into focus questions
of narrative purpose and saga plotting; ultimately, if his inclusion is down
to an author’s imagination, then it must be asked: why include Þorsteinn
as opposed to anyone else?
a saga-worthy death
In the legal cases recounted in Bjarnar saga, Fóstbrœðra saga and Grettis
saga, Þorsteinn’s personality remains consistent, as does his narrative
function. He is loyal and somewhat forceful, but his legal ability is never
questioned. His cases are all brought correctly as far as these narratives
are concerned, and Þorsteinn achieves the results deemed necessary in the
context of the saga plots: the outlawry of Þorgeirr Hávarsson on the one
hand, and the punishment of Þórðr Kolbeinsson on the other.
It is his other appearances in Grettis saga, and his scenes in Laxdœla
saga, that make Þorsteinn more than a flat, functional character, however.
He is not simply a well-connected lawyer, brought out on parade by the
narrator when his relatives need assistance: Þorsteinn does not get his
37 Jesch, “Lost Literature,” 267–68.
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ÞORSTEINN KUGGASON