Gripla - 20.12.2017, Page 57

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returned to later in the narrative, needed an explanation within the scene
itself.
Yet Þorsteinn’s designs on Hjarðarholt are worth examining in more
detail: what would draw a compiler or author to associate Þorsteinn with
that land? Laxdœla saga does not tell us what happened to Hjarðarholt in
the end, which is notable given the lengths it goes to in order to relate how
the farm came to Óláfr pái, via shipwrecks and the hauntings of Víga-
Hrappr. Eyrbyggja saga, however, offers two possibilities: “Þóru, dóttur
sína, gipti Snorri Kerru-Bersa, syni Halldórs Óláfssonar á Hjarðarholti”
[Þóra, his daughter, was married by Snorri to Kerru-Bersi, the son of
Halldórr Óláfsson at Hjarðarholt]; “Halldórr var gǫfgastr sona Snorra
goða; hann bjó í Hjarðarholti í Laxárdal” [Halldórr was the most honour-
able of the sons of Snorri goði; he lived at Hjarðarholt in Laxárdalr].52
I will only discuss the former here; Einar Ól. Sveinsson makes a reasonable
suggestion as to how the two might be reconciled.53
Snorri’s schemes drive Eyrbyggja saga as well as parts of Heiðarvíga saga
and Njáls saga, and they have a palpable effect on the story of Laxdœla
saga. When he learns that Guðrún and Bolli’s sons are looking for venge-
ance on the Óláfssynir for their father’s death, Snorri redirects their at-
tention to Helgi Harðbeinsson first, then later ensures that the óláfssynir
pay for the act through a fine.54 Laxdœla saga presents these as the actions
of a benevolent onlooker, concerned for the stability of the district, but
there are nevertheless telling words in the conversation between Snorri
and Halldórr. Halldórr acknowledges his gratitude and his distrust of (the
now-deceased) Þorgils Hǫlluson and once more defends his and his broth-
ers’ landholdings:55
Þessu vil ek játta, ef þat er vili brœðra minna, at gjalda fé fyrir víg
Bolla, slíkt sem þeir menn dœma, er til gørðar eru teknir; en undan
vil ek skilja sekðir allar ok svá goðorð mitt, svá staðfestu; slíkt it
sama þær staðfestur, er brœðr mínir búa á; vil ek ok til skilja, at þeir
eigi þær at frjálsu fyrir þessa málalykð.56
52 Eyrbyggja saga, 181; 182.
53 Einar ól. Sveinsson, Introduction to Laxdœla saga, lxxxviii.
54 Laxdœla saga, 177; 208–11.
55 Ibid., 209–10.
56 Ibid., 210.
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ÞORSTEINN KUGGASON