Gripla - 20.12.2017, Page 62

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of immanent traditions regarding Þorsteinn.67 as a man who worked hard,
but was often uncompromising and forceful, and who was well-connected
but perhaps came to an ignominious end, the juxtaposition of the church
and the act of smithing suit him well.
Þorsteinn does not appear again in Grettis saga, but the eponymous hero
is first told of his killing at a time when Grettir has just lost Hallmundr,
another ally.68 In need of new supporters, the hero is to encounter Snorri
goði once more. Shortly after Grettir is told the news of his second cousin’s
killing, the saga switches perspective:
Eptir víg Þorsteins Kuggasonar lagði Snorri goði fæð mikla á þá
Þórodd, son sinn, ok Sám, son Barkar ins digra, en þat er eigi greint
hvat þeir hǫfðu helzt til saka, útan þat, at þeir hafa eigi viljat gera
eitthvert stórvirki, þat er Snorri lagði fyrir þá, ok því rak Snorri goði
Þórodd brott frá sér ok bað hann eigi fyrr aptr koma en hann hafði
drepit einnhvern skógarmann, ok svá varð at vera.69
[After the killing of Þorsteinn Kuggason, Snorri goði became very
cold towards his son, Þóroddr, and Sámr, the son of Bǫrkr inn digri,
but it is not clear what the reason was for this, other than that they
had not wanted to do some great deed that Snorri had required of
them, and so Snorri goði drove Þóroddr away from him and told
him not to come back until he had killed some outlaw, and that was
simply the way it had to be.]
the implications are not subtle: Þóroddr will inevitably encounter
Grettir. When Grettir spares him, Snorri finally agrees to help Grettir
seek a pardon after twenty years of outlawry. Like many of Grettir’s
interactions with other known characters, the drive of the plot remains
broadly unaffected, but his character and the tone of the narrative is built
up through these encounters. He is broadly on the side of the good, well-
connected people we recognise from elsewhere – Bjǫrn, Þorbjǫrg digra
– and when Skapti Þóroddsson and Snorri goði agree to provide him with
legal support, we expect success to follow. Where Grettis saga touches
67 Jesch, “Lost Literature,” 268.
68 Grettis saga, 219.
69 Ibid., 219–20.