Gripla - 20.12.2017, Page 63

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directly on the plots of other sagas, its hero remains unable to influence
their action, which generally echoes what we already know from other
sagas. Barði Guðmundsson’s encounters with Grettir, for instance, and
Þórarinn spaki’s advice to Barði, build elegantly on what Heiðarvíga saga
tells us of these characters (who do not encounter Grettir in Heiðarvíga
saga).
Snorri’s reaction to Þorsteinn’s death might equally be said to build
upon material found in other sagas. for instance: Snorri’s son Guðlaugr
refuses to take part in the attack on Þorsteinn Gíslason in Heiðarvíga saga;
Þóroddr Snorrason’s incompetence is demonstrated by an episode in Óláfs
saga helga; Þóroddr and Sámr are linked in battle at the siege of Óspakr’s
fortress in Eyrbyggja saga; and ‘svá varð að vera’ is precisely how Eyrbyggja
saga describes Snorri’s negotiations with his uncle Bǫrkr to claim the farm
at Helgafell.70 Yet, apart from this phrase, there is little precise overlap,
more a sense of consistency and familiarity in the portrayal of these indi-
viduals.
Grettis saga samples from the content of many saga narratives, but not
all need necessarily have been written sources. Let us assume that a more
detailed account of the killing of Þorsteinn Kuggason existed in an unwrit-
ten form, linking the killing explicitly to Snorri and implicating Þóroddr
and Sámr in the attack itself. Without side-stepping into another narrative,
or making Snorri an enemy of the family, Grettis saga puts this story to use
for its own purposes. It shows the good families of Iceland, and the charac-
ters who are respected in tradition the most, uniting to support Grettir in
his – unfairly earned – outlawry. Grettis saga prioritises the prestige of be-
ing associated with Snorri goði over the details of a loosely linked dispute
with Þorsteinn, Grettir’s second cousin.
the saga manipulates its material carefully: Snorri becomes angry with
the implied killers of Þorsteinn and distances himself from the act, making
the likelihood of an alliance with Þorsteinn’s relative, Grettir, seem more
hopeful. He makes a nonsensical demand of his son to kill any outlaw and
Þóroddr inevitably stumbles upon Grettir, recently frustrated in his search
for his friend Hallmundr’s killer. Yet Grettir admits to his second greatest
fear (after the dark): “hærukarlinn Snorra goða … ok ráð hans” [Greylocks
70 Eyrbyggja saga, 26.
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ÞORSTEINN KUGGASON