Gripla - 20.12.2017, Qupperneq 126

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deeply this family is already disrupted when Hörðr and his sister are
children, and this familial disruption affects him for the rest of his life.
Hörðr’s relationship with his father also never improves, and they part
after Grímkell has accused him of ofsi, arrogance.101
Thus, Hörðr learns to distrust his kinsmen early on in his life, but
although he later meets his brothers-in-law Indriði and Illugi with suspi-
cion, he shows more trust to the brothers of his own choosing, especially
Geirr. Generally, relationships between brothers are another key part of
the family structures the outlaw sagas focus on, and even when fathers are
“out of the saga”, these horizontal relationships with blood, foster and af-
final brothers provide a red thread through the narratives. Grettir’s mother
Ásdís says that his killing of Þorbjǫrn ǫxnamegin and his son to avenge
his older brother Atli ‘mun ... upphaf ok undirrót sekða þinna’ [“will be the
beginning and cause of your outlawry”],102 at the end of which his younger
brother Illugi defends him to his death. Over the course of the years, his
brothers-in-law are his most consistent source of support, and they are the
ones who make sure that Þorbjǫrn ǫngull is outlawed. Grettir is the only
outlaw, however, whose “relations with his brothers are excellent”,103 and
is thus an exception. Gísli’s problems with Þorkell, who never lives up to
Gísli’s expectations and prefers to look after himself rather than risk get-
ting in trouble for aiding and abetting his outlawed brother, are only one
example of this.104 It is also significant that Gísli kills one brother-in-law in
vengeance for another, and the third one, Bǫrkr, then is the one who makes
sure Gísli himself is killed. Problems are kept in the family, demonstrating
to what an extent affinal relationships can be the cause of tragedy. these
þar eptir [“torfi’s hostility towards me is of more than one kind: first he killed the mother,
and then drove the child into vagrancy.” […] Grímkell knew all of torfi's plans, and there-
fore he did not want the girl to remain there].
101 Harðar saga, 35.
102 Grettis saga, 155.
103 robert Cook, “the reader in Grettis saga,” Saga-Book 21 (1982–85): 152.
104 Gísla saga, 74–75: ‘Nú vil ek vita,’ sagði Gísli, ‘ef þú vill mér nǫkkurn fullting veita’ […] Þorkell
svarar inu sama ok kvezk enga bjǫrg munu veita honum, þá er honum megi sakar á gefa […] ‘Sé ek
nú,’ sagði Gísli, ‘at þú vill mér ekki lið veita’ […] sagðisk eigi þó svá lítilliga við hann gera mundu,
ef hann stœði í hans rúmi [“I now want to know,” said Gísli, “if you want to offer me any
support” […] Þorkell replied the same and said he would not give him any assistance that
would get him into trouble. […] “I see now,” said Gísli, “that you do not want to give me
any help” […] he said that he would never act in such a small-minded way towards him, if
he were in his position].