Gripla - 2020, Blaðsíða 242

241
One of the striking aspects of this episode is the way the wounds
are noticed and dealt with on a narratological level. The injuries are not
noticed because a character expresses severe pain or because the wounds
are quickly identified by the people at Helgafell; rather, they are noticed
only when those injured find it difficult to perform mundane actions.
Astonishingly, it is not the warriors themselves but Snorri goði, a third par-
ty, who discovers the literal thorn in each character’s flesh. Furthermore,
Snorri goði identifies the nature of injuries because he feels the limbs that
are causing problems. In each case, the verb þreifa, meaning ‘to feel with
the hand, touch’28 is used to express how Snorri goði traces and identifies
the impaired person’s medical problem, as is apparent from the above
quotation regarding Snorri Þorbrandsson’s injury and the following lines
regarding Þóroddr’s leg injury: ‘Þá gekk til Snorri goði ok þreifaði um
fótinn [Þórodds] ok fann, at spjót stóð í gegnum fótinn milli hásinarinnar
ok fótleggsins ok hafði níst allt saman, fótinn ok brókina’29 [Then Snorri
the chieftain went up and touched the foot (of Þóroddr) and realised that
a spear pierced the leg between the heel and the lower leg and had pinned
everything together, the leg and the breeches]. Apparently, saga characters
have an unusually high tolerance for pain.
The saga then turns back to Þóroddr and the injury at the back of his
neck that was first mentioned. As the blow that Þóroddr received has cut
through the sinews, his head is tilted slightly forward. While Þóroddr
wants Snorri goði to reposition his head in a violent manner, Snorri goði
refuses to do anything about the injury. Instead, he offers a rudimentary
medical analysis of the situation and mentions a period of healing. In
the form of a prolepsis the audience is even told about the result, a rare
insight:
Þá segir Þóroddr, at Snorri vildi grœða hann at ørkumlamanni, en
Snorri goði kvazk ætla, at upp myndi hefja hǫfuðit, þá er sinarnar
knýtti; en Þóroddr vildi eigi annat en aptr væri rifit sárit ok sett
hǫfuðit réttara. En þetta fór sem Snorri gat, at þá er sinarnar knýtti,
hóf upp hǫfuðit, ok mátti hann lítt lúta jafnan síðan.30
28 Geir T. Zoëga, A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
in assoc. with the Medieval Academy of America, 2004), 516.
29 Eyrbyggja saga, 129–130.
30 Eyrbyggja saga, 130.
THE SILENCED TRAUMA IN THE Í sLEnDInGAsÖGUR