Gripla - 2020, Síða 243

GRIPLA242
[Then Þóroddr says that Snorri wanted to heal him by making him a
cripple, but Snorri the chieftain said he thought that the head would
raise up again once the sinews knitted together; but Þóroddr did
not want anything other than for the wound to be torn open again
and the head set straighter. But it went as Snorri guessed: when the
sinews knitted together, the head raised up, and from then on he
could only bend it slightly.]
Þóroddr’s reaction to Snorri goði’s decision is striking in that he does not
consider himself maimed at this point: In Þóroddr’s opinion, he will only
become an ørkumlamaðr, that is, a person maimed for life, if Snorri refuses
to do something about his head.31 The conceptualisation of the impairment
as a lasting condition is thus only a possible outcome and not yet seen as a
reality, since the outcome depends on Snorri goði’s actions. He is evidently
skilled in treating wounds and predicting healing processes, as his sugges-
tion proves to be true: the sinews heal and Þóroddr’s head straightens again.
The only remaining consequence is that Þóroddr can no longer properly
incline his head, but this issue is of no importance for the rest of the saga.
The episode concludes with the saga stating that Snorri goði healed all the
Þorbrandssynir. This is not entirely true, however, as Þorleifr kimbi, the
third brother, was also involved in the fight and was wounded. During a
fierce exchange of blows, ‘hjó hann (Steinþórr Þorláksson) til Þorleifs kim-
ba ok undan honum fótinn fyrir neðan kné’32 [he (Steinþórr Þorlákssonr)
struck at Þorleifr kimbi and cut off his leg below the knee]. Later, at
Helgafell, nothing is said about whether and how Þorleifr’s wound is
taken care of. It is only at the very end of the chapter that one short sen-
tence informs the audience about Þorleifr’s fate: ‘Þorleifr kimbi gekk alla
stund síðan við tréfót’33 [From then on Þorleifr kimbi always walked with
a wooden leg].
31 The word ørkum(b)lamaðr translates as ‘maimed person, cripple, invalid’. The semantic core
is a compound of ørr (‘scar’) and kum(b)l (‘mark, sign, badge’); see Zoëga, “Dictionary,” 530,
251. Ørkumlamaðr thus emphasises the fact that the scars are not temporary, but mark the
individual for a lifetime; hence, being or becoming an ørkumlamaðr implies a crucial change
in one’s fate.
32 Eyrbyggja saga, 127–128.
33 Eyrbyggja saga, 130.