Gripla - 2020, Page 268

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CHRISTOPHER CROCKER
NARRATING BLINDNESS
AND SEEING OCULARCENTRISM
IN ÞORstEIns sAGA HvÍtA1
Introduction
as a medieval text, Þorsteins saga hvíta (hereafter simply Þorsteins
saga) presents modern scholars with certain challenges. For example, al-
though the saga has commonly been dated to the mid-thirteenth century,
its oldest surviving attestations are from the early seventeenth century,
where it commonly appears alongside other Íslendingasögur primarily set
in the Eastfjords. The paper manuscripts AM 156 fol. and AM 496 4to,
both dated to around the mid-seventeenth century, have primarily been
used for modern editions of the saga. The former is attributed to the priest
Jón Erlendsson (c. 1600–1672) and the latter is said to have been written
at the direction of Bishop Þorlákur Skúlason (1597–1656).2 The saga’s
apparent relationship to the more well-known vápnfirðinga saga is also a
matter of some contention. In particular, the question of whether the saga
was written as a standalone narrative, a concise prequel, or survives as an
incomplete expanded revision of vápnfirðinga saga remains unresolved
and is probably unresolvable.3 Although not unique in presenting these
1 This article emerges from the research project Fötlun fyrir tíma fötlunar [Disability before
disability], which is supported by Rannsóknasjóður [the Icelandic Research fund], Grant of
Excellence No. 173655-05.
2 On the dating and manuscript attestations of the saga, see Jón Jóhannesson, “Formáli,”
Austfirðinga sǫgur, ed. by Jón Jóhannesson, íslenzk fornrit XI (Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka
forn ritafélag, 1950), xi–xiii; Jakob Jakobsen, “Indledning,” Austfirðinga sǫgur, ed. by
Jakob Jakobsen (Copenhagen: S.L. Møllers, 1902–03), iii–xi; Sigríður Baldursdóttir,
“Hugmyndaheimur Vopnfirðinga sögu,” Gripla 13 (2002): 76–79.
3 See Jón Jóhannesson, “Formáli,” vi–viii; Grímur M. Helgason and Vésteinn ólason,
“Formáli,” Íslenzkar fornsögur, ed. by Grímur M. Helgason and Vésteinn ólason, 9 vols.
(Hafnarfjörður: Skuggsjá, 1968–76), 7. viii; Gísli Sigurðsson, the Medieval Icelandic saga
and Oral tradition: A Discourse on Method, trans. by Nicholas Jones (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 2004), 138–39.
Gripla XXXI (2020): 267–292