Studia Islandica - 01.06.1937, Síða 51

49
to have been written abont the same time (i. e. in the first half
of the 12th. century). Its sources are chiefly old heroic lays,
and it is constructed in honour of the Oddaverjar. About the
year 1190 an unknown poet composed the Noregskonungatal,
in which the pedegree of the Kings of Norway is traced down
to Jón Loftsson. This is a eulogy on Jón, in which the main
theme is precisely his noble ancestry. Its chief source is Sæ-
mund the learned’s book on the Kings of Norway.
Among the many works which Snorri Sturluson, the foster-
son of Jón Loftsson, used in his historical compositions, are
two which, more than others, appear to have been written
under the protection of the Oddaverjar, viz. Orkneyinga Saga
and Skjöldunga Saga.
Orkneyinga Saga shows intimate knowledge of the inhabitants
of the Orkney Islands, with whom none of the noble families of
Iceland appear to have had so much to do as the Oddaverjar.
They were friends of Bishop Bjarni of the Orkneys, while Bishop
Pál was acquainted with Earl Harald Maddaðarson. It was
planned to bring about marital affinity between Sæmund of
Oddi and Earl Harald, and messages were passed between them,
though in the end nothing came of this plan. A party of Orkney
merchants came to Sæmund at Oddi, and their leader was Þor-
kel walrus the nephew of Bishop Bjarni (before the year 1206).
In the saga we find indisputable evidence that it must have
been written about 1200, precisely at this time. Investigation
of its sources discloses several remarkable points. At the be-
ginning it tells of the ancient King Nór, after whom Norway is
said to be named. Gjessing has attempted to show that Nór had
been mentioned in the work of Sæmund. The chapter on
St. Magnus, Earl of the islands, resembles the Vita, which is
preserved in various forms in Latin and Icelandic, and was
written, according to an Icelandic translation, twenty years
after the Saint’s death, in other words, about the time when
his sanctity was first recognised. It is clearly written as propo-
ganda for this recognition, and is therefore hostile to Earl Há-
kon who slew St. Magnus, and consequently to his son Earl Pál.
This fact and the recognition of the sanctity of St. Magnus stand
in relation to the conquest of the islands by Earl Rögnvald. Com-
parison between the Vita and the Orkneyinga Saga shows that
4