Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Blaðsíða 31
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þáttr in the part of the dream referring to Magnús the Good,
although the symbol is not interpreted in quite the sameway.
The dreams and their interpretations mentioned so far
have all been “literary” ones, and are to he considered artistic
devices, probably in most cases invented by the authors of
the sagas. But similar dream interpretations are found in the
so-called “Sagas of Contemporaries”, where the dreams may
often be genuine. This kind of interpretation may therefore
have been more than a literary convention: it was prohably
actually believed in in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
In Sverris saga, a large part of which must be based on
Sverrir’s own words, the king is said to have dreamed that
his enemy Erlingr was roasting on a fire (eldr). This meant
that Erlingr was growing old (eldask) and that Sverrir’s
enemies were nearly finished (mjgk elt (v.l. eldir) at ráS-
um). In this dream Sverrir ate the whole of the roasted body
except the head: this meant that he would overcome all his
opponents except the chief or head, King Magnús.1 The
symbolism of the head is used in the same way in RauS-
úlfs þáttr. In GuSmundar saga byskups Guðmundr inter-
preted a dream about an archbishop (erkibyskup) to pre-
sage an “arch-wonder” (erkibýsn).2 Sturla Sighvatsson once
dreamed he held part of a sausage (mgrsbjúgahlutr) in his
hand, and straightened it out (rétta). This meant that he
would redress his wrongs (rétta hlut sinn).3
These examples show that besides using symholism similar
to that found in learned religious writings and the bible, the
author of RauSúlfs þáttr used symbolism characteristic of
the popular dream-interpretations of his own time. In a
literature which abounds in dreams and dream-interpreta-
tions, RauSúlfs þáttr contains one of the longest, most de-
tailed, and most complicated dreams, in which symbolism
of almost every conceivable kind has been called into service.
1 Sverris saga, ed. Gustav Indrebu (Kristiania 1920), p. 46.
2 Biskupa sögur (Kaupmannahöfn 1858—78), I 423.
3 Sturlunga saga, ed. Jón Jóhannesson et al. (Reykjavík 1946), I 350.