Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Side 51

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magne and his men look ridiculous when they are called
upon to put their boasts into practice. But in a heroic context
it could he a serious matter: a man was bound by his code
to carry out his oath or fulfil his hoast whether or not it
was made under the influence of drink. Thus Heðinn in
HelgakviSa HjgrvarSssonar made an oath that he after-
wards regretted so much that he wandered off without
knowing where he was going.1 The oaths unwisely sworn
by the Jomsvikings lead to tragedy and bring about their
deaths: it is in vain that Sigvaldi quotes the well-known
proverb “ale is a different man” (01 er annarr maSr). He can-
not escape the consequences of his unwary words.2 Hrafn-
kell, priest of Freyr, fears that he may hring down the wrath
of heaven on himself if he fails to fulfil his vow to the god,
though he regrets having to do so.3 The author of the Old
English poem The Wanderer warns against being too eager
in hoasting, and advises caution.4
In RauSúlfs þáttr, however, the consequences of the
boasts are not so serious: the testing is much reduced in im-
portance. Only the accomplishments of Rauðúlfr and his
sons are put to the test, and their boasts are successfully
vindicated. Those of the king and his followers are acces-
sory to the main threads of the story and are not an essen-
tial part of it. But the testing of the boasts of Rauðúlfr and
his sons is functional in the construction of the story, for it
provides the connecting links between the various episodes.
Rauðúlfr’s boast and the king’s desire to put it to the test
lead on to the description of the sleeping chamher, the king’s
prophetic dream, and its interpretation. Dagr’s boast and its
testing provide the link between the events at Rauðúlfr’s
home and the “frame” story of the unmasking of Bjorn the
1 Prose before verse 31.
2 Jómsvíkinga saga, ed. N. F. Blake (London 1962), p. 29.
3 IF XI 105.
4 Sweet’s Anglo-Saxon Reader, rev. C. T. Onions, 13th ed. (Oxford
1954), p. 150, lines 69—72.
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