Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Side 53

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to the disparagement of other people’s.1 In Qrvar-Odds saga
mannjafnaSr is combined with a drinking match: as each
man declares his accomplishment (in verse) he offers his
opponent a horn of mead. The latter then has to drink this
as well as capping the boast.2 In Svarfdœla saga mannjafn-
aSr and heitstrenging are both performed together as parts
of the same ritual.3 The original function of this form of
boasting is perhaps preserved in Hálfs saga, where it is a
prelude to battle, and a part of the traditional challenge and
defiance.4
In another form of mannjafnaðr those taking part do not
boast of their own achievements but discuss those of others:
very often those chosen for discussion would be well-known
figures, the chief men of the district. It is obvious that this
also was liable to have disastrous consequences, and could
lead to bloodshed in a society where personal honour and
reputation had such importance. This game is used in many
sagas as the motivation for quarrels and fighting.5 Another
name for it seems to have been kjósa sér fulltrúi (“to choose
a patron for oneself”).6
A third kind of entertainment is a traditional custom
mentioned especially in Heroic Sagas and other legendary
stories. A hero arriving at the court of a foreign king in such
stories was often asked what his accomplishments (íþróttir)
were, and sometimes was required to demonstrate them, in
some cases in competition with one of the king’s champions
or even with the king himself.7 This was a sort of initiation
1 Cf. Bandamanna saga, IF VII 354.
2 Qrvar-Odds saga, ed. R. C. Boer (Leiden 1888), pp 159 ff.
3 ÍF IX 165—166.
4 Fas II 47 ff. Cf. The Fighí at Finnsburg (see p. 46, note 2 above),
lines 24—27. MannjafnaSr in a mythical setting is the subject of Hár-
barÖsljóS, and merges with flyting in Lokasenna.
5 E.g. Eyrbyggja saga, ÍF IV 98—99; Flb I 66, II 271 ff.; Flóa-
manna saga, ed. Finnur Jónsson (Kobenhavn 1932), p. 53.
6 Víga-Glúms saga, ed. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed. (Oxford 1960),
p. 23 (see the note, ibid., p. 69).
7 E.g. Þórr and Loki at the court of Útgarðaloki, Edda Snorra Sturlu-