Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Blaðsíða 63

61
In the three chapters of his Óláfs saga following the story
of Rauðúlfr (chapters 157—159, ÓH 462—465) Snorri tells
how Rauðúlfr’s son Dagr (who, as we are told in the þáttr,
had entered the king’s service) helped to unmask a traitor,
Þórir Qlvisson, by means of his accomplishment, the ability
to see a man’s true character. The evidence of Þórir’s guilt
was a hidden gold arm-ring, a bribe from King Knútr of
Denmark. This is reminiscent of Þórarins þáttr Nefjúlfs-
sonar,1 where Þórarinn is similarly found to have a gold
arm-ring given him by Knútr concealed on his arm, al-
though, unlike Þórir, he is found to be not guilty of treason.
There is probably a literary relationship between these two
stories, although it is difficult to say which is the borrower.
The episode of Þórir’s discovery cannot originally have
been part of the story of Rauðúlfr. It is closely connected
with other events in Óláfs saga and the tone and style is dif-
ferent from that of the þáttr, which clearly ends with the
discovery of Bjprn the Steward’s guilt: the addition of an
extra episode would upset the balance of the story. Since
Rauðúlfr and his sons are not mentioned elsewhere in Óláfs
saga, it is probable that they are fictional characters invented
by the author of RauSúlfs þáttr. Dagr cannot therefore have
originally been concerned with the discovery of Þórir’s
treachery: his part in the story was probably invented by
Snorri.
The episode of Þórir’s death appears to have been related
very briefly in the versions of Óláfs saga older than Snorri’s.
The substance of the Middle saga is probably reproduced
fairly accurately in the Legendary saga, which has simply:
“He (Öláfr) had four of their men slain. One was the
nephew of Þórir Hundr (i.e. Þórir Qlvisson: his name is not
even given). Another was Grjótgarðr, whose wife Kálfr
Árnason subsequently married.”2 The episode does not
survive in Styrmir’s version, nor in the Oldest saga, but
1 ÓH 805—808.
2 Óláfs Saga hins helga, ed. O. A. Johnsen (Kristiania 1922), p. 63.