Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Blaðsíða 66

64
(King Öláfr, the bishop, Bjprn the Marshal, the sons of
Árni).
It is possible that the þáttr was at some time adapted to
fit it into the context of Óláfs saga. But the textual history
of the þáttr shows that it was interpolated into Snorri’s Óláfs
saga not just once by one redactor, but on several different
occasions independently.1 It can be seen from the textual
variants that the various redactors who interpolated the
þáttr into the saga made some changes, chiefly attempts to
combine Snorri’s shortened version with the text of the þáttr.
But they did not alter the way in which the characters were
introduced, nor the references to other parts of Óláfs saga.
Any changes of this kind must therefore have been made
before the þáttr was interpolated into Snorri’s saga. This
means that it was probably originally intended to be part of
one of the earlier versions of Óláfs saga. There is no trace
of the story of Rauðúlfr in the Legendary saga, and so it is
unlikely that it ever formed part of either the Oldest saga or
the Middle saga. It is probable that it was originally intended
to be part of Styrmir’s saga.
There is a reference in Rauðúlfs þáttr to Bjprn the Mar-
shal’s diplomatic mission to Sweden in 1018. Commenting
on Bjgrn’s boast, the king remarked that he could well be-
lieve that Bjprn would always be fearless in announcing
his master’s husiness, since at the Uppsala-þing he had made
the king of Sweden angry, a thing most people would have
feared to do (ÓH 667/1). The story is told in Snorri’s Óláfs
saga, chapter 64 (ÓH 165-166): Bjorn had been sent with
an offer of a peace settlement to the king of Sweden, who had
refused all dealings with Norway or to recognise Óláfr as
king, not even allowing his name to be mentioned in his
presence, referring to him only as “the fat man” (inn digri
maðr). At an assembly called by the Swedish king at Upp-
sala, Bjprn suddenly spoke up and delivered his message in
1 See pp. 70 and 76 below.