Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Blaðsíða 81

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king’s steward (ármaSr) should be unpopular.1 The rela-
tionship of Rauðúlfr’s wife Ragnhildr with king Öláfr’s
former enemy Hringr Dagsson (cf. ÓH 147-155), a descen-
dant of Haraldr Hárfagri, which the king does not seem to
hold against her, seems to be the fabrication of the author
of the þáttr, since no other source confirms that Hringr had
a sister. The author does not tell us any more of Rauðúlfr
except that he came from Sweden, and although the tan-
talisingly sparse details he gives of his and Ragnhildr’s
elopement suggest the existence of a story he does not care
to tell us, it is likely that the whole family, indeed the whole
story of Rauðúlfr, is the creation of the author of the þáttr.2
The names Rauðúlfr, Rauðr, and tílfr are used inter-
changeably in most manuscripts of Rauðúlfs þáttr, although
some are more consistent than others. All manuscripts agree
that he was called by more than one name.3 It is clear that
these variations in the name go back to the original and that
the attempts at consistency are those of the copyists. Such
variations in names are not uncommon in the sagas: Ketill
hœngr, for instance, was known both as Ketill and Hœngr.4
It is therefore not necessary to assume that the variations
in Rauðúlfr’s name imply the fusion or confusion of more
than one character. RaúSúlfs þáttr bears in other respects
1 E.g. Hildiríðarsynir in Egils saga (IF II 41 ff.); Áki in AuSunar
þáttr (lF VI 363). The wicked counsellor figures in many Icelandic folk-
tales, where he is traditionally named Rauður and is often, like BjQrn, a
favourite or relative of the queen, see Jón Ámason, Islenzkar þjóSsögur
og œfintýri (Leipzig 1862-64), II 355-360, 391-397.
2 Ölafur Halldórsson, cand. mag., has pointed out to me the simi-
larity both in names and other details with the story of the elopement of
Úlfr (Þorkell) and Ragnhildr in Fœreyinga saga (ed. Finnur Jónsson,
Kobenhavn 1927), pp. 20 ff.
3 Only in Snorri’s version is there complete consistency (always
RauÖr). It may be noted that most printed editions are somewhat mis-
leading since the manuscripts often use the abbrevation R. which could
stand for either RauÖr or RauÖúlfr.
4 See Jón Jóhannesson, GerÖir Landnámabókar (Reykjavík 1941),
pp. 49 and 111. Cf. also IF XII 299: “Heðinn heiti ek, en sumir kalla mik
Skarpheðinn qllu nafni.”