Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1977, Page 145

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ratified at the Althing in the year 1281, there was a regulation that
it was allowable to take hay by force from those who had enough
in order to save those in dire need. Icelanders disagreed with this
article of the law, as they did with several others, and it was in
contradiction to the laws of the Icelandic commonwealth. Maurer
considers it incredible that the taking of hay from Blund-Ketill
could be so mildly dealt with if the saga had been written when this
important issue was at stake or while the argument was still fresh
in mind.
Not everybody agrees, however. Sigur&ur Nordal mentions this
in his introduction where he says (p. xxx):
E>a5 skal jåtaå, a& paå væri i sjålfu sér mjog ålitlegt, aå setja ritun
sogunnar i samband vi3 pessar deilur, og heffli hofundurinn me3 dæmi
toris og Blund-Ketils viljaå syna réttmæti hinna nyju åkvæfla. En
vegna sambandsins viå Sturlubok er pa3 teflt å fremstå hlunn, aå
telja soguna ekki ritaåa fyrr er 1280-81.
As mentioned earlier, Sturla died in 1284. It seems to Nordal that
this part of the saga most likely was derived from oral tradition,
and he even flirts with the idea that Hænsa-Boris saga might have
influenced the new clause in Jonsbok.
Maurer had already pointed out that the article in Jonsbok was
made to conform to the Norwegian law of King Magnus (the so-
called National Law), except that the Norwegian law dealt with
corn instead of hay. This is the place to look for the source, not in
Hænsa-Boris saga. Of course, it is out of the question that Hænsa-
Boris saga influenced Norwegian law; nor does the wording point
to a direct relationship.
The last person to deal with this matter was Bjorn Sigfusson in
the journal Saga 1962. He shows clearly how the article in Jonsbok
was rooted in the new Norwegian law. He considers that there is
very little possibility that Hænsa-Boris saga could influence the
clause in Jonsbok. On the other hånd, he finds it quite likely that
the saga is under influence from the lawgivers. In that connection,
he points out a very remarkable likeness in wording:
1. Both works make clear the obligation to spare enough of the
stacked hay for the owner’s stock “until the next Thing” (til pings
Jonsbok) or “until the Althing” (til alpingis Hænsa-Boris saga).