Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1979, Side 26

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the sense suggested by Oddr’s reviser and Fagrskinna, to the effect that
Olaf was the founder. 1 conclude that Ari mentioned a trading center on
Niåarnes and that this note was incorporated by both Theodoricus and
Oddr, then expanded by Oddr's reviser and passed on in the expanded
form to Fagrskinna and Snorri.
There is one last general consideration pointing to a connection
between Theodoricus and Ari. It is the observation that their
chronological coverages coincide. Theodoricus begins with Harald
Fairhair and it is generally assumed that Ari did the same.9 Theodoricus
concludes with the death of Sigurdr jorsalafari in 1130, the precise
moment at which Ari’s information runs out in his extant
Islendingabok.10 The kinship is reinforced by a verbal correspondence
between Theodoricus’ introduction of Harald Fairhair and two notes at
the beginning of Ari’s Islendingabok which have been ascribed to the lost
konunga cevi.11 Theodoricus writes: “Hic [Haraldus pulchre-comatus]
primum expulit omnes regulos et solus obtinuit regnum totius Norwagice
annis septuaginta et defunctus est.” Ari’s words could well have been the
source: “[Haraldr inn hårfagri] es fyrstr varp J^es kyns einn conungr at
ollom Norvegi ... En sva er sagt at Haralldr veri ixx. vetra conungr oc
yrjh atrøjjr.”
A demonstration such as the one presented here depends on a series of
interlocking premises. If one link is faulty, the whole proof unravels. I
will therefore conclude by reviewing the assumptions which have gone
into the argument and which are required to support it. It is necessary to
believe first of all that the accounts of Håkon jarl's death in Theodoricus,
Oddr, and Snorri go back to a common source. If it is considered more
likely that Oddr used Theodoricus directly and that Snorri either used
Theodoricus to supplement Oddr or that his special affinities to
Theodoricus are coincidental, then the proof fails. It is furthermore
9 Theodoricus’ prologue (Monumenta historica Norvegiæ, ed. Gustav Storm [Kristania,
1880], p. 4) States that he had no written sources before Harald Fairhair: “Liquet itaque,
virorum optime, ex his fuisse etiam ante tempora Haraldi in hac terra in bellicis rebus
potentes viros, sed ut diximus illorum memoriam scriptorum inopia delevit.”
10 S. Nordal, Om OlaJ den helliges saga, p. 24 and S. Ellehøj, Studier over den ældste
norrone historieskrivning, p. 53 give 1120 as the cut-off date for Ari’s konunga ævi, but this is
not based on specific evidence and appears to represent the nearest round date before 1130.
11 See Eva Hagnell, Are Jrode och hans Jorfattarskap (Lund, 1938), pp. 17-19, 135 and
Svend Ellehøj, Studier over den ældste norrøne historieskrivning, p. 48.