Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2005, Side 415
Bevussrimur and Bevusar tættir
405
ond husband, Hallsteinn, and emigrates to the Faroes where she setties
down for the rest of her life. This may be legend rather than history, but
it must have been credible to a saga audience of the early thirteenth
century.16 Undoubtedly historical are the reports in Årna saga biskups
of how Sturla Foråarson and two travelling companions were ship-
wrecked en route to Norway and had to spend the winter of 1277-78 in
the Faroes; the unruly priest borvaldr Helgason suffered a similar fate
twelve years later.17 Incidents like these may be reflected in the pres-
ence on the islands of so-called Islandstoftir (an appellation already
recorded by Svabo), which apparently were dwellings for the tempo-
rary use of Icelanders on the way to and from the continent of Europe.18
An author like Sturla ForSarson might be expected to have discussed
literature with his Faroese hosts. A later visitor to the islands who cer-
tainly did so was Jon Olafsson Indiafari, an Icelander who served in the
navy of King Christian IV and spent a couple of weeks anchored off
Eysturoy in the late summer of 1616. Here he sampled the well-stocked
beer cellar of the crown tenant and løgrættumadur (later syslumadur)
Mikkel Joensen of Lambi, enjoyed the spectacle of the ballad dance,
and struck up a friendship with the local blacksmith, Olav Lauridsen of
Skåli, who was not short of beer either and had leamed to use the tools
of his trade in distant Trondheim. Olav acquired two Icelandic books
from Jon Olafsson, who comments that the Faroeman had no difficulty
in reading them, ‘for there is no great difference between our language
and theirs’.19 This narrative testifies to an unexpected level of mobility
and literacy on the part of Faroese farmers at the beginning of the cen-
tury in which their balladry became known to the world at large. In
1639 some texts were committed to writing and sent down to the anti-
quarian Ole Worm in Denmark (where the manuscript regrettably
16 Jon Johannesson (ed.), Austfirdinga søgur, Islenzk fomrit 11 (Reykjavik 1950), 154.
17 Porleifur Hauksson (ed.). Årna saga biskups, Rit Stofnunar Årna Magnussonar a Islandi
2 (Reykjavik 1972), 58, 183.
18 Cf. Daniel Bruun, Fra de færøske Bygder (Copenhagen 1929), 41-42; Chr. Matras,
Stednavne paa de færøske Norduroyar = Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie
1932 (Copenhagen 1933), 162-64.
19 Sigfus Bldndal (ed.), Æfisaga Jons Olafssonar Indiafara (Copenhagen 1908-09), 120-
21, esp. 121: “Nær vjer komum i Færeyjar voru å voru aSmlrålsskipi 22 menn sjukir [...].
Pessir allir voru i einni stofu, å einum bondagarSi hja (teint manni er Olafur hjet [...].
Eina l'slenska bok gaf eg honum en seldi aSra prentaSa, sem var ‘Odauøleiki salarinnar’
og ‘Enchiridion’; [tær las hann skyrlega, ]ivi lftiS skildi vort mal og {teirra [...].” The
books parted with by Jon Olafsson were printed at Holar in 1600 and 1601.