Gripla - 2022, Blaðsíða 73

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for Ǫgmundr to marry at this moment, and the daughter of jarl Fróði is
courted. The father is favorably disposed to the match but with reserva-
tions: “Jarl tók því vel og kallaði á liggja ótta nǫkkurn um skipti þeirra
Ásmundar” (The father was agreeable but there was some cause for concern
over Ǫgmundr’s relations with Ásmundr).6 Ostensibly, the father’s anxiety
is that his daughter may be left a young widow, yet it also raises other pos-
sibilities. The reluctance of the girl’s father seems borne out when Ásmundr
hears of the planned wedding and challenges Ǫgmundr to single combat.
The old nurse of the bride­to­be runs her hands over Ǫgmundr’s body and
determines that he will come to no great harm. In the ensuing duel on the
islet designated for such purpose, the first of several in the saga, Ásmundr’s
opening blow is without effect. In turn, Ǫgmundr quickly shifts his sword
to his other hand, most likely from right to left, strikes a downward blow,
and takes off Ásmundr’s leg – a lower body member.
Social standing in early medieval Scandinavia was dependent on rec-
ognition as a fully competent adult male. Less than this was equated with
weakness, even effeminacy, which was subject to ridicule, defamation
(often poetic), and loss of standing. Suspicion over sexuality and sexual
behavior then hung in the Viking air, and was directed toward any hint
of latent, even if coerced, homeo-erotic behavior. Jarl Fróði’s unease may
then also have included some doubt as to the equivocal and rather too cozy
dealings between the two Vikings, in which the “jilted lover” Ásmundr
takes the initiative. But such reluctance is over-ridden and the wedding
proceeds. With these early, pre-Icelandic events, a number of important
motifs are introduced into the saga and will find a rich and interdependent
development in the following.
Mál as Measure: Land Grants
Although Ǫgmundr comes out the victor in the judicial duel, cutting
Ásmundr down to size, and the marriage proceeds, his good fortune does
not last through his subsequent emigration to Iceland. His well-born wife
dies as does his son Fróði, significantly named “the wise.” A second wife
behuobida ‘presumption’ (Julius Pokorny, Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2
vols. (Bern and Munich: Francke Verlag, 1959), 1:528, s.v. *kap; Jan de Vries, Altnordisches
etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1962), s.v. hóf 1.
6 Kormáks saga, ch. 1, 204.
RINGING CHANGES