Gripla - 2022, Blaðsíða 142

GRIPLA140
neck.134 In fornaldarsögur and riddarasögur, stones are used for therapeu-
tic purposes and exhibit varied magical agencies that lean more towards
enhancement than healing. In fornaldarsögur, stones continue to protect
the body from mortal blows135 and treat bodily injuries: lyfsteinar still
feature, but with more flexible attributes and generalised operation than
seen in Íslendingasögur. Here, lyfsteinar can heal any wounds, not just those
inflicted by the sword with which they are associated, and they can also
draw poison out of wounds (a common attribute of stones in the AM 194
8vo lapidary),136 as in Göngu-Hrólfs saga.137 In addition to stones that aid
health, we also find sigrsteinar (victory-stones).138 These ensure that the
user cannot lose in battle and find parallels in the lapidaries of Hauksbók
and AM 194 8vo (where Illiasborius is described as an “oruGr sigr-steinn”
(trusty victory-stone)).139 In turn, some stones act on both the user and
their external environment, again with parallels in the Icelandic lapidaries:
in Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns,140 a dwarf gives Þorsteinn two stones. The
first is a black stone that, when held in the palm of the hand, turns the user
invisible; the second, a large triangular tricolour stone accompanied by a
steel point, which induces different environmental and weather phenom-
ena (hailstorm, sunshine, fire) when pricked by the point. The abilities to
turn the user invisible and to influence weather/environment are shared
by Heliotrope in the lapidary tradition.141
In riddarasögur, there is less focus on curative stones, and more interest
in marvellous stones that afford the user enhanced physical and cognitive
abilities. These marvellous properties provide narrators with colourful and
varied opportunities for narrative development. Particularly popular are
134 Heiðarvíga saga, in Borgfirðingasögur, ed. by Sigurður Nordal and Guðni Jónsson, Íslenzk
fornrit 3 (Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1938), ch. 23.
135 E.g., an episode in Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar (in Fornaldar sögur Norðurlanda, vol. IV)
closely parallels that in Heiðarvíga saga, see chs. 16, 18, 20.
136 Cf. Adamantis and Smaralldus.
137 Chs. 3, 24. The lyfsteinar in Göngu-Hrólfs saga may exhibit further influence from the
lapidary tradition, since the narrator states that they draw poison and pain out of wounds
“ef í váru skafnir” (if they [the lyfsteinar] were shaved into) (Göngu-Hrólfs saga, 169). This
may refer to scraping shavings from the stone onto the wound, in a manner reminiscent of
the therapeutic properties of stones when powdered in the lapidary tradition.
138 Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, in Fornaldar sögur Norðurlanda, vol. III, ch. 16.
139 AÍ, 83.
140 In Fornaldar sögur Norðurlanda, vol. IV, ch. 3.
141 De Lapidibus, 67–68. NB: this stone does not appear in the AM 194 8vo lapidary.