Orð og tunga - 2023, Page 15

6 Orð og tunga
matarium Islandicum 1857–1872:2; see Lára Magnúsardóttir 2022). The
former stricture obviously refers to a paranormal spirit or possibly
one of the undead that is made to walk again by a magic ritual. The
second ban would seem to refer to a witch or possibly a heretic or pa­
gan who might live in your region and could both awaken the dead
and send its neighbours invitations to supper.
The troll curse from Njáls saga is among a score of medieval Icelan­
dic examples of curses that invoke a troll or trolls. There are also two
examples in the early thirteenth­century kings’ saga Morkin skinna (‘a
troll take you and your cunning’ is one instance) and further exam­
ples that, at least on the surface, seem comparable in Kor máks saga,
Ljós vetninga saga, Bandamanna saga, Vatnsdœla saga, Völsunga
saga, Örvar­Odds saga and Parcevals saga. A variation of the curse
is ‘troll togi tungu úr höfði þér’ (a troll pulls the tongue from your
head), which appears in Þorsteins þáttr stangarhöggs although it is
never used as a direct curse.7 In none of these invocations is it appar­
ent what sort of trolls are meant to come and take the cursed person
(demi­gods, ghosts, witches) or pull the tongue out of their head. In
fact, such a statement could refer to any paranormal entity.
So which of the trolls might Hallgerðr be referring to in her curse?
The author of Njáls saga is famously economical with words, and
one result is that Hallgerðr does not expand on the signification of
her words nor inform Gunnarr or the saga audience which trolls
she means. It would seem obvious, nevertheless, that these trolls are
fiendish and demonic beings, who are either imbued with magic pow­
ers or have been designed or summoned by someone who possesses
said powers. It may not be all that important which hostile beings
Hallgerðr is invoking. The audience recognises her hatred and spite
and her will to create a disturbance. They only need to know that
she is at heart summoning fiendish spirits against Gunnarr’s friends.
Whatever her powers are, this does not bode well for her enemies or
indeed for peace in the region.
Does Hallgerðr actually summon evil spirits with her curse? Much
mischief happens after her words are spoken, but those deeds are
never attributed directly to the trolls. Nor is it made clear whether
the trolls have such powers, even though that seems fairly likely. The
reason for the non­appearance of trolls in the feud that arises from
Hallgerðr’s action is certainly not that there are no trolls in Njáls saga.
7 Some further examples of this particular variant can be found in the A Dictionary
of Old Norse Prose (ONP online).
tunga25.indb 6 08.06.2023 15:47:14