Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 129
127S L Í M U S E T U R IN EARLY ICELANDIC LAW
King Magnús’s legal reforms. At some point, church farmers received
the option of paying off the obligation to host the bishop (úthlutning or
útlausn), but the origins and extent of that practice are unclear.35
The case of Bishop Guðmundr góði of Hólar (b. 1203‒37) is atypical,
and parts of it may in some sense be understood in terms of slimesitting.
Guðmundr’s church politics and finances were at odds with traditional
ideas upheld by many of the political elite, including powerful chieftains in
his diocese. With appeal to humility, Guðmundr took various people under
his protection and often traveled with a considerable flock. As is evident
from Guðmundar sǫgur and Sturlunga saga, local farmers were not too keen
on maintaining such a crowd at their own expense, regardless of whether
Guðmundr was formally on a visitation or otherwise traveling through
the region. For example, the tension is evident in this scene in Sturlunga,
depicting uneasy circumstances in 1220:36
Síðan fóru þeir norðr til Svarfaðardals, ok ætlaði biskup norðr í
sýslu sína. En Eyfirðingar vildu eigi taka við biskupi á bæi sína ok
flokk hans.
[Guðmundr arrives in Reykjadalur] ... Dreif þá til hans fólk
margt. Bergþórr Jónsson var þar með biskupi, ok hafði hann nær
tíu tigum manna. Þótti bóndum þungt undir at búa ok þolðu þó um
hríð. Ferr biskup í Múla, ok tekr Ívarr við honum liðliga, ok er þar
sæmilig veizla, þess er sjá mátti, at engi ástsemð var veitt af Ívari.
Skilja þeir þó vel, ok fór biskup á brott ...
They then proceeded north to Svarfaðardalur, the bishop intending
to advance north to his see. But the farmers of Eyjafjörður refused
to host him and his flock at their farms.
[Guðmundr arrives in Reykjadalur] ... People flocked to him in
numbers. Bergþórr Jónsson accompanied the bishop with nearly
one hundred men. The farmers felt that the burdens were heavy but
35 See Gunnar F. Guðmundsson, Íslenskt samfélag og Rómakirkja, vol. 2 of Kristni á Íslandi
(Reykjavík: Alþingi, 2000), 110‒14, and Magnús Már Lárusson, “Gästning. Island,” in
KLNM, 6: 18‒19. The New Christian Law, Bishop Árni’s Kristinréttr of 1275, expanded
previous provisions on the obligation to provide horses for the bishop and his men upon
request when on a visitation, cf. Járnsíða, 149.
36 Sturlunga saga, 1: 274‒75.