Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 143
141THE END OF Á R N A S A G A B I S K U P S
by his archbishop, went on the offensive by asking Jörundr Þorsteinsson
of Hólar to bring churches in Skálholt under episcopal control.7 Hrafn
Oddsson’s death in November 1289 put another spanner in the works.
This came from an injury Hrafn sustained in Denmark while campaigning
with the Norwegian king.8
Chapter 146, which concludes the *B version of Árna saga biskups, re-
cords the fallout from these developments which, in its own way, offers a
resolution to the saga. Bishop Árni sends a letter to Iceland that announces
Hrafn Oddsson’s death. The missive also states that any laymen who re-
fuse to forfeit staðir and to confess their sins will fall into a state of excom-
munication. The episode further relates how Abbot Runólfr Sigmundsson
of Þykkvibær (d. 1307), who had acted as the bishop’s caretaker in his
absence, progressed with appropriating Church Farms in the Western
Quarter. The *B version ends by highlighting the case of Óláfr Arnesson
from Staðarstaður in Western Iceland who, some six years earlier, had
played a prominent role in usurping ecclesiastical properties:
Óláfr Arnesson hafði þetta sumar fregnat andlát herra Hrafns; varð
hann þar fyrir skelfdr ok gekk af stað til Laurentíusmessu ok kom
til móts við ábóta at Máríumessu í Skálholt ok var leystr at fyrir-
farandi eiði. Veitti guðlig mildi þessum manni, forstjóra kristninnar,
mikit fullting, herra Árna byskupi er utanlands diktaði röksemðir.
Herra ábóti lét ok eigi dvína atgönguna at allr múgr leikmanna varð
sinn munn at byrgja.9
That summer, Óláfr Arnesson had heard about Sir Hrafn’s passing.
It scared him, and he left on the Mass of St Lawrence and met the
abbot at Skálholt on St Mary’s Mass and was absolved of the afore-
said oath. God’s grace afforded strong support to Bishop Árni, the
leader of Christianity, who prescribed the ensuing strictures from
Norway. Nor did the lord abbot let his offensive diminish, so all the
laity were obliged to keep their mouths shut.10
7 Ibid., 192–193; 230.
8 Ibid. On this whole episode in Staðamál, see Magnús Stefánsson, ‘Frá goðakirkju til bisk-
upskirkju’, in Saga Íslands III, ed. by Sigurður Líndal (Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmennta-
félag, 1978), 210–218.
9 Ibid., 205–206.
10 All translations from Árna saga biskups are my own.