Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 150

148 GRIPLA
iv
Þorvaldr Helgason’s trajectory is quite different from that of Hrafn
Oddsson. When Hrafn failed to apprehend the provost in Stein gríms-
fjörður, he announced that anyone who recognised Þorvaldr’s authority
would forfeit their ‘peace and possessions’ (‘fé ok friði’). Hrafn also de-
clared that Holt in Önundarfjörður should be repossessed.26 In 1288, the
following year, he rode with his henchmen to Holt, where Þorvaldr just
managed to flee into the church with a portion of his wealth. Following a
short siege, the provost gave himself up, with the provision that he would
‘obey only God, the Holy Church and his bishop’ (‘ok þó at haldinni hlýðni
vid Guð ok heilaga kirkju ok byskup sinn’).27 Nonetheless, Þorvaldr’s
principled stance proved short-lived as he now joined Hrafn’s side: ‘Fór
Þorvaldr nokkot skeið med Hrafni, ok þótti mönnum nokkot breytt orðlagi
hans til byskups’28 ('Þorvaldr was with Hrafn for some time, and people
thought his words towards the bishop were somewhat changed’). This
development angered Árni, who thought Þorvaldr had capitulated unneces-
sarily and out of fear: Þorvaldr had committed a misdeed, and the bishop
‘never trusted him again’ (‘trúði byskup honum aldrei síðan’).29
Unsurprisingly, according to his saga, Árni’s mood was heavy when he
met Þorvaldr at Pentecost in the same year, and it hardly lifted when he
heard about his provost’s financial improprieties. Not only had Þorvaldr
squandered the resources of Holt, but he had also underwritten the profli-
gacy of Aðalbrandr, his brother, who served as a priest at Breiðabólstaður
in Reykjanes until his death in 1286. Reading between the lines, it appears
that Árni had been willing to overlook Þorvaldr’s transgressions until he
became a turncoat.
At this point, a farmer named Njáll brought a case against Þorvaldr
before the bishop, involving an unpaid debt. Árni judged that Þorvaldr
should repay what he owed to the farmer as well as to the Church. After
protesting, Þorvaldr asked the bishop to stipulate the amount to hand over.
Árni made known that, along with other goods, Þorvaldr should relinquish
a narwhal tooth that he had tricked (‘með klókskap’) out of a farmer in the
26 Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir (ed.), 169.
27 Ibid., 174.
28 Ibid., 174.
29 Ibid., 174.