Gripla - 2023, Page 166

164 GRIPLA
comments on the covetousness of kings.88 In the Becket liturgy, Naboth’s
vineyard denotes the Church, which St Thomas defends with his life.89
Unlike St Magnús and St Thomas Becket, Árni Þorláksson did not
make the ultimate sacrifice for this cause. Although Árna saga biskups
generally shows the bishop in an admirable light, the text never advocates
for his sanctity. Even so, as has already been observed, a latent threat of
violence permeates Árna saga biskups. This is especially true in the saga’s
latter stages. His adversaries, headed by Hrafn, could at any point have
resorted to violence. In short, Árni might have had to choose the fate of St
Magnús or St Thomas Becket. Although Árni never faced this choice, the
saga makes clear he would have opted for martyrdom. He is the warrior
in God’s cause: ‘Á þessu sama vári stóð fyrrnefndr Árni byskup frammi
fáliðr vigmaðr í fylking síns signaða herra […]’ (‘In this same spring the
aforementioned Bishop Árni stood with a few followers as a warrior in the
van of the legion of his sanctified Lord’).90
Now we turn for the last time to Þorvaldr Helgason and the conclu-
sion of Árna saga biskups, as it appears in the J redaction. Þorvaldr travels
literally and figuratively away from the Church. This prófastr chooses to
become the Church’s adversary, and he pays for this stance with his life
and, by implication, with his soul. We have seen how in the spring of 1288,
when Hrafn Oddsson and his retinue paid Þorvaldr a visit, the provost
sought refuge in his church. After a short siege, he capitulated and joined
Hrafn’s cause. With this act, seen from the side of Árni and his biographer,
Þorvaldr betrayed the Church.
The significance of the concluding episode of the extant Árna saga
biskups now comes into focus. The scene centres on a contrast:
[...] at þar áðr var hann fyrir sakir frænda ok framkvæmðar ok
mikilla mennta öruggr ásóknarmaðr óvina Guðs kristni meðan hann
hélt trúnað við sinn herra – var hann gripinn af óhreinum anda svo
harðliga at til heilagrar Magnússkirkju leiddu hann fyrir nauðsyn
tíu menn í sömu kirkju. Ok er hann kom inn at dyrunum varð sá
88 James Craigie Robertson (ed.). Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of
Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173), 7 vols. (London: Rolls Series,
1875–1885), vol. 3, 222.
89 Kay Brainerd Slocum, Liturgies in Honour of Thomas Becket (Toronto: Toronto University
Press, 2004), 145.
90 Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir (ed.), 168.