Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 224
222 GRIPLA
An account of such an incident indeed exists, as Sturlunga saga states
that the chieftain Ormr Jónsson underwent bloodletting on his artery
(“gjósæðinni”) in 1241 but died as a result of complications stemming from
the procedure.57 In the contemporary sagas (Sturlunga saga and the bish-
ops’ sagas), a healer (læknir), or healing, is often mentioned. Setting aside
miracle healings described in the hagiographies, accounts of the practice
of medicine are few.58 The most thorough description is found in Hrafns
saga Sveinbjarnarsonar in sérstaka, a contemporary saga with hagiographical
features, estimated to have been written c. 1230–1260.59 It tells of the best-
known medieval Icelandic physician, the chieftain Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson
(d. 1213). Hrafn is described in the saga as “inn mesti læknir ok vel lærðr
ok eigi meir vígðr en krúnuvígslu” (the greatest of physicians and of fine
learning, and not ordained above having received the tonsure).60 The saga
explicitly mentions and emphasises that Hrafn did not seek payment for
his medical services.61 This implies that there existed other practitioners of
medicine in contemporary society who did charge a fee for their assistance.
Hrafns saga is unique in its detailed account of how Hrafn performed li-
thotomy (surgical treatment for bladder stones), supported by the prayers
of the clergy present. The saga also includes descriptions of phlebotomy,
cauterisation, and other methods. Guðrún P. Helgadóttir concludes in her
study of the saga that the described surgical methods accurately reflect the
Latin medical doctrine of the thirteenth century.62 The saga further high-
lights Hrafn’s connections to Europe by recounting his wide-ranging trav-
els to Saint-Gilles in Provence, Compostela, and Rome, as well as England
for a meeting with St Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury.63 In the saga,
Jónsbók law code, which came into effect in 1281. Lögbók Magnúsar konungs, Lagabætis,
handa Íslendingum, eður; Jónsbók hin forna; lögtekin á alþingi 1281, ed. Sveinn Skúlason
(Akureyri: [s.n.], 1858), 43.
57 Sturlunga saga, ed. Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir, 3 vols., vol. II, Íslenzk fornrit XXI, (Reykjavík:
Hið íslenska fornritafélag, 2021), 516–517.
58 On miracles in the bishops’ sagas, see Diana Whaley, “Miracles in the Sagas of Bishops.
Icelandic Variations on an International Theme,” Collegium medievale 7 (1994).
59 Guðrún P. Helgadóttir, Introduction to Hrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, ed. Guðrún P.
Helgadóttir (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987), lxxxviii.
60 Hrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, ed. Guðrún P. Helgadóttir (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987),
2.
61 Ibid., 4.
62 Guðrún P. Helgadóttir, Introduction, xciv–cviii.
63 Hrafns saga, 3–4.