Gripla - 2023, Page 365

“SHOULD SHE TELL A STORY …” 363
his earlier dealings with the elves, and it is hence useful to trace them in
some detail.
After bringing his father’s sheep back home, early in the story, Ólafur
sails to the island of Drangey, where he has an affair with the elf woman
Álfgerður. He ends up killing her foster father in self-defense and is
completely beside himself as a result. Þórhalli, concerned about his son,
decides to send him once again to Þórhildur, who is in Ólafur’s debt. She
declares that Álfgerður is responsible for his turmoil and decides to send
him to seek help from Álfhildur, along with a message and a ring. Álfhildur
reads the message and seems ready to turn Ólafur away but changes her
mind when he gives her the ring and decides to take him as her husband.
Furthermore, she confirms that Álfgerður had cast a love spell on Ólafur:
“verður þér með engu bjargað nema þú hafir samræði með þeirri konu sem
yfirgangi í dyggðum Álfgerðar vonsku. En svo bjó hún í hag fyrir þig að
Þórhildur í Þórhildardal kynni þér ekki að hjálpa, […] og því hefi ég það til
ráðs tekið, sem mönnum er kunnugt.” (“nothing will save you unless you
make love to a woman whose virtue exceeds Álfgerður’s wickedness. And
the spell was cast such that Þórhildur of Þórhildardalur Valley would be
unable to help you […] and that is the reason that I have done what I have
done.” 41) Moreover, Álfhildur tells Ólafur a nested story of Álfgerður’s
past, painting a deeply unpleasant picture of her. Reportedly, Álfgerður
was falsely accused of licentiousness in her early years, which resulted in
her turning from virtue to vice. Álfhildur explains: “Hingað til hafði hún
elskað hreinlyndi og hreinlífi en nú tók hún fyrir sig fláttskap og undir-
ferli; gjörðist þar hjá en versta og líðilegasta skækja og æfði sig þannin í
öllum ódyggðum að hennar líki hefir síðan trautt fundist.” (“Before, she
had loved honesty and chastity, but she now grew cunning and deceitful,
became the worst, foulest harlot and practiced the ugliest vices that it has
hardly been possible to find her equal.” 46)
Within a year, Álfhildur gives birth to Ólafur’s daughter. Still, she de-
cides to send him on a journey to the south of Iceland, out of Álfgerður’s
immediate reach. Álfhildur claims that he must stay away for three years,
“og mun þú í nógar þrautir komast og það af ráðum Álfgerðar og mun þú
þær þó allar vel yfirvinna” (“and you will encounter many troubles sent
by Álfgerður but will overcome them all” 54). This prediction comes true,
and then some, because Ólafur ends up engaged to a mortal woman. When