The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1981, Síða 16

14
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SPRING, 1981
and the young wife turns out to be an ineffi-
cient and extravagant housekeeper. The
husband rebukes, they quarrel, and he slaps
her face so hard that blood flowed. Shortly
thereafter this would be disciplinarian had
his head split open with an axe, at Hallger-
dur’s tacit approval. The second marriage to
one Glum Olafsson seemed to have been
happy to begin with, but soon came to the
same sorry end as the first one. The third
time she selects her own bridegroom in the
person of Gunnar Hamundarson, “the
Prince Charming” of the community and of
the entire Saga. This marriage seems to have
been based on mutual love at first sight.
They, presented a most striking appearance
as a couple. The future seemed bright. But
“fate” was against Hallgerdur in her ma-
trimonial ventures. She soon became in-
volved in a personal feud with Bergthora
and Njall, Gunnar’s best friends. Hallgerdur
was insulted, when as an invited and seated
guest, Bergthora insisted she stand up from
the table and give her seat to another
woman. Hallgerdur’s ire flared up instantly
and she retorted: “I am not moving down
for anyone, like some outcast hag.” This
was the beginning of life-long hostility be-
tween these two strong-willed viking-
spirited women, costing many of their man
servants their lives in mutual retaliatory
slayings.
This exchange was also the beginning of
domestic difficulties for Gunnar and Hall-
gerdur, which culminated in the unforget-
table bow-string episode. Gunnar is, of
course, the great hero of the story, blame-
less in spite of all the blood he had shed. But
finally he was outlawed. When he re-
fused to obey the law of the land, he was
besieged in his home by forty armed men
who came there determined to kill him. He
put up a remarkable defence until one of the
enemy managed to cut his bow string with a
sword. At this very critical moment he turns
to his wife and says to her: “Let me have
two locks of your hair, and help my mother
to plait them into a bow-string for me.”
Hallgerdur asks: ‘ ‘Does anything depend on
it?” He answers: “My life depends on it.”
“In that case” says Hallgerdur “I shall now
remind you of the slap you once gave me. I
do not care in the least whether you hold out
a long time or not.” This is the sentence
which has made Hallgerdur notorious. She
has been cursed and cried over in countless
Icelandic homes where this saga has been
read throughout the centuries. Assuming
that she was correctly quoted in the story
people were entirely certain that she was a
historic personality.
It seems strange that this myth has so long
persisted. Obviously the whole episode is
the creation of the writer’s imagination.
First of all, there was no competent witness
present to report this conversation between
them at the time of the siege. Aside from
that, Gunnar’s alleged request was utterly
unreasonable and absurd. Even if all the
women of the Rangarvalla district had made
their hair available to him at this moment, it
would have done him no good. Making a
bow-string was a long and complicated
operation, requiring ingredients other than
hair, such as sinews and glue. It is hardly
likely that the army of angry men attacking

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