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132 C H A P T E R S E V E N Gilding an Age Laxdœla saga Laxdœla saga, like Ljósvetninga saga, is a regional saga, set in the inner reaches of Hvammsfjord on the west coast of Iceland, to the north of the area settled by Skallagrím in Egils saga. Like Ljósvetninga saga it too is organized by generations, but whereas the author of Ljósvetninga saga seems determined to avoid the colonial period in order to focus on the internal politics of Iceland in the first half of the eleventh century , the author of Laxdœla saga dwells fondly on the age of settlement (870–930). Ljósvetninga saga embraces two generations, but Laxdœla saga reaches seven or eight generations back in time and gives special weight to the founding matriarch Unn the Deepminded.1 In its extended prehistory, Laxdœla saga appears to be modeled on Egils saga.2 The Norwegian ancestor of the Laxdoelir, Ketil flatnef, replicates the fate of Egil’s grandfather Kveld-Úlf: both abandon their lands under the expansionist pressure of King Harald Fairhair, but neither reaches Iceland. Kveld-Úlf dies at sea, and Ketil flatnef settles in Scotland while his sons Bjƒrn and Helgi go on to Iceland. The preeminent figure, however, is not Ketil but his daughter Unn, whose son Thorstein becomes king over half of Scotland. After Thorstein’s death at the hands of the faithless Scots, she prepares her departure in secret and sets sail with immense wealth. She makes landfall first on the 1 The exact number of generations depends, of course, on where one begins counting . See van Ham 1932, 3; Beck 1977, 385; Bjarni Gu›nason 1999, 9. 2 The verbal echoes proposed by Einar Ólafur Sveinsson in ÍF 5:XLI and Hermann Pálsson (1986, 76, 102–4), are inconclusive, but it is difficult to believe that the author of Laxdœla saga did not know Egils saga. Faroe Islands and marries off one of Thorstein’s daughters, who becomes the progenitor of the greatest family in the Faroes. Unn then goes on to Iceland and colonizes the foot of Hvammsfjord, where she imposes her will on her brothers, along with everyone else. Her favorite is a grandson, Olaf feilan, whom she marries off at a regal wedding feast before herself succumbing at a ripe age and seated upright in a memorable posture.3 What we learn about Unn is that she is commanding and enterprising , lavish and imperious, generous and hospitable on an unparalleled scale, gracious to the acquiescent, and dignified to the very end. Because her son Thorstein has been king of Scotland, she is in fact a queen mother, and she acts the part. We may wonder whether the author is responding to Harald Fairhair’s sole monarchy in Norway by establishing quasi-royal credentials for the founders of Iceland, or whether regional rivalry has led to an emulation of Skallagrím’s grandiose colonization to the south in Borgarfjord.4 Skallagrím also disposed with a sovereign hand, and his precedent is invoked in no uncertain terms by Egil in defense of his son at the end of Egils saga. Status is at the heart of both sagas. Unn is only the first in a series of queenly figures in Laxdœla saga.5 Since the author had a real predilection for mythic patterning, we might surmise that Unn owes something to the archetypal colonizer Dido. We observed that Odd Snorrason may have harked back to Dido in contriving Queen Geira’s marriage to Olaf Tryggvason, but it was as much the passion as the hegemony that caught Odd’s fancy. In Laxdœla saga it is only the political dimension that grips the author, a woman’s extraordinary leadership qualities and statecraft.6 An erotic preoccupation was reserved for later generations. Although Unn favored her grandson Olaf feilan, it was Hƒskuld, a great-grandson, the son of her granddaughter Thorgerd, who was destined to carry on the grand tradition. He is something of an enigma, but he is central to the story. After his father’s death, Hƒskuld becomes a distinguished and popular man, although he seems to owe much of 133 3 On the royal resonance of this posture, see Ármann Jakobsson 1997, 96–97; Würth 2001, 299. 4 On the royal aspirations in Laxdœla saga, see Ármann Jakobsson 1998, 365–66, 379 and Bjarni Gu›nason...

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