The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280)

Chapter Nine. Pondering Justice

The three sagas under study in this chapter are among the most elegant of the shorter texts. They are generally dated in the middle or late thirteenth century, although the criteria are, as usual, tenuous.1 To the extent that we see saga writing as having evolved and improved over time, we may be tempted to think that the sharp contours and narrative economy of these sagas reinforce the likelihood that they are late and represent the culmination of the short form. It might also be argued that they share a new skepticism about governance, specifically about the reliability of chieftains, since all three focus on the demise of chieftains. In this respect they run counter to the tenor of Vatnsdœla saga, which is uniformly uncritical of the leading men and portrays them in an almost legendary light. Hœnsa-fióris saga The theme of a chieftain’s demise is perhaps less emphatic in Hœnsafi óris saga than in the others because the action is more evenly distributed over a variety of characters, ranging from the idealized BlundC H A P T E R N I N E Pondering Justice Hœnsa-fióris saga, Bandamanna saga, and Hrafnkels saga 1 Sigur›ur Nordal (ÍF 3:XXVIII–XXXI) places Hœnsa-fióris saga between 1250 and 1270. Gu›ni Jónsson (ÍF 7:XCI–XCII) places Bandamanna saga around the middle of the thirteenth century. Jón Jóhannesson (ÍF 11:LV–LVI) places Hrafnkels saga closer to 1300. The fact that all three are so clearly issue-oriented, in contrast to the earlier characteroriented and history-oriented sagas, suggests to me that they belong together, perhaps around 1280. 162 Ketil to the villainous Hen-Thórir. It is therefore easy to lose sight of the central role alloted to the chieftain Tungu-Odd ¯nundarson, who has the highest standing among the characters and the most precipitous fall. He is introduced first and has the most extended genealogy, reaching back five generations. He is also ushered in with the ominous words “he was not reputed to be an equitable man” (chapter 1; ÍF 3:3– 4). He bears out this reputation by attempting to dictate the price of the goods put up for sale by Norwegian merchants and then prohibiting all trade.2 The portrait is not altogether one-sided, however. Odd wisely refrains from further action when Blund-Ketil intervenes to help the Norwegian traders. Furthermore, when Odd’s reckless son Thorvald returns and proposes to take the part of the scoundrel HenTh órir, Odd does what he can to discourage such an ill-advised alliance. Despite this apparent moderation, he finally allows himself to be drawn into the subsequent antagonism, which brings about the burning of Blund-Ketil’s house and those within it. When Blund-Ketil’s son Herstein appeals to him, he cold-bloodedly confiscates the burnt-out house site and rides off without a word. In the large-scale litigation and armed conflict that follow, Odd is bested, and when he seeks to renew the conflict, he is outwitted and foiled by his own son Thórodd. Ultimately , he loses both sons and is left a sick and melancholy old man: “Odd now began to age in earnest. When he learned that neither of his sons would come back, he succumbed to a serious illness, and when it began to oppress him, he told his friends that they should move his body up to Skáneyjarfell when he was dead, and he said that from there he would look out over the whole river valley. And so it came to pass” (chapter 17; ÍF 3:46–47). If we consider Tungu-Odd to be a failed chieftain, the story appears to be political, but in one respect it seems rather less political than we might expect. About 150 years earlier, Ari Thorgilsson had written about the conflict at the assemblies, in which several men lost their lives; according to Ari the resulting legal reform was calculated to prevent the recurrence of such bloodshed. The author of Hœnsa-fióris saga makes no mention of this legal reform. The critique is therefore not so much institutional as personal. The saga is about the personalities en163 2 On price-setting by chieftains, see Helgi fiorláksson 1992, 241–42; and Norseng 2000, 174. Pondering Justice gaged in the hostilities, not...