Six Sagas of Adventure (47 page)

[1]
   The Norse text has
fornskræðum
, “old manuscripts”, but this misses the point that author is contasting oral and written sources. The same prologue appears in
Sigurðar saga þögla
with
fornkvæðum
, “old poems”, and this makes more sense;
fornskræðum
is probably a scribal error. (O’Connor, “Truth and Lies in the
Fornaldarsögur
,” p. 368, n6)

[2]
   Eyvindr
kinnrifi
(Split-Cheek) is a sorceror tortured to death by King Óláfr Tryggvason, who claims before he dies to be a spirit magically brought into human form. (
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar
ch. 76; transl. Hollander,
Heimskringla
, p. 211) Gunnar Half-and-Half destroyed an animated idol of the god Frey that was possessed by a “devil” in
Ögmundar þáttr dytts
, a tale embedded in the version of
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar
found in
Flateyjarbók.
I have been unable to track down Einarr
skarfr
(Cormorant); Pálsson and Edwards state that he appears in
Heimskringla
, but I have been unable to locate him in the standard editions.

[3]
   A version of this same prologue also begins the Icelandic romance
Sigurðar saga þögla
(Loth,
Late Medieval Icelandic Romances
, vol. 2, pp. 95-96).

[4]
   Several “sagas of Icelanders” describe beautiful women as having exceptionally long, blonde hair (e.g. Hallgerd in
Njáls saga
ch. 9 and Helga in
Gunnars saga ormstungu
ch. 4, whose hair is described almost identically with this passage). Usually this is the woman’s only physical feature to be described in any detail. Since unmarried women wore their hair loose while married women kept theirs covered with a headdress, a display of long hair carried connotations of sexuality and marriageability (Jochens, “Before the Male Gaze,” pp. 12-14). This is generally the case in legendary sagas as well, except when there has been strong influence from continental chivalric literature.

[5]
   Norse
Dýna
means the Danube (Simek,
Altnordische Kosmographie
, p. 203), but since the Danube doesn’t flow close to Russia, the geography is a bit confused.
Yngvars saga viðförla
(see next note) claims that this river that Yngvar explored was the largest of three rivers that flowed through Russia; the Don River might fit this description.

[6]
  
Yngvars saga viðförla
tells his story. This saga is thought to be loosely based on an actual Viking excursion in the year 1041.

[7]
   Dúlcifal is derived from
Bucephalus
, the legendary horse of Alexander the Great. The saga name might be derived from Balkan versions of the Alexander legend, in which the horse’s name has become Douchipal, but how the name was transmitted to Iceland is not clear. In any case, Dúlcifal’s immense strength and speed, and its viciousness to everyone but its fated master, are clearly based on classical and medieval legends of Bucephalus. (Magoun, “Whence ‘Dúlcifal’?”)

[8]
   This is reminiscent of the famous thrusting-spear in
Njáls saga
(ch. 30, 54, 78, etc.), which rang out loudly if it was about to be used to kill someone.

[9]
   At least some medieval French versions of the legend of Alexander claim that Bucephalus was a cross between an elephant and a dromedary (Anderson, “Bucephalas and His Legend”, p. 10).

[10]
   One Sigurd Wool-String (
ullstrengr
) appears as one of King Magnús’s retainers in Norse historical sources (e.g.
Morkinskinna
ch. 56; transl. Andersson and Gade, pp. 288-294;
Mágnúss saga berfœtts
ch. 5-6; transl. Hollander,
Heimskringla
, pp. 671-672). In a scene in
Morkinskinna
(p. 293, n5), one of Sigurd’s adversaries mocks him and compares him to an imaginary bandit named Sigurd Wool-Yarn (
ullband
); the name is meant to be an insulting variant of “Wool-String,” but it’s not clear what’s so insulting about it. The compiler of
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
might have borrowed the name without understanding its intent. It’s tempting to speculate that a saga compiler or one of his sources might have borrowed
ullband
from the Gothic
ulbandus
, “camel,” and thus that this very legendary saga set in eastern Europe might actually preserve a small fragment of accurate information about peoples in Eastern Europe. Given that the Norse cognate of
ulbandus
,
úlfaldi
, does appear as a man’s by-name (e.g.
Óláfs saga helga
chs. 61-62; transl. Hollander,
Heimskringla
, pp. 294-296), and that sagas like
Hervarar saga
do preserve Gothic names, the name “Sigurd Camel” might make a little more sense than “Sigurd Wool-Yarn.” In the absence of better evidence, this speculation must remain wool-gathering.

[11]
   The ability to blunt an enemy’s blades is a common magical skill in the sagas, especially among villains; see note 24 to
Sturlaugs saga
, ch. 9
.

[12]
  
Hlésey
(modern Danish
Læsø
) is a large island in the Kattegat, between Jutland and Norway; it features in several sagas as a setting for strange doings.

[13]
   In Norse mythology, Ægir is the god of the sea; he is also known as Hlér, and the island of Hlésey was named for him. Gróa is the name of a seeress in Snorri’s
Edda
(
Skáldskaparmál
; ed. Faulkes, vol. 2a, p. 22) and in the Eddic poem
Svípdagsmál
. It’s not clear if Gróa in this saga should be identified with either of these; nonetheless, a few fragments of older myth seem to have been incorporated into the narrative here. The name may be Celtic in origin; cf. Irish and Scots Gaelic
gruach
, “woman.”

[14]
   The war-arrow (
herör
) was an arrow or arrow-shaped token that was sent from farm to farm as a summons to arms; whoever received it was obliged to pass it on to his neighbor and then muster into service. It is mentioned in several historical sagas (e.g.
Hákonar saga góða
ch. 23;
Óláfs sags Tryggvasonar
chs. 17, 40, 53, 65; in
Heimskringla
) and in the Norwegian law codes (e.g.
Gulaþingslög
151, 312, transl. Larson,
The Earliest Norwegian Laws
, pp. 128, 197).

[15]
   The sorcerous Harek Ironskull in
Þórsteins saga Víkingssonar
(ch. 3) also has a bald head that cannot be hurt by normal weapons.

[16]
   “Life-stones” that go with famous swords are mentioned in the “sagas of Icelanders”
Kormáks saga
(chs. 12, 13) and
Laxdæla saga
(ch. 57). These were not permanently fastened to the sword, but were kept in small bags. At least in
Laxdæla saga
, the life-stone is said to be the only thing that can heal wounds inflicted by its sword. Davidson translates the text of
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
to mean that the life-stones were “shut into the pommel”, and mentions continental descriptions of Christian relics kept in sword hilts (
The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England
, pp. 181-184). Guðni Jónsson’s text has
leystir lífsteinar
, “loose life-stones”; Davidson emends
leystir
to
læstir
, “shut in,” but given that life-stones in the other sagas are not permanently mounted on or in the sword,
leystir
seems reasonable. Crystal, amber, and meerschaum beads, kept close to a sword’s hilt but not permanently fastened to it, have been found in several early medieval graves in England and Germany; these probably had an amuletic function and may have been the basis for the
lífsteinar
of the sagas. (Davidson, pp. 82-85)

[17]
   The word translated “spell” and “sorcery” here is
seiðr
, which could encompass several types of magical effect, including clairvoyance, divination, protection, and creating illusions or altering mental states. (See notes 60-61.)

[18]
   Ermland is probably the province of Warmia, which lies along the Baltic Coast, mostly within the borders of present-day Poland. However, Norse geographical texts refer to Armenia as
Ermland
or
Ermland hit mikla
(“Greater Ermland”), and it’s just possible, if not likely, that this is what the saga author meant. (Simek,
Altnordische Kosmographie
, pp. 203-204; Magnús Már Lárusson, “On the So-Called ‘Armenian’ Bishops,” pp. 23-28)

[19]
   In Norse mythology, Jotunheim is the realm of the giants. In the legendary sagas, it frequently appears as a land on Earth, rather nebulously defined as lying in the Arctic and/or Siberia. Aluborg or Alaborg also appears in
Hálfdans saga Eysteinssonar
; it seems to have been located east of Aldeigjuborg (Staraja Ladoga), not far from present-day St. Petersburg.

[20]
   The word
kastala
and the idea of castles are both borrowed from the sagas of chivalry; the historical Viking-age Norse did not build castles as such.

[21]
   Yes, this is a discrepancy: in
Sturlaugs saga
the temple is located in Bjarmaland, probably on the White Sea coast.

[22]
   Located in southeastern Norway on the Swedish border, due east of Ringerike.

[23]
   Atli’s father’s name is derived from
ótryggr
, “faithless; untrustworthy”.

[24]
   The realm of the dead in Norse mythology.

[25]
   Värmland is to the north of Götland, and rather far off Hrolf’s actual line of march.

[26]
  
Stigandi
means “stepping”, a fitting alias for Hrolf the Walker.

[27]
   As noted in
Sturlaugs saga starfsama
ch. 4 (note 11), it’s common in legendary sagas to “whitewash” a hero’s Viking career by claiming that he only robbed villains who deserved it, while leaving farmers and merchants in peace. Jolgeir directly inverts this rule of the “Viking Code.”

[28]
   Courland (
Kúrland
) is a region on the Baltic coast, part of present-day Latvia.

[29]
  
Hrafn
means “raven”;
Krákr
means “crow”.

[30]
   The ball game is
knattleikr
, mentioned in both legendary and historical sagas as a popular and potentially violent sport involving a ball that was hit with sticks. The rules are not precisely laid out in the saga accounts, but it resembled the Irish game of hurling (Gunnell, “Icelandic
Knattleikur
and Early Irish Hurling,” pp. 68-69, and sources therein). See
Bósa saga
chs. 2-3, note 9
.

[31]
   Saga accounts of
knáttleikr
state that opposing players normally played one-on-one and were supposed to be matched in strength and size (e.g.
Gisla saga surssonar
ch. 15, 18;
Grettis saga
ch. 15).
Eyrbyggja saga
(ch. 43) implies that a man can be barred from the games for being too strong; the account also mentions two brothers who are so big and strong that they are only allowed to play against each other. Some variants of hurling, notably Cornish hurling, had the same rule that players had to be matched by pairs (Gunnell, “Icelandic
Knattleikur
and Early Irish Hurling,” pp. 68-69)

[32]
   For a scholarly study of the abilities of European swallows to carry various loads, see Gilliam and Jones,
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(scene 1).

[33]
   This motif derives from the Tristan legend, in which King Mark sees a bird carrying a woman’s beautiful hair, and vows to marry the woman whose hair it is, sending Tristan on the quest for his bride. (Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, p. 147 n54)

[34]
   The motif of the uncatchable stag which leads the hunter to a supernatural woman has been discussed in the Introduction and in
Gautreks saga
(note 1). The decoration on the stag’s horns is very similar to the decoration on the cow’s horns in
Gautreks saga
(ch. 6); see Thompson,
Motif-Index of Folk Literature
B101, “Animals with members of precious metal” (vol. 1, pp. 374-375).

[35]
   The seeress in
Eiríks saga rauða
wears an identical garment, a
blár tuglamöttull
or “blue-black mantle fastened with straps.” The color
blár
can encompass shades ranging from deep blue to pitch black. It seems to be associated with death and the uncanny; men who are setting out to kill often wear
blár
, while women often put on
blár
clothing to work magic or confront a magic-worker (e.g. Geirrid’s
blá skikkja
in
Eyrbyggja saga
ch. 20). See Wolf, “The Color Blue in Old Norse–Icelandic Literature,” for an overview.

[36]
   It’s worth noting the similarity of this encounter to Scottish folklore about a giant female being (
sídhe
) known as the
Cailleach
(Old Woman) who keeps the deer as her herds, and may or may not release them for a hunter to take (McKay, “The Deer-Cult”, p. 147-151).

[37]
   An Icelandic folk tale concerns an elf-woman who cannot give birth without a human to assist (“Álfkona í Barnsnauð”, in Jón Árnason,
Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri
, vol. 1, pp. 15-16; see also Einar Ólafur Sveinsson,
The Folk-Stories of Iceland
, p. 172). Similar tales are widespread in Scandinavia and found all over Europe (F372.1, “Fairies take human midwife to attend fairy woman,” in Thompson,
Motif-Index of Folk Literature
, vol. 3, p
.
75; see Lövkrona, “The Pregnant Frog and the Farmer’s Wife”, pp. 79-89, and Kvideland and Sehmsdorf,
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend
, pp. 227-228, for more Scandinavian examples).