The Sagas of the Icelanders
Page 104
Thurid Eyvindardottir (wife of Thorstein the Red) 278, 653
Thurid Gunnlaugsdottir Dylla 94, 565
Thurid Hoskuldsdottir 285, 377
Thurid Hrafnsdottir (wife of Bjartmar) 504
Thurid Olafsdottir (Peacock) 149, 315, 323–6, 358, 361
Thurid Solmundardottir see Gyda Solmundardottir
Torfi Valbrandsson 582
Torrad Osvifsson (brother of Gudrun Osvifsdottir) 327, 369
Tosti the Warlike (father of Sigrid Tostadottir the Ambitious) 577
Tryggvi Olafsson (King in Vik, father of King Olaf Tryggvason) 148
Tungu-Odd Onundarson 48, 168, 172–7, 180, 282, 561, 582
Turf-Einar Rognvaldsson (Earl of the Orkney Islands c. 900) 203, 279
Tuta (dwarf) 698, 700
Tyrkir (one of Leif Eiriksson’s men, of southern origin) 638, 640
Ulf (two brothers by the same name) 143, 145–6
Ulf Hreidarsson Crow (father of Gunnbjorn Ulfsson) 654
Ulf Ospaksson (steward) 374
Ulf the Fearless 8
Ulf the Squinter 280
Ulf Uggason (poet) 324
Ulfhedin Vefrodarson 267–8
Ulfheid Eyjolfsdottir (the Lame) 345
Ulfheid Runolfsdottir 420
Ulfkel (one of Ingimund Thorsteinsson’s men) 209
Uni (at Unadal) 217–19
Unn Ketilsdottir the Deep-minded (see also Aud Ketilsdottir the Deep-minded) 276–82
Unn Mardardottir (Gigja) 303
Valdidida (native American king) 672
Valdimar Knutsson the Old (King of Denmark 1157–82) 625
Valgard Jorundsson from Hof 39
Valgerd Ottarsdottir (from Grimstungur) 214, 248–51, 254–5
Valgerd Thorgilsdottir 420
Vali (father of Thorgerd Valadottir) 465
Vali (foster-son of Ofeig Skidason) 465, 467–8, 470–77
Vali Ketilsson (Gufa) 149
Valthjof at Valthjofsstadir 654
Vandrad Osvifsson (brother of Gudrun Osvifsdottir) 327, 369
Vebjorn the Champion of Sognefjord 504
Vefrod Aevarsson the Old 268
Vegeir (grandfather of Vestein and Aud) 504
Veleif the Old (father of Bersi the Dueller) 285
Vemund (King of Fjordane) 11
Vermund Thorgrimsson 149, 278, 326, 347
Vestar Haengsson 39
Vestar Thorolfsson (Blister-pate) 278
Vestein Vegeirsson (father of Aud and Vestein) 504
Vestein Vesteinsson (brother of Aud) 504–9, 512–19, 523, 526, 529, 543, 566
Vestgeir Bjartmarsson 504, 529
Vethild (Native American) 672
Veturlidi Sumarlidason the Poet 39
Vifil (a bondsman of Aud/Unn the Deep-minded, settler in Vifilsdal) 280, 654
Vigdis (wife of Ingimund Earl of Gotland) 193, 195
Vigdis Hallsteinsdottir (wife of Killer-Hrapp) 285, 298
Vigdis Ingjaldsdottir (wife of Thord Goddi) 286, 292–7, 302
Vigdis Thorisdottir (wife of Ingimund Thorsteinsson) 207, 209, 211–12
Vigdis Thorsteinsdottir (the Red) 280
William the Bastard (William the Conqueror, 1066–87) 572
Yngvar (landholder in the Fjords, father of Bera, wife of Skallagrim) 33, 49, 50, 51, 52, 107
Yngveld Thorgeirsdottir ( mother of Bishop Brand Saemundarson; see also Yngvild Thorgeirsdottir)
651
Yngvild Bjarnadottir (daughter of Bjarni Brodd-Helgason) 683
Yngvild Ketilsdottir (wife of Ketil Flat-nose) 276
Yngvild Thorgeirsdottir ( mother of Bishop Brand Saemundarson; see also Yngveld Thorgeirsdottir)
674
Yr Geirmundardottir (Dark-skin) 149
* The names of these two kings illustrate the common practice in medieval Scandinavia of naming people. Family names did not exist (as in general they still do not in modern Iceland). Both men and women were called by their given names (e.g. Olaf, as here), to which was added their father’s name (e.g. Harald or Tryggvi) or in some cases their mother’s (e.g. the sons of Hildirid in Egil’s Saga). Two of Iceland’s most important writers were Ari, the son of Thorgil (i.e. Ari Thorgilsson) and Snorri, the son of Sturla (Snorri Sturluson). The central character of Eirik the Red’s Saga is a woman, Gudrid, the daughter of Thorbjorn (Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir). In some cases Icelanders had titles and epithets attached to their names, such as Ari Thorgilsson the Learned or Leif Eiriksson the Lucky.
* Harald became known as Fair-hair after unifying Norway.
* Ingolf Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland (who made his home in Reykjavik), and his sworn brother Hjorleif Hrodmundarson.
* A layabout in his youth but he later proved his worth.
* I.e. Welsh and possibly other native peoples.
* I.e. Wales and neighbouring territories.
* The site of this battle has not been satisfactorily identified.
* Unidentified; apparently in Wales.
* Join the goddess, by dying.
† Edible seaweed.
* A feast; see the opening of ch. 3.
* See footnote on p. 9.
* Refers to the amulet described by the Lapp woman in ch. 10.
* Hel is the old Icelandic word for the place of the dead, corresponding to the Greek Hades. Heljarmenni were often associated with unusual strength and malevolence.
* That is, might later turn him (the child) to himself (the one who created the sun).
† The present translation takes the nickname to refer to the action of the child pawing at its face which had been covered with a cloth. Some scholars have suggested that the phrase refers to the puckering of the cloth over the passive child’s mouth and nose as it breathes.
* The edited Iceland text reads ‘ride after them’. This may be an error; there is no indication that Hunrod was with his brother at this point.
* Perhaps a reference to Ulfhedin’s journey to the duelling place early in this chapter; if so the significance of Ulfhedin’s recollection seems unclear.
* The byname Manvitsbrekka is thought to suggest wisdom.
* Thorstein was also known by his byname ‘the Red’.
* The addition of an extra week to the summer season was an attempt to readjust the calendar to fit the solar seasons. As the settlers of Iceland had only fifty-two weeks to a year, or 364 days, their calendar was a day and a quarter short of the proper length. As the calendar and solar seasons became more and more out of joint, the idea of adding an extra week every six years in compensation was adopted.
* Brightly dyed woollen material. The original skarlat is somewhat deceptive as the cloth could be red, but also dark brown, blue, grey or even white.
* Wearing clothing considered suitable for the opposite sex was sufficient grounds for divorce, and either men or women could advance such a claim.
* All details of masculine clothing, cf. previous footnote, and thus grounds for divorce.
* From Möðruvallabók. Translated from Íslendinga sdgur.
* The idea that the confiscation court should take place at a particular time of the day, in a sacred area an ‘arrow-shot’ away from the farm, outside the limits of cultivated land, must go back to early pagan belief and custom.
* I.e. he never made land near the home of his father in Midfjord.
* Thorarin’s ‘duty’ towards Ospak arises from his kinship with Ospak’s wife Svala, even though he had refused to countenance the marriage.
* The implication is that Hermund has buried two hundreds of silver in the gully, so that Egil’s insult to him (p. 490) was at least partly true.
* Gisli, son of Thorkel, is the uncle of the eponymous hero of the saga. Gisli Sursson himself is not introduced until Chapter 2.
* Both the wording of the original and the positioning of the two effigies make it clear that a sexual insult is intended.
* The Icelandic suggests that they could not hear the dogs which means they were safe.<
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† These are the figures given in the original.
* Gisli is referred to, not as Thorbjornsson (i.e. son of Thorbjorn), but Sursson after his father’s nickname.
* The fact that they had dyed or coloured clothes was a sign of their prosperity.
* See Chapter 1.
* Shoes tied to the feet of a dead man. See note on p 222.
* The word for such a blow to the face is buffeit or kinnhestur, the latter literally meaning ‘cheek-horse’. Thus Geirmund’s pun suggests that he intends to pay back Thorgrim in kind for the blow.
* The name Snorri is a twin form of the name Snerrir which means ‘unruly’, ‘argumentative’.
* The ‘short’ distance is that between Gisli’s hideout (Geirthjofsfjord) and Otradal where Eyjolf lived.
* ‘Ref’ literally means ‘fox’, which might suggest links with Reynard in European beast fables and a possible allegorical interpretation of this episode. See The Saga of Ref the Sly.
* Vestein’s son.
* This attribution to Ari (in one manuscript) must be fanciful.
* The copyist has presumably skipped a section in his exemplar, where the names of Thorfinn’s four remaining sons were recorded.
† The farmer’s objection appears to be justified, since according to the law code the legal penalty for knocking someone unconscious was lesser outlawry. By contrast, the shepherd was liable for a fine of three marks for stealing the horse.
* Illugi’s dispute with Thorgrim and his sons, which centred on Illugi’s claim for his wife’s dowry, is described in The Saga of the People of Eyri, Chapter 17.
† Thorstein’s feud with Steinar, who had trespassed on land belonging to Thorstein, is described in Egil’s Saga, Chapters 80–84.
* The Borg is a high rocky outcrop immediately behind the site of Borg farm from which the farm takes its name.
* Earl Hakon Sigurdsson was murdered by his servant Kark, while hiding from his enemy Olaf Tryggvason in a pigsty.
* See footnote on p. 311.
* Sigtrygg appears to have ruled in Dublin from c. 996–1042. The chronology of the saga suggests that Gunnlaug visited him in 1003.
* This verse is also found in Kormak’s Saga, and should probably be attributed to him, not to Gunnlaug.
* The ‘new’ game with two kings is a version of chess. In the old game with one king, the attacking pieces attempt to surround the king so that he cannot move. If that happens, the attacking player wins. The king, with the help of his pieces, attempts to reach one of the four castles in the corners of the board. If the king does so, the defending player wins.
* This sentence has been the subject of no small amount of speculation, for instance, by equating eyktarstaSur with the point of Nones and dagmdlastaiur as the point of late morning, in an attempt to fix a location for Vinland, which has been to little real avail as the meaning of these obsolete terms of reference is impossible to interpret with any certainty. Interesting discussions on this and many other aspects of the Vinland voyages are raised by Gwyn Jones in The North Atlantic Saga, Páll Bergborsson in The Wineland Millennium and Anna Yates in Leifur Eiriksson and Vinland the Good.
* As philologist Ólafur Halldórsson points out, it is conceivable that references here and elsewhere to ‘cutting [grape] vines’ (vinviiur) could result from a copying error or misunderstanding, and that instead of vinber and vinviiur (grapes and grapevines) the text should read vínber and viður (grapes, literally wine berries, and wood). The latter would be much more understandable as a valuable product worth transporting home to treeless Greenland. It could also be ‘original’, reflecting the general unfamiliarity of Northerners with grapes and vines and supporting suggestions that the ‘wine berries’ of Vinland grew on trees.
* The Icelandic word hiisasnotra could refer not to a decoration but to a kind of astrolabe.
† The Icelandic word mösur could also refer to burl or burly wood.
* This was in the south-west of Greenland.
* Literally, ‘ward enticers’ (vardlokkur), chants likely to have been intended to attract the spirits to the sorceress, who was enclosed in a ring of wards as described below.
* The story is told in The Saga of the People of Eyri.
* This sentence, or even the whole paragraph, appears to be misplaced. Presumably ‘the country’ refers to Greenland.
* Although the Icelandic term helgirfiskar (literally ‘holy fishes’) means ‘halibut’ in English, these could be any type of flatfish.
* Some scholars have suggested this refers to Native Americans, others to a Christian ceremony, as the term ‘white men’ was used for Christians. One manuscript supplies the explanation that it refers to ‘Ireland the Great’.
* From AM 162 C fol., AM 156 fol. and AM 496 4to. Translated from Íslendinga sögur III.
* Morkinskinna version. Translated from Íslendinga sögur III.
* Sigurd Sow was Harald’s father. Snorri was Halldor’s father.
* From Flateyjarbók. Translated from Íslendinga sögur III.
* In the other version of the poem, presented in the Morkinskinna manuscript, line 3 reads ‘A revolution took place! I’m residing with Ran’; line 6, ‘I landed out beyond the beach’; and line 9 ‘Pale seaweed undulates about me where your neck will be.’
† Harold Godwinson who was Earl of Wessex and for nine months in 1066 King of England; his tenure of the throne was unsuccessfully challenged by Halli’s patron, Harald Sigurdarson, and successfully by William the Conqueror.
* From Flateyjarbók. Translated from Íslendinga sögur III.
* Translated from Íslendinga sögur III.
* From Modruvallabok. Translated from Islendinga sdgur III.