Raudulfs Thattr. Text

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RAULFS TTR

Edited with translation and notes by

ANTHONY FAULKES

VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCHUNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

2011


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PREFACERaulfs ttris an interpolation found in some manuscripts of lfs sagahelga, where it replaces Snorri Sturlusons ch. 156 (almost identical withch. 164 of lfs saga helgainHeimskringla). It is edited in H65582. There is a full study of the ttr and its analogues in Raulfs ttr:

A Study, Reykjavk 1996 (Studia Islandica 25; http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Raudulfs%20thattr.pdf; cf. also supplementary note at http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Raudulfr%20note.pdf). This may be regarded as theintroduction to the normalised text printed here, which is based on St. perg.4to nr 4 with corrections from the other independent manuscripts listedbelow. The text, translation and notes here, together with the Studia Islandicastudy, are based on a B. Litt thesis presented at Oxford University in 1965. The numbered notes will be found at the end of the text.

MANUSCRIPTS

St. 4: St. perg. 4to nr 4 (early fourteenth century)F: GkS 1005 fol. (Flateyjarbk, late fourteenth century)Bergsb.: St. perg. fol. nr 1 (Bergsbk, circa 1400)Tm.: GkS 1008 fol. (Tmasskinna, circa 1400)75 c: AM 75 c fol. (early fourteenth century, fragmentary)325 AM 325 V 4to (late fourteenth century)Bjarb. AM 73 b fol. (Bjarbk, circa 1400, fragmentary)75 a AM 75 a fol. (circa 1300, defective)321: AM 321 4to (seventeenth century, copy of 75 a)68: AM 68 fol. (beginning of fourteenth century)

CONTENTS

Raulfs ttr ..............................................................................................4The Story of Raur ......................................................................................5Notes .........................................................................................................26Books Referred to .....................................................................................43Index of Names .........................................................................................45


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RAULFS TTR

THE STORY OF RAUR


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4 Raulfs ttrFr Birni rmannia

Bjrn1er mar nefndr, gauzkr at kyni. Hann var vinr ok kunningi strar2drttningar ok nakkvat skyldr henni at frndsemi, ok hafi hon fengit

honum rmenning ok sslu3 ofanverri Heimrk.bHafi hann ok yrskn Eystridali. Ecki var Bjrn konungi krr, ok ekki var hann okkasll afbndum. at hafi at borizk bygg eirri, er Bjrn r fyrir, at ar uru hvrf okstulir haustum4 nautum ok sauum ok svnum. Bjrn lt ar kvejaings til ok lsti ar eptir hvrfum. Hann kallai menn lkligsta tilslkra illbriga, er stu markbyggum5fjarri rum mnnum. Veik hannnkkut v mli til eirra manna, er byggu Eystridali. S bygg var mjk

sundrlaus, bygg vi vtn ea rudd6 skgum, en fstaar strbyggirsaman.

Raulfs ttrc

Raur7er mar nefndr, er ru nafni ht lfr, er ar byggi Eystridlum.Ragnhildr er nefnd kona hans. Dagr ok Sigurr htu synir eirra. eir vruhinir efniligstu menn. eir vru staddir ingi v ok heldu upp svrumaf hendi eirra Dlanna ok bru undan skum essum. Birni ttu eir

lta strliga ok vera drambsmenn miklir at klabningi ok vpna. Bjrnsneri runni hendr eim brrum ok tali eigi lkliga til at hafaslkt grt. eir synjuu fyrir sik ok sleit sv v ingi. Litlu sar kom til Bjarnar rmanns lfr konungr me lii snu ok tkar veizlu.8Var krt fyrir konungi ml etta, er fyrr var uppi haft. SagiBjrn, at honum ttu Raussynir lkligstir til at valda slkum tila. varsent eptir sonum Raus. En er eir hittu konung, taldi hann jigamenn ok bar undan kennslum Bjarnar ok lzk at tla, at eir vri eigi

valdir. eir buu konungi til fur sns ok taka ar riggja ntta veizlu.9

Konungr ht v ok var kveinn dagr, nr hann skyldi koma. Bjrn latti ferarinnar, en konungr fr eigi at sr, ok var at heldr sdags, er konungr kom til Raulfs. Hann hafi me sr tvau hundru manna.Konungr s ar gara hva ok vel lukta. En er eir koma at hliinu, var at opit ok vel um bit. Lk ar grind jrnum ok ekki auvelt inn atkomask, ef lst vri hliit. Ok er konungr ok li hans rei hliit, stfyrir innan garinum Raulfrdbndi ok synir hans ok fjlmenni mikit

a

Chapter heading: Fr Birni rmanni: so St. 4bHeimrk: soSt. 2; St. 4 appears to haveHemmrk orHeinmrk cTitle: Raulfs ttr: soSt. 4

d Raulfr: St. 4 often abbreviates the name R., as here (also on four lateroccasions), which might equally well stand for Raur; in expanding suchabbreviations, the edition in H has been followed


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The Story of Raur 5Of Bjrn the steward

There was a man called Bjrn, who came from a Gautish family. He wasa friend and acquaintance of queen strr, and was a distant relative of

hers, and she had procured him a stewardship and ofcial position in upperHedmark. He also had the right to collect taxes in sterdalen. Bjrn wasnot liked by the king and he was not popular with the local inhabitants. It had come about in the district Bjrn was in charge of that there hadbeen losses and thefts every autumn of cattle and sheep and pigs. Bjrn hada meeting called there and made an announcement at it about these losses.He gave as his opinion that those men were most likely to have committedsuch crimes who lived in forest districts remote from other people. He more

or less implied that those who lived in sterdalen were guilty. This districtwas very scattered, the houses were clustered around lakes or in clearingsin the forests, and there were few large communities.

The story of RaulfrThere was a man called Raur, whose second name was lfr, who livedthere in sterdalen. His wife was called Ragnhildr. Dagr and Sigurr werethe names of their sons. They were most promising young men. Theywere present at this assembly and were representing the valley-dwellers

and defending them against these accusations. They seemed to Bjrn to bebehaving arrogantly and to be very showy in clothing and weapons. Bjrnthen turned the accusations against the brothers and declared that they werenot unlikely people to have done such things. They denied their own guiltand with that the meeting was adjourned. Soon after, King lfr came to Bjrn the stewards with his retinue andthere received ofcial entertainment. Then this affair which had previouslybeen discussed was brought before the king. Bjrn said that he thought the

sons of Raur were the most likely people to be responsible for such losses.Then Raurs sons were sent for. But when they met the king, he declaredthat they did not look like thieves and released them from Bjrns chargesand said that it was his opinion that they were not responsible. They invitedthe king to their fathers to be entertained there for three days. The kingpromised to go and the date was arranged when he was to come. Bjrn was against him going, but the king went nevertheless, and it wasrather late in the afternoon when the king reached Raulfrs. He had twohundred men with him. The king saw there an enclosure, high and well-

built. But when they got to the gateway they found it open, and it was verywell constructed. The gate turned on iron hinges and it would not have beeneasy to get in if the gate were locked. When the king and his retinuerodethrough the gate, they found Raulfr the master of the house and his sonsand a great crowd of people with them standing inside in the courtyard, and


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6 Raulfs ttrme eim og fagnai hann ok allir eir vel konungi ok hans mnnum, okstigu eir af hestum snum. ar hafi Raur bndi ok synir hans grvanvirduligan b. Spyrr konungr san bnda:

Er etta kirkja, it fagra hs, er ek s hr garinum? Bndi svarar: at er svefnskemma mn, herra, er gr var sumar ok nit fyrsta algr. ll rf vru ar spnkt hsum10ok nktaok nbrdd. Sangengu eir til stofunnar ok s konungr, at at var allmikit hs. Stofan varok nkt ok brdd vel. Konungr s ar garinum mrg hs ok str, ensum sm ok ll fagrliga gr. Spuri konungr ef ar vri kirkja11nkkur garinum.

Engi, segir bndi, vat ekki her byskup komit hr fyrr en n me yr. San lt byskup12reisa landtjald sitt vellinum fyrir stofunni ti ok sngar aptantir ok var v lokit dagstr.13Eptir at gekk konungr til stofunnarok vru kerti borin fyrir honum, ok er hann kemr stofuna, var ar vel umbizk.14Settisk konungr hstit, at er bit var, ok byskup til hgri handar,en til vinstri handar sat drttning ok ar rkiskonur t fr. Bjrn stallari15sat gegnt konungi inn ra bekk ok hirmenn t fr til beggjahanda. Nst byskupi sat Finnr rnason, Klfr brir hans, orbergr

rnason tar fr honum, Arnbjrn rnason Kolbjrn rnason, rnirnason.16eir brr vru allir lendir menn17lfs konungs. Ok er skiatvar llu fruneyti konungs upp pallana, var alskipu stofan it efra meveggjunum, en heimamenn ok bosmenn18stu reiustlum ok forstum.Raulfr bndi sat at framan at eim reiustli, en fyrir lendum mnnumst. ar var in fegrsta veizla ok margskonar drykkr ok allr gr. SynirRaus gengu um beina ok skipuub19llu eptir v sem bezt sami. Konungrgeri sik ar blan ok ktan ok fannsk mikit um list , er ar var llu, ok

kurteisi, ok hversu strkostliga veitt var ok skruliga fr allt fram. Konungrtti tal vi Rau bnda ok fannsk honum at brtt, at bndi var orsvinnrmar ok forvitri. Gerisk glei mikilcum alla stofuna vi drykkinn. Konungr spuri lf margra hluta kunnra, en lfr hafi til allra rlausnir.Var at sumt, er konungi var r kunnigt ok hann vissi hversu httat var,en sumt dhonum kunnigt, sv at hann vissi ekki til r. En allt at,er konungr vissi, var allt eptir v sem lfr sagi. N lagi konungr vtrna rur hans. lfr sagi ok ekki lengra en konungr spuri. lfrkonungr spuri eirra hluta, er eigi vru enn fram komnir, hvernigvera mundi. En lfr veitti rskur um est. spuri konungr:

aok nkt: soSt. 4; the other manuscripts all haveborktbskipuu: so all manuscripts exceptSt. 4, which hasskiptu; see note on p. 30cmikil: written twice inSt. 4dvar: supplied from the other manuscripts; lacking inSt . 4


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The Story of Raur 7he and everyone else welcomed the king and his men, and they dismounted.Master Raur and his sons had built a ne homestead there. Then the kingasked the master of the house:

Is that a church, that ne building I can see here in the courtyard? He replied: That is my bedroom, my lord, which was built this summerand is only just nished. All the rooves of the buildings there were shingled, and had just beenre-roofed and tarred. Then they went to the living room and the king sawthat this was a very big building. The living-room had also recently beenre-roofed and well tarred. The king saw many large buildings there in thecourtyard, and some small ones, but all nely built. The king asked if therewas any church there in the homestead.

None, said the master of the house, because no bishop has ever beenhere before until now with you. Then the bishop had his tent put up on the open space in front of the living-room and sang evensong there, and this was nished about sunset. After thatthe king went to the living-room and candles were carried in front of him,and when he came into the living-room everything had been excellentlyarranged. The king sat down in the place of honour which had been got readyfor him, and the bishop on his right. On his left sat the queen and her ladies-in-waiting beyond her. Bjrn the marshal sat opposite the king on the lower

bench with the courtiers along on either side of him. Next to the bishop satFinnr rnason, then his brother Klfr, then orbergr rnason beyond him,then Arnbjrn rnason, then Kolbjrn rnason, then rni rnason. Thebrothers were all thanes of King lfr. When all the kings party had beenaccommodated on the wall-seats, the part of the room with the raised ooralong the walls was fully occupied, and the members of the household andthe ordinary guests sat on the moveable seats and inner benches. The masterof the house, Raulfr, sat out in front on the seat facing the thanes. It wasa very ne banquet and there were many kinds of drink, and all of them

good. Raurs sons waited on the guests and arranged everything in the mostseemly manner. The king became genial and merry and was very impressedby the polish and breeding which was evident in everything there, and withhow magnicent the entertainment was and how excellently everything wasdone. The king then got into conversation with Raur, the master of thehouse, and he soon realised that he was sensible in speech and very wise.The whole room soon became very cheerful from the drink. The king asked lfr many obscure questions, and lfr had answers forall of them. Some of these things the king had knowledge of already, and

knew all about, butsome were unknown to him, and he did not know aboutbefore. But everything the king knew was exactly as lfr said. So the kingbegan to place condence in what he said. And lfr never said anythingbeyond what the king asked. Then King lfr began to ask him aboutthings that had not yet taken place, how they would turn out. lfr gave ananswer to nearly everything. Then the king asked:


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8 Raulfs ttr Ertu spmar, lfr? Eigi er at, herra, sagi hann. Hvi veiztu slkt fyrir, sagi konungr, er eigi er fram komit?

Legg ekki trna slkt, herra, sagi lfr, at ek geipa mart fyrir yr,er ek nenni eigi at egja vi yr.20En ekki veit ek slkt me sannindum. Konungr svarar: At he ek n hugt nkkut, ok nnsk mr sv, at segirengan hlut framar en ykkisk vita, ok seg mr hvat til berr, er veiztorna hluti, enda sr eigi spmar. Veit ek ok, at ert vel kristinn okmuntu ekki fyrir v hafa fjlkynngi til slks. Sumt marka ek af vindum, sagi lfr, en sumt af himintunglum, slea tungli eda stjrnum, en sumt af draumum.

Konungr spyrr at srhverjuma

hlut essa greina, en lfr veitti annrskur llum rum konungs, er honum lkai vel. Rddu eir est umhtt draumanna. mlti konungr: Muntu kenna mr r nkkut til ess, at mr birtisk draumr um at, ermr er mest forvitni at vita? Ekki m ek yr kenna r, sagi lfr, viat r kunni ll r, okviti miklu grr en ek. En at geri ek stundum, sagi lfr, er ek vilforvitnask draumi sannindi strra hluta, at ek tek n kli ok fer ek nja

sng ea rekkju, er stendr njum sta, sv at engi mar ha fyrr sofnat eim sta ea klum ea sng ea hsinu. Ok slkt sem dreymir mik,marka ek, ok mun mjk ganga eptir v, sem f ek rit drauminn. Konungr spuri: Hverja rtt kanntu bezt, lfr? saga hann. S ek atmargra hluta muntu vel kunnandi. lfr sagi, at hann er engi rttamaren ef ek skal nkkurn hlut tiless taka, ykkjumk ek helzt drauma kunna at skilja ea at ra, eftir vsem ganga mun.

Konungr spyrr: Hvrt her kennt sonum num allar nar rttir? lfr svarar: Spyr eptir v, herra. San lt konungr kalla til sn ok mlti: lfr, fair ykkar, kannaskmr vitr mar. Ha it numit allar hans rttir? Sigurr svararhann var ellri eirra brranna: Kann ek at sr allarhans rttir, at ein er s er hann her mr kennt, ok skil ek, at ek he eigi jafnvel numit, sem hann kann hana, ok er s ein af hans rttummrgum. Hver er s? segir konungr. Sigurr sagi: at er at greina gang himintungla, eirra er ek s, ok kennastjrnur, r er stundir merkja, sv at ek mun vita lengd um dag ok ntt. at ek sj eigi himintungl,ok 21veit ek grein allra stunda bi dag ok ntt.

aat srhverjum: so all the other manuscripts; sr at hverjum St. 4


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The Story of Raur 9 Are you aprophet, lfr Certainly not, my lord, he said. How is it, then, that you have foreknowledge, said the king, about

things which have not yet taken place? Put no faith in such statements, my lord, said lfr, even if I chatter toyou about a lot of things that I do not care to be found at a loss about infront of you. But Ihave no certain knowledge of such things. The king replied: I have been thinking about what you have been saying,and it seems to me that you never say anything beyond what you think youare sure of, so tell me how it is that you know about things that have notyet taken place, if you are not a prophet. I know also that you are a goodChristian, and so you will not be using magic for such purposes.

I deduce some things from the winds, said lfr, and some from theheavenly bodies, the sun or the moon or the stars, and some from dreams. The king then asked about each of these subjects, and lfr answered allthe kings questions to his satisfaction. They discussed at most length thenature of dreams. Then the king said: Can you give me any advice about how I can get revealed to me in adream what I am particularly curious to know about? I cannot give you any advice, said lfr, because you know it allalready, and you know much more about it than I. But what I sometimes

do, said lfr, when I want to nd out from a dream the true outcome ofimportant matters, is that I put on new clothes and lie down on a new bed orcouch which stands in a new place, so that no one has slept in that place orin those clothes or in that bed or that building before. And I pay particularattention to what Ithen dream, and things will mostly turn out according tothe interpretation I then put on the dream. The king asked: What accomplishment are you best at, lfr? he said. Ican see that you must be good at many things. lfr said that he was not a man of great accomplishmentsbut if I must

put forward anything, I think I am best at understanding and interpretingdreams in accordance with future events. The king asked: Have you taught your sons all your accomplishments? lfr replied: Ask them about that, my lord. Then the king had them calledto him andsaid: Your father lfr has shownhimselfto me to be a wise man. Have you learnt all his accomplishments? Sigurr repliedhe was the elder of the brothers: I have the lessknowledge of all his accomplishments in that there is only one that he hastaught me, and I realise that I havent learnt it as well as he can do it, and

this is only one of his many accomplishments. What is it? said the king. Sigurr said: It is to dene the course of these heavenly bodies that I see,and to distinguish the stars which indicate the hours, so that I can calculatethe passage of time by night and day. Even when I cannot see the heavenlybodies, I can still work out all the hours both night and day.


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10 Raulfs ttr Konungr svarar: etta er mikil rtt. En hver er n rtt, Dagr? segirkonungr. Ltilsvgi mun r at ykkja, herra, segir hann.

Hvat er ? segir konungr. Eina rtt he ek numit af fer minum, er mr ykki helzt frsagnarver ok kann fair minn miklu meira ar af en ek. Konungr spuri, hver s vri. Dagr sagi: at tla ek, ef as vandliga augu manni, ok mega eksj allt ath hans ok yrbrag manns, at ek mun skynja httu hans ok vita,hvers httar mar hann er, ok vita kost ok lst honum. Konungr svarar: etta er mikit augnabrag, ef sv er, sem segir. F

ek ok etta skjtt reynt. mlti konungr til byskups: Sv lzk mr sem n ham vr ann bndaheim stt, er mik vntir, at vr fim eigi vrum okki hans maka at viti edarttum ea sona hans, ok ykkjumsk vr hr hafa mjk gott mannval, okeigi skal hr Nregi kostr eirra manna, er betr s menntir en eir, sem hreru n me oss. Ok hygg ek at oss skorti esta vi fega, ea hverjartt vili r til taka, herra byskup, er r ykkizk helzt til frir? Byskup svarar: at mun ek helzt til taka, ef ek skal nakkvat, at ek skal

syngja tir tlf mnur alla, r allar er hafa skal, tt ek hafa engva bkvi. Konungr sagi: etta er mikil rtt me eim htti, sem er, ok yrsamag, herra. San mlti byskup: Heyra viljum vit n, konungr, hvat tekr tilrttar r. Konungr svarar: Sv skal vera. at mun ek helzt til taka um hvern manner ek s um sinn ok vilja ek vandliga at hyggja, skal ek kenna hann san,

hvar sem ek s hann.

22

essi rtt er af miklu viti, sagi byskup, ok skynsemi. mlti lfr konungr: essi skemmtan, sem vr hfum upp tekit,skal fara nkkuru vara um stofuna. Seg, Klfr rnason, hvat tekr tilrttar r. Klfr sagi: Eigi mun ek melta reii mna, hversu lengi sem ek arf atbera hana.23

Enn mlti konungr: Finnr, segja verr ok nar rttir. Finnr svarar: Eigi fr at sagt, herra, er ekki er til. Konungr mlti: Fr til nkkut. at fri ek til rttar mr, at ek mun eigi ja r ne einum hska frlnardrttni mnum, mean hann vill vi haldask ok standi hann upp.

aek: supplied from the other manuscripts; lacking inSt. 4


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The Story of Raur 11 The king replied: That is a great accomplishment. And what is youraccomplishment, Dagr? said the king. It will seem of small moment to you, my lord, he said.

But what is it? said the king. There is one accomplishment that I have learnt from my father whichI think is most worthy of mention, and yet my father knows much moreabout it than I. The king asked what it was.

Dagr said: I maintain that if I look closely into a mans eyes, and if Ican see all his behaviour and the look of the man, I can understand hisnature and know what sort of man he is, and see both his good and his badqualities.

The king said: That is a powerful glance, if it is as you say. And I cansoon put it to the test.Then the king said to the bishop: It seems to me that we have come to

visit the home of a man whose equal I shouldnt think we will nd in allour company in wisdom or accomplishment, nor his sons equal either, andyet we consider that we have a ne selection of men here, and there are nomen in all Norway to be found who are more accomplished than those thatare here with us. But I think that we fall short of this family in most things.But what accomplishment would you like to put forward, my lord bishop,

as the one you think you are best at?The bishop replied: I would mention principally, if I must chooseanything, that I can sing all the ofces that are prescribed for all the twelvemonths of the year, even if I have no book before me.

The king said: That is a great accomplishment in its own way, and verytting for you, my lord.

Then the bishop said: Now we want to hear, king, what you choose asyour accomplishment.

The king replied: You shall do so. I would mention primarily that with

any man I once see, if I consider him carefully, I shall recognise himafterwards wherever I see him.This accomplishment shows great wisdom, said the bishop, and

perception.Then King lfr said: This entertainment that we have taken up must go

further round the room. Tell us, Klfr rnason, what you choose as youraccomplishment.

Klfr said: I will never digest my anger, however long I have to nurse it.The king went on: Finnr, you also must tell us your accomplishments.

Finnr replied: I cannot tell you about what does not exist.The king said: Mention something.Then I will put this forward as my accomplishment, that I will not desert

my liege lord to run away from any danger as long as he holds out andremains on his feet.


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12 Raulfs ttr Konungr mlti: at er vst lkligt, at r endisk at vel. Enn mltikonungr: , orbergr, heyra viljum vr hvat tekr til rtta r. orbergr svarar: at tek ek til, at ek skal hvrki rjfa or mn n ei

vi lnardrttin minn.24 aetta er mikit ml, ok er alllkligt, at slkum manniendisk at vel, sem ert. En allmargir halda n um hr litlum trnai vimik, eir er fyrir skmmu var mr ess ltil vn at ea engi.25

mlti konungr til Arnbjarnar: Hverja rtt her framast? Arnbjrn var sterkr mar. at mun ek til taka, sagi Arnbjrn, at verakann, at eigi veri satt, at ek ykkjumk vel frr at bogaskoti: tla ek at engiskyli s bogi nnask hr landi, at mr skyli eigi vera vpnfrr.26

Konungr sagi, at sv mundi vera. San spyrr konungr Kolbjrn, hverjarhans rttir vri, r er hann vildi helzt til taka. Hann svarar: rjr eru r mnar rttir, er ek kalla allar jafnar, en enga framar enga fyrir sik: beinskeyti ok skfr ok sund.27

Konungr sagi, at hunn tki eigi meira af, en vert varv at ertbinn at essum rttum sem eir, er bezt eru, jafnsterkr mar. Seg n,rni, sagi konungr, hvat vill til nna. rni svarar: Ef ek sigli me landi fram snekkju28minni ok sitja ek

aktaumum,29

at engi snekkja nnur jafnmikil tvtugsessa siglir s hj mr,at ek muni fyrr svipta en eir. Konungr sagi, at engi mun ess frja honum, v at engi bnrtla en hann, hvat nst mundi hla frunni.30Konungr spuri Bjrnstallara, hverja rtt hann ttisk fremsta hafa. ann hlut mun ek helzt til taka, sagi hann, ef ek tala ingum or eaerindi lnardrttins mns, at engi skal sv rkr heyra, at ek skyla fyrir sk mla lgra ea skelfra, hvrt sem honum lkar vel ea illa.

Konungr svarar: essi tri ek allvel, san er vart Uppsalaingi oktalair ok gerir reian lf Svakonung,31vat estum mnnum mundiat vera heldr framaskortr. San tluu etta tveir ok tveir sn milli ok sgu til sinna rtta, okvar af essu mikil skemmtan ok glei.32En konungr gekk at sofa. fylgi Raulfr bndi honum til skemmu eirrar innar nju, er konungrhafi st um kveldit, ok tlai at kirkjan vri. var logn vers ok hei,sv, at hvergi s annat en heian himin. Konungr spuri Sigur, son lfs: Hvat nun vers morgin? Drfa, sagi Sigurr. at ykki mr alllkligt, sagi konungr.

aKonungr svarar: supplied from the other manuscripts; lacking inSt. 4bkynni: supplied from other manuscripts(68, 75 c, Bergsb.); lacking inSt. 4


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The Story of Raur 13The king said: It is indeed probable that you will carry this out. The

king went on: You, orbergr, we want to hear what you choose as youraccomplishment.

orbergr replied: I will choose this as mine, then, that I shall neitherbreak my word nor myoath to my liege lord.The king replied: That is a great thing, and it is very likely that such

a man as you will succeed in this. But very many people have recentlybeen keeping little faith with me, men of whom a little while back I shouldscarcely have expected it.

Then the king said to Arnbjrn: What is your chief accomplishment?Arnbjrn was a strong man. I will choose this, said Arnbjrn, which

perhaps will not turn out to be true, thatI consider myself quite good at

shooting with a bow: I declare that there is no bow to be found in this landthat I shall be unable to handle.The king said that this was probably true. Then the king asked Kolbjrn what

his accomplishments were, that he would principally mention. He replied:My accomplishments are three, which I reckon to be all equal, and yet none

of more than average standard: accurate shooting, skiing and swimming.The king said that he did not claim more than was justfor you are as

good at these accomplishments as those who excel in them, for a man of yourstrength. Tell us now, rni, said the king, what you want to put forward.

rni replied: If I sail my light galley along the coast and sit holding thesheets, that no other forty-oared ship of equal size will sail alongside meand make me reef sail before they do.

The king said that no one would taunt him with such a charge, for no one couldjudge more nely than he how close it was possible goto the danger point. Theking asked Bjrn the marshal what accomplishment he thought he was best at.

I will mention primarily this, he said, that if am announcing the decreesor business of my liege lord at assemblies, there will be no one listeningso important that I shall because of him speak lower or more hesitantly,

whether he likes it or not.The king replied: I can well believe it, after your being at the Uppsalaassembly and speaking and making King lfr of the Swedes angry, formost people would not have had the face for that.

After this they all carried on with this among themselves, each with hisneighbour, and named their accomplishments, and it was a source of greatentertainment and fun. But then the king retired to bed. The master of thehouse, Raulfr, conducted him to the new room that the king had seenearlier in the evening and had thought was a church. The weather was now

calm and clear, so that there was nothing to be seen anywhere but clear sky.The king asked lfrs son Sigurr:

What will the weather be like tomorrow?Snow, said Sigurr.That seems to me very unlikely, said the king.


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14 Raulfs ttr Sian gekk konungr til rekkju sinnar ok var ar vel um bizk. En erkonungr gekk inn svefnskemmuna, var kerti loganda borit fyrir honum.Hann litaisk um ti svlunun33ok hugi at sminni hssins ok skili

egar setningina hssins, at at var kringltt. Gekk hann inn ok s atfyrir innan svalirnar var skjaldili umhvers hsit. Fjrar vru tdyrr skemmunni ok allra jafnlangt milli. En t me veggjunum vru rekkjurbnar allvegliga, en allt tjaldat araer at tti bta. En essu hsi vrureistir upp tuttugu star hvir ok digrir. Stu eir hring. ar var upp afhvelft rt ok var at allt steint ok purtrat.b34En milli stafanna vru brkr35ok ar fyrir innan vru rekkjur bnar rkismnnum ok mttu ar rmligaliggja hverjum fjrungi tuttugu menn, en fjrir tigir tskemmunni.36

ar var skipat hirmnnum konungs. miju hsinu var arinn kringlttrok vr, me tr grr, ok pallar umhvers upp at ganga. En uppi arninumst sng mikil ok gr me hinum mesta hagleik. Flest tr vru ar mekopparajrnum37gr ok steint allt, en sumt gulllagt. Upp af hornstfunumvru strir knappar af eiri grvir ok gylldir. En t r hornstfunum vrujrnslr en ar af upp kertistikur ok stu ar upphaldskerti me rimkvslum. lfr sagi konungi at hann skal fara sng, er ar var bin,ef hann vildi drauma forvitnask, en drttning skal liggja annarri sng

nttlangt.38

Konungr sagi, at sv skal vera. Ok er hann var afklddr, st hann rekkjuna, lagisk san til svefns.Hann s til hgri handar sr inu ira stinu,39at ar var skipat byskupiok kennimnnum hans. En til vinstri handar hvldi drttning ok konurhennar. En t fr hfafjlinni, lgu eim fjrungi Klfr, Arnbjrn,Kolbjrn rnasynir, ok eirra menn. En t fr ftafjlinni l Finnr,orbergr, rni rnasynir. lfr konungr vakti lengi um nttina, sem hann var vanr, sng fyrst

bnir snar, san hugsar hann mart. s hann upp yr sik rt. Hann sar skrifaan Gu sjlfan ok veldishring hans,40en ar ofan fr englafylki,ok ar fyrir nean himininn, ann er hvelfr er tan um lopt ll. En ar mevru mrku himintungl, en neast sk ok vindar ok fuglar margskyns,en neast jrin, ok ar me grs ok viir ok margskonar kykvendi, sjr okvtn ok sjkykvendi marga lund. En nera rfrinu fyrir tan stana vrumarkaar fornsgur ok frsagnir fr gtum konungum, ok leit konungrar lengi . En er hann hugsadi hr um, var s einn hlutr, er honumtti undarligri en allt annat, at honum tti sngin snask undir sr eahsit ella. Sdan fell svefn hann ok svaf hann um hr.

aar: so the other manuscripts; at St. 4b purtrat: emendation; purcrat St. 4, putrat 68, F, puterat 325, pentat 75 a,

Tm., Bjarb.


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The Story of Raur 15Then the kingwent to bed and found that everything there had been very

well arranged. As the king went into the bedroom a lighted candle was carriedbefore him. He looked around while he was outside on the veranda and noted

how the building had been built, and realised immediately the plan of thebuilding, that it was circular. Then he went in and saw that on the inside ofthe veranda there was a partition around the building. There were four doorsleading out of the room, with an equal distance between each of them. Along theoutside walls were nely furnished beds, and there were hangings everywherethey could be thought to be pleasing. Inside the building twenty high and thickpillars had been built. They stood in a circle. The ceiling was vaulted up fromthese, and it was all coloured and painted with designs. Between the pillarswere partitions and on the inside of these, beds had been prepared for the

noblemen, and there was easily room for twenty men to sleep in each quarterof the circle inside, and for forty more in the outer part of the room. Therethe kings courtiers were accommodated. In the middle of the building therewas a wide circular dais, made of wood, with steps round it to get up onto it.Up on the dais stood a large bed made with the nest craftsmanship. Most ofthe woodwork was decorated with chiselling and it was all coloured and insome places gilded. On top of the bed-posts were great knobs made of brassand gilded. Iron bars were xed to the sides of the posts with candle-sticks onthem, and on these stood three-branched processional candles. lfr told the

king that he was to sleep in this bed which was prepared here if he wantedsomething to be revealed to him in a dream, but the queen was to sleep inanother bed for the night. The king said that this should be done.

And when he was undressed he got into bed and then lay down to sleep.Then he saw that the bishop and his clergy were accommodated in the innerpart of the room on his right. On his left slept the queen and her ladies-in-waiting. Beyond the head of the bed, the sons of rni, Klfr, Arnbjrn andKolbjrn and their men lay in that quarter of the room. Beyond the foot ofthe bed lay the sons of rni, Finnr, orbergr and rni.

King lfr lay awake for a long time during the night, as he usually did,and rst of all recited his prayers and then meditated on many things. Then helooked up at the ceiling. He saw there depicted God himself and his aureole ofglory, and beneath him the hosts of angels, and beneath them the rmamentthat is vaulted over round all the skies. And there also were depicted theheavenly bodies, and lowest of all the clouds and winds and then many kindsof birds, and right at the bottom the earth, with plants and trees and manyspecies of living creatures, seas and lakes and sea-creatures of many kinds.And on the lower part of the ceiling, on the other side of the pillars, were

depicted stories of ancient times and the histories of outstanding kings, andthe king looked at these for a long time. But while he was thinking about allthis, there was one thing in particular that he thought was more amazing thaneverything else, which was that the bed, or else the building, seemed to himto be revolving under him. Then sleep fell upon him and he slept for a while.


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16 Raulfs ttr En er hann vaknai, hugsar hann drauma sna ok v nst dagai. Stbyskup upp til ttusngs. Konungr klddisk ok gekk til ta okhlddi eim. San gekk hann mlstofu41ok lt kalla til sn Rau bnda

ok sagi honum draum sinn, at hann hefi st drauminum kross meabbragligum42htti ok greindi um san me hverjum htti var. Ok er vvar lokit, mlti konungr: skalt segja mr dag eptir hmessu, hvat draumr essi merkir. Merkiligr ykki mr draumr inn, sagi Raur, ok af mun ek geranakkvat, en r skulu bta mr, herra, ef r hugsi at hann i annat,en ek geri af. Ver var ykkt ,a sem Sigurr hafi sagt. lt konungr

kalla til sn Sigur ok Dag. San lt konungr sj t ok s hvergi himinsklausan. ba bSigur segja, hvar s1 mundi . komin. Hannkva glggt . lt konungr taka slarstein43ok helt upp, ok s hann hvargeislai r steininum ok markai sv beint til, sem Sigurr hafi sagt. spuri konungr Dag: Hvern skaplst sr mr? Ekki f ek at st, herra, sagi hann, en at ek geipa eitthvat umhversdagliga menn, er at ruvisa, en hr he ek hvrki til vit n

skilning. Er at ok tlan mn at ftt muni vera aftkt um yra skapsmuni.44

Seg n, sagi konungr, ekki stoar n undan cann , herra, er esta hendir, at er kvennanna st.45

Rtt segir , sagi konungr, ok eru r fegar langt um fram aramenn esta, er ek veit, at viti ok hyggjandi. San gekk konungr til messu, en er tum var lokit, gekk hann tilmlstofu ok me honum byskup, drttning, ok lendir menu. ar var okRaur ok synir hans.

lfr, sagi konungr, m sv vera sem mr sndisk ntt, at sngin, erek svaf , snerisk undir mr ea hsit ella? lfr svarar: v var sv smat, herra, at r skyldu jafnt horfa slina,ok draumr n skyldi ganga at slu, ok allt ath itt ok forvitni. mlti konungr: N vil ek at segir, lfr, draum minn, ok hvat hannmerkir. lfr svarar: Hitt mun ek fyrst segja, er spurir eigi, hvat hugsair r sofnair. batt Gu birta fyrir r nakkvat, hvern enda eiga mundi riessi ok nkkur styrld, er n her hazk,46ea hvernig fara mundi rkit heanaf. En san signdir ik, r sofnair, me marki kross hins helga.

aok drfanda: supplied from other manuscripts(68, F, Bergsb., 325, 321, Bjarb.);lacking inSt. 44

bhann: supplied from other manuscripts(68, F); lacking inSt. 4cat . . . svarar: supplied from other manuscripts(F, Bergsb., Tm.); lacking inSt. 4


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The Story of Raur 17When he awoke he thought about his dreams, and very soon dawn broke.

Then the bishop got up for matins. Then the king got dressed and wentand heard the service. Afterwards he went into the hall and had Raur, the

master of the house, sent for, and told him his dream, that he had dreamedhe saw a cross of a most remarkable kind, and then he went on to describewhat it was like. When he had nished, the king said:

You shall tell me today after High Mass what this dream means.I think your dream is very signicant, said Raur, and I expect I shall

be able tomake something of it, but you must correct me, my lord, if youthink it means something other than what I make of it.

The weather was cloudy and it was snowing, as Sigurr had said it wouldbe. Then the king had Sigurr and Dagr called to him. After that the king

had someone look around outside, and there was no clear sky to be seenanywhere. Then he told Sigurr to say where the sun had got to. He gavea precise indication. Then the king had a sun-stone brought out and heldit up, and he saw where the beam of light pointed from the stone, and itpointed in exactly the direction that Sigurr had said. Then the king askedDagr:

What bad quality.do you see in me?I cannot see that, my lord, he said, and even though I babble things

about ordinary men, that is a different matter, but for this I have neither the

intelligence nor the understanding, and anyway it to my opinion that thereis not much fault to nd in your character.Speak now, said the king, it is no good trying to get out of it now.Dagr replied: This, then, my lord, which aficts most people, that is the

love of women.You are right, said the king, and your family is far superior to most

other men I know of in intelligence and understanding.Then the king went to Mass, and when the service was nished, he went

to the hall and with him the bishop, the queen and the thanes. Raur and his

sons were also there.lfr, said the king, can it have been as it seemed to me during thenight, that the bed I was sleeping in, or else the building, was revolvingunder me?

lfr replied: It was made like that for this reason, my lord, that youshould always be facing the sun, and so that your dream should follow thecourse of the sun, and all your actions and questionings as well.

Then the king said: Now I want you, lfr, to relate my dream, and whatit means.

lfr replied: I will tell you something else rst, that you havent askedme, what you thought about before you went to sleep. You prayed God toreveal to you something about what would be the end of this unrest, moreor less war, which has recently come about, and what will happen to thekingdom from now on. Afterwards you signed yourself, before you went tosleep, with the sign of the Holy Cross.


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18 Raulfs ttr Rtt sagir , sagi konungr. En hvat segir af drauminum? lfr sagi: r sndisk svefninum kross standa jrunni mikill okgrnn sem gras, ok lkneski krossinum. En er stt hfu runnar,

var at af rauu gulli47 grt, en er stt andlitit, tti r semar vri um tan hringr, litr sem regnbogi, en vaxinn sem veldishringrGus.48En innan hringinum vru markair englar ok himinrkis dr.En kross essi ok krossfesting boa fri, en sv sem ert hfusmar, muntu ok eiga hfu lkneskisins drauminum. Ok sem r tti hfuit afrauu gulli grt, ok ar lsti af sem forum af lsigulli,49ar mun birtasktign n um fram alla menn ara essu landi, sv sem rautt gull er drrahverjum mlmi. En ar sem andlitit var, er bi fylgir ml ok sn, ok ar

er ok heyrnin vifst50

var r snt eim sta himinrki ok himneskdr: ar var r snd n mbun g,51er her snit mrgum l tilrttrar trar me orum num ok rkdmi. En mannshfu er meir blltten langt: ar get ek r snt hafa verit ekki langt lf ea veraldar rki. Konungr spuri: Hvat mun veldishringr s vita, er mr sndisk? Hringr s merkir vi na, sagi lfr, ok tign rkis ns. Hringrinn varendalauss,52sv mun ok vera frg n. Hringrinn sndisk r hvass uppok nir: sv ferr ok vi n, hvss vru upphn, ltu53 fur inn ok

marga ara frndr na gfga. Hr munu ok vera endimrk rkis ns.Hringrinn var vaxandi til mis en verrandi san til endalykta: sv her okfarit rki itt ok essa heims veldi,54sagi lfr.

En hlsinn lkneskinu sndisk r r kopar grt. ataer inn harastimlmr ok ar af eru klukkur grvar, er mest hlj fylgir: at rki,55er nstkemr eptir ik, mun vera fagrt ok birtask fyrir hvers manns eyrum, svsem hlj strra klukkna. ar lk tan um skoteldr:56at er it grimmastaherskaparfri, hriligt ok stafastligt.57Kopar er harr ok stkkr: at rki

mun vera ok olligt. En ar er sltt var fyrir nean ok ofan mlmaskiptit,

58

ar mun at riki ekki langt vera, ok engvar kvslir munu ar af lifna essulandi. r sndisk sem ofan r hfinubgreiddisk gulligr lokkr allt axlirofan: ar mun at merkja at yur vegsemd mun mest prdd essu landiok va annarsstaar.59

lfr sagi enn: leiddir fyrir augu r fam ok brjst runnar, okt hendrnar krossinum. at sndisk r grt af brenndu silfri, ar var markar60himintungla gangr, sl ok stjrnur, tungl me birti ok fegr: atrki er kemr nst61mun vera harla vegsamligt. Sv sem himintungllsa lopt ok jr ok allir menn fagna birti slarinnar, ok hon er nytsamligheiminum, hon gefr 1jsit verldina, hon vermir jrina til vaxtar: sv

aat: so the other manuscripts; ar St. 4bhfinu: St. 4 adds a redundantsem after this word


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The Story of Raur 19You are quite right, said the king. But what have you to say of the

dream?lfr said: There appeared to you in your dream a cross standing on the

ground, large and green as grass, and a gure on the cross. And when yousaw the head of the crucix, it was made of red gold, and when you saw intothe face, then it seemed to you as if there was a ring round it, coloured likethe rainbow, but shaped like Gods aureole of glory. And within the ring weredrawn angels and the glory of heaven. But this cross and crucix forebodewarfare, and as you are a head man, so the head of the gure in the dreamapplies to you. And as you dreamed the head was made of red gold, and itemitted light as once upon a time from shining gold, so your glory will shinemore brightly than that of all other men in this land, just as red gold is more

precious than every metal. But as for the face, wherein lies speech and sight,and where the hearing is also situatedthen was shown to you in that placethe kingdom of heaven and heavenly glory: therein was shown you yourgood reward for having turned many people to the true faith with your wordsand power. But the human head is more ball-shaped than long: in that I guessthere has not been shown for you long life or worldly power.

The king asked: What will the aureole mean, that appeared to me?That ring represents your life, said lfr, and the glory of your reign.

The ring was endless, so will be your fame. The ring seemed to you pointed

at top and bottom: that is how your life will turn out, the beginning wassharp, you lost your father and many other noble kinsmen. Sharp will theconclusion of your reign be, too. The ring was waxing as far as the middle,and then waning to the end: that is how your reign has gone, and yourpower in this world, said lfr.

But the neck of the gure seemed to you to be made of copper. This is thehardest metal, and the bells that make the loudest sound are made from it:the reign which comes next after you will be beautiful and will resound inall mens ears like the sound of great bells. Greek re played round it: that is

the grimmest weapon of war, fearful and impossible to withstand. Copper ishard and brittle: that reign will likewise be unbearable. But in that there wasa clean break at the joints with the metals above and below, so that reign willnot be long, and no offshoots from it will survive in this country. It appearedto you that a golden lock from the head fell right down to the shoulders: inthis it must be symbolised that your honour will be most highly celebrated inthis country and in many other places.

lfr went on: Then you brought your eyes to bear on the arms and breastof the crucix, and the arms outstretched on the cross. This seemed to you

to be made of rened silver, and on it were depicted the host of heavenlybodies, the sun and stars, the moon with its brightness and beauty: thereign that comes next will be very glorious. Just as the heavenly bodiesillumine the earth and sky, and all men rejoice in the brightness of the sun,and it is benecial to all the world, giving light to the earth, and warms


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20 Raulfs ttrmun ok at rki krt ok rsamt ok gott ok arfslt llu landsbinu. En er stt lkneskit breia faminn, ar mun s hfingi hafa miklu meira fangi62en allir arir hfingjar hafa haft hr landi, ok vera vfamari

at rngva undir sik rki ok flki af rum lndum. En er lokkar eir inirgulligu63fellu ofan um brjstit,a64ar mun s inn gti hfdingi vera bnkkut hendilangr65ok prask af yarri dr. En sv breir sem hann var, var hann stuttr,66ok mun rki hans vera eigi langt. lfr sagi enn: ar nst sttu fyrir nean brjstin runni breia gjrliggja um hana, ok tk nr undir hendr upp. Gjrin var gr af jrni okskygg sem sver. at m kalla megingjr:67rki at, er kemr nst,68mun vera styrkt me mttugum hfingja. En er r var snt skyggt jrn,

ar mun vera mart skyggt sver lopti, bi fyrr ok sar. S gjr var fme brgum vi gum hagleik, at v er r sndisk, sum69ristin eptirfornum sgum: r sndisk ar saga Sigurar Ffnisbana70ok Haraldshilditannar71ok enn nakkvat af verkum Haralds hins hrfagra.72S konungrmun fremja strbrg, au er mnnum munu ykkja strmannlig ok vitrligok haglig, me sinni framkvmd. En er r vru ar snd strvirki innagtustu hfingja, konunga ok annarra inna vitrustu manna, at mun hannallt sna me sjlfum sr ok eptir eirra lking mun hann fremjask.73En

jrn er harr mlmr ok mrgum manni til skaa lagr:74

at rki vnti ek atmrgum ykki hart ok skaasamt fr uppha ok til enda ok ar milli. lfr sagi enn: er stt kviinn fyrir nean gerina, var hannlitr sem nstagull ea bleikt gull.75at var lkat76ok skyggt fagrt. ar var skrifu r ok viir ok allskonar blm, at er jru vex, ok margskonarkykvendi, er jru ganga. Allt etta var grt me hinum mesta hagleik. atrki var r snt, er ar nst mun koma:77at var gulligt sem uppi hfuit,en rautt gull ok bleikt gull ekki saman nema nafn eitt. at munda ek ok

tla, at s konungr mundi hafa nafn itt ok vera gfugr konungr, ok ekki inn maki. acvar markar jarar vxtr, fegr ok pri heimsins:sv mun s konungr pra etta rki me gri stjrn. Hans vi mun verame gri stjrn ok blma miklum. Ok sv mikill hagleikr sem r var arsndr, sv margfaldliga hagligr78mun hann vera snu landsflki. lfr sagi enn: ar erd hugleiddir ok stt ofan lengra of79ann samamann, sndisk r nir fr naa allt um skpin silfrs litr , ess er skrter,80ok var vel litt. at silfr gengr hr landi ok m me v hr alltkaupa, en tanlands er at eigi gjaldgegnt. N mun hfingi s81vera mikillok llum vegr at hr landi, en tanlands mun tmi hans vera ekki sv

abrjstit: ok vru holdgrniradds75 cbyr:supplied from other manuscripts;lacking inSt. 4car:so all the other manuscripts; St. 4der;so the other manuscripts; r St. 4


22/46

The Story of Raur 21the ground so that it brings forth fruits: so will that reign be popularandprosperous and good and protable for everyone inthe country. And in thatyou saw the gure stretching out its arms, so thisruler will have much more

within his grasp than all other rulers in this land have had, and will be morewidely-embracing in subjugating kingdoms and peoples of other countries.And in that those golden locks fell down over the breast, so this ne rulerwill be to some extent subservient to you and will shine with the reectionof your glory. But broad as was his embrace, yet it was short in length, andhis reign will not be long.

lfr went on: Next you saw below the breast of the crucix a broadbelt going round it, which reached up almost as far as the arms. The beltwas made of iron and burnished like a sword. It might be called a girdle of

might: the reign which comes next will be upheld by a mighty ruler. Butin that you were shown burnished iron, so there will be many a burnishedsword aloft both early and late. The belt was decorated with designs withne craftsmanship, as it seemed to you, some of them engraved after storiesof ancient times: you seemed to see on it the story of Sigurr .Ffnisbaneand of Haraldr wartooth, and also something of the deeds of Haraldrnehair. This king will achieve mighty works, through his strength of will,which will be considered princely, wise, and decorous. In that you wereshown on it the great deeds of the nest rulers, kings and other very wise

men, so he will display all this in his own person, and he will become greatby following their example. But iron is a hard metal and is used for causingharm to many: so I presume that his reign will seem hard and harmful tomany from beginning to end and in between.

lfr went on: When you saw the belly below the belt, it was of thecolour of gold alloy or pale gold. It had likenesses on it and was nelypolished. On it were engraved owers and trees and every kind of plantthat grows on earth, and many kinds of animals that walk on the earth. Allthis was done with the greatest craftsmanship. Here you were shown the

reign that will come next: this part of the gure was golden like the headup above, but red gold and pale gold have nothing in common except onlythe name. And so I should suppose that this king would have your nameand be a noble king, and yet not your equal. Here were engraved the fruitsof the earth, the beauty and glory of the world: so this king will adorn thiskingdom with good government. His life will bring good government anda great owering. And as excellent as was the craftsmanship that you wereshown here, so will he in many ways be excellent to his countrymen.

lfr went on: When you considered and looked at this same man further

down, it seemed to you that from the navel right down over the genitalsthere was the colour of silver, the sort that is not pure, but a ne colour allthe same. This sort of silver is current here in this country and can be usedfor all transactions, but abroad it is not legal tender. Accordingly, this rulerwill be great and a source of pride to everyone in this country, but abroadhis value will not be held as high as that of him who was symbolised by


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22 Raulfs ttrmikill sem ess, er hit skra silfr birtisk fyrir.aEn er at silfr var vel lkatok var fagrt, ar mun hann llum vel lka,82ok hans rki mun standa mefegrbok pri. Hann mun ok fylgja skpum snum ok forlgumcallt til

enda lfs sins. Mun af honum kvslask valdit ok dreifask,83sv sem erkomit ofan til fta mannins. Ok sv sem ar fylgir bolrinn, mun hann estum hlutum vera maki sinna fyrirmanna. lfr sagi enn: ar er r sndisk lrin ok hrundarlitr fagr, at rkimun vera ar nst, er tvskipt mun vera landi llu. Mun koma landit brraskipti.84En er r sndisk bum lrunum hrundarlitr, munu eirdeila mannliga ok jafnliga sn milli,85ok sv sem ftrnir halda upp llumlkam mannsins, sv munu eir halda upp sium ok dmum sinna fyrirmanna,

ok mun eirra rki fara eptir rttri skipand

ok almenniligri mennsku. lfr sagi enn: ar er r sndisk ofan fr kn ftleggir tveir af trenat er fornt ml, at ess manns r gangi trftum,86er margir hlutir takaskilla: at rki er kemr nst mun vera hart ok illt undir at ba ok tvskipt mefrndum.87Hygg ek at ill endimrk veri eirra skiptum ok munu eir vera af einum kynkvslum.88ar mun upp hefjask frndarg ok illar deilur.ar nst sttu ristrnar fram ok var at allt af tr grt. r sndisk sem ftrnirvri mislgum lagir krossinum ok settr jrngaddr ggnum bar ristrnar,

en trnar lgusk hver fram yr ara: ar var r snt hverjar mislgur eirmundu hafa ok misgrir. ar munu brr berask banaspjt eptir. ar er stteinn jrngadd standa ggnum bar ristrnar, en trnar lgusk hver fram yrara, sv ebrn gera hrta me ngrum sr:89eirra afkmi mun lengisan hverr rum mgja90vilja ok til jarar koma. N er drauminum lokit,herra, sagi lfr, ok he ek n af grt slkt, er mr ykki lkast at hann i. Konungr ba hann hafa kk fyrir, ok lzk at tla, at hans jafningimundi varla nnask fyrir vitru sakir, nema synir hans stigi honum spor.

Gekk konungr san brott r mlstofunni ok til bora. Um daginn eptir spuri konungr lf, hvat manna hann vri, ea konahans. Raulfr sagisk vera snskr mar at tt ok auigr ok ttstrr. En ek hljpumk aan,91sagi hann, me konu essa, er ek he ttsan. Hon er systir Hrings konungs Dagssonar.92

aer hit skra silfr birtisk fyrir: emended according to the texts of the manuscripts ofclasses.AandB (the class Cmanuscripts have similar readings with minor variants); hinsskra silfrs St. 4,which is clearly wrong, since the contrast must be with the pure silver

bfegr: so the other manuscripts;frg St. 4; fegr is required in the context,corresponding tofagrt in the previous line

cforlgum: written frlgum in St. 4drttri skipan: emended according to the text ofF andBergsb.; almenniligri St.

4 (dittography from next line)esem: supplied from the other manuscripts;omitted inSt. 4


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The Story of Raur 23the pure silver. But as this silver had likenesses on it and was beautiful, soeveryone will like him very much, and his reign will go on with beautyand glory. He will also full his destiny and fate right to the end of his life.

From him the kingdom will branch out and be divided, just as from herebegin the legs of the man. And just as this is also apart of the trunk, so hewill in most things be the equal of his predecessors.

lfr went on: As you saw the thighs, of a beautiful esh-colour, so areign will come next in which the whole country will be divided in two.Then the country will be divided between brothers. And in that both thighsseemed to you to have the colour of human esh, so their dealings witheach other will be humane and just, and as the legs hold up the whole

of a mans body, so they will uphold the customs and examples of theirpredecessors, and their reign will be conducted in the right way and withcommon humanity.

lfr went on: In that there appeared to you down below the kneestwo legs of woodit is an old saying, that a mans affairs go on woodenlegs when things are going badly: so the reign that comes next will behard and bad to live under, and will be divided in two between kinsmen.I think that there will be a bad end to their disputes, and yet they will bedescended from the same ancestral lines. Here will arise strife betweenkinsmen and evil quarrels. Next you passed on to the insteps, and thesewere made entirely of wood. The feet seemed to you to be laid on the crosscrookedly, and an iron spike stuck through both insteps, and the toeswere all bunched up on top of each other. In this it was shown you whatcrooked dealings and evil deeds they would indulge in. Here brotherswill raise spears of enmity against each other. Whereas you saw an ironspike going through both insteps, and the toes were all bunched up ontop of each other, as when children make rams with their ngers: so theirdescendants for long afterwards will all try to cast each other down intoheaps and fell each other to the earth. Now the dream is nished, mylord, said lfr, and I have made of it what it seems to me most likelythat it means.

The king thanked him, and said he thought that his equal in wisdomcould scarcely be found, unless his sons followed in his footsteps. Then the

king left the hall and went to dinner.The next day the king asked lfr who he and his wife were. Raulfr saidhe was from a Swedish family and was wealthy and high-born.

But I eloped from there, he said, with this woman, who has been mywife ever since. She is the sister of King Hringr Dagsson.


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24 Raulfs ttr vaknai konungr vi tt eirra beggja.93Fann hann at, at eir fegarvru menn forvitri. Konungr spuri Dag, hvern skaplst hann siBjarnar rmanns. Dagr sagi, at Bjrn var jfr, ok at me, at hann segir,

hvar Bjrn hafi flgit b snum bi horn ok bein ok hir af nautumeim, er hann hafi stolit um haustit en kennt rum. Er hann, segir Dagr, allra eirra stula valdr, er haust hafa mnnumhera hort94ok hann her rum kennt. Sagi Dagr konungi ll merki til hvar konungr skyldi leitaalta. En erkonungr fr fr Raus bnda, var hann brott leiddr me strum gjfum, okfru synir Raus me konungi,95v at hann ttisk eigi mega n vera.Fr konungr fyrst til. Bjarnar rmanns ok reyndisk allt eptir v, sem

Dagr hafi sagt. San lt konungr Bjrn fara brott r landi, ok naut hanndrttningar at, er hann helt l ok limum.

aleita: written twice inSt. 4


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The Story of Raur 25Then the king realised the ancestry of both of them. He recognised that

the father and his sons were very wise men. Then the king asked Dagr whatbad quality he saw in Bjrn the steward. Dagr said that Bjrn was a thief,

and he said besides whereabouts on his farm Bjrn had hidden both thehorns and bones and the hides of the cattle he had stolen during the autumnand accused others of stealing.

He, said Dagr, is responsible for all the thefts of things that havedisappeared from people in this district this autumn, and which he hasaccused others of.

Then Dagr told the king all the clues to where the king should havesearches made. When the king left Raurs, he was set on his way with greatgifts, and Raurs sons went with the king, for he felt that now he could not

do without them. Then the king went straight to Bjrn the stewards, andeverything turned out to be just as Dagr had said. Afterwards the king madeBjrn leave the country, and he had the queen to thank for the fact that heescaped with life and limb.


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26 Notes1This is ch. 155 of Snorri Sturlusons lfs saga helga; it forms the introduction

to thettr. Bjrn rmar (the steward) is only known from this and the followingchapter of lfs saga helga, the corresponding chapters in Heimskringla, and

Raulfs ttr. He is unlikely to have been a historical character.2 strr was the queen of lfr Haraldsson (lfr II of Norway, 10151030, Stlfr). She was the daughter of King lfr Eirksson of Sweden, and married lfrHaraldsson in 1019.

3rmenning ok sslu . . . yrskn: these three terms seem to refer to the sameofce, that of the kings steward or administrative head of a district. The last(meaning the same asyrfr) refers particularly to such a stewards right to travelround the landowners and collect taxes (tekjur), which were usually paid in theform of entertainment of the king (or his steward) with his retinue, which might

comprise a large number of men. This maintenance of the king and his court, theburden of which was thus spread over all the landowners in the country, was calledveizlur, see note 7 below.

It seems to have become the standard literary tradition in the sagas that the kingsrmar should not be one of the nobility, and should be generally unpopular inhis district; cf.Egils saga41 ff.The additional motive found here, of his being afavourite of the queen, is more common in folk stories; see Faulkes 1966, 9.

4 haustumis not in some manuscripts, and may not be original. At the end of thettrDagr refers to the thefts haust this autumn, which implies that the thefts hadonly been noticed that one year. Some manuscripts also do not mention the sheep.

5markbyggum: forest settlements; markand the related mrkmeant originallymark, border. Because many national borders are formed by natural boundariessuch as forests, mrkcomes to mean forest. In the present context, mark-couldhave either meaning: the reference could either be to forest districts which wouldnaturally be remote, or to border settlements, i.e. the no-mans-land between twocountries. Eystridalir, besides being forest country, was also close to the Swedishborder, so that both descriptions would be appropriate.

6rudd: passive participle of ryjaclear, to be taken with s bygg. But and dare rarely distinct in the manuscripts, and double consonants are not always marked,so it is possible that the author wrote ruclearings (neuter plural), parallel to vtn.the parallel passage inHeimskringlahas the synonymous rjr.

7Raur (Raulfr, lfr) and his family are not known from other sources thanthe ttr and the chapters in H and Hkr based on it, except that his son Dagris involved in some of the events of the following chapters in H and Hkr (thedetection of a traitor by means of his gift for seeing mens true characters). It isprobable that his part in these events was invented by Snorri on the basis of theevents of thettr, see Faulkes 1966, 61.

The names Raulfr, Raur and lfr are used interchangeably in nearly allmanuscripts of the ttr, although some are more consistent than others. Allmanuscripts agree that he was called by more than one name, although Snorrisshortened version of thettrin HandHkronly uses the name Raur. It is clearthat the variations in the name go back to the original.version of the ttr, and thatthe attempts at consistency in various manuscripts are those of the copyists. The


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Notes 27variations in the name need not necessarily imply that there has been confusionwith some other character (e.g. with Raur inn rammi, FlatI 393 ff., as suggestedin Margaret Schlauch, 1934, 159, note 24), for names and nicknames are often used

interchangeably in Old Norse, e.g. Ketill hngr, who is known both as Ketill and asHngr, or lfr/Kveld-lfr inEgils saga. Even if the author of thettrhas combinedstories about two (or more) characters, he would not have been so incompetent as toleave traces of the different characters in the name of his hero. Consistency of this sortwould not have been beyond his powers if he had wanted to achieve it.

8 tk ar veizlu: the maintenance of the king and his household was largelyprovided by landowners, who were obliged to support the king and his followingfor a certain length of time each, in rotation: the duty of supplying these feasts(veizlur) was thus a form of taxation. InHkrII 100 we read: at hafi verit sir inna

fyrri konunga at fara at veizlum inn rija hvern vetr yr Uppl

nd.9riggia ntta veizlu: three days was the customary length of a guests stay, seeEgils saga272: at var engi sir, at sitja lengr en rjr ntr at kynni , and otherreferences in Vga-Glms saga63, note to 15.4.

10spnkt hsum: to have shingled roofs was probably considered a sign of wealth,cf. Valtr Gumundsson 1889, 162 ff. But possibly this applies less to Norway, wheretimber was plentiful, than to Iceland, where it was scarce, and where most buildingswould have been roofed with turf. It is evident from the context here, however, that forthis author at least, shingled roofs were sufciently uncommon to require comment.

hsum: in Scandinavia in the Middle Ages each room was often built as aseparate building: cf. the expressions hsin(plural), used synonymously with br(dwelling), eldhsfor kitchen, &c. Cf. Valtr Gumundsson 1889, 25 and 2731.

11The kings preoccupation with the question of the existence of a church hererecalls the frequent stories of how he kept nding pockets of heathenism in remoteparts of Norway, and his efforts to stamp them out; see Hkr II 101 and 1745.His doubts about Raulfrs religion, however, are evidently satised later, see hisremark at 8/89.

12byskup: this was probably Grmkell, who was King lfrs hirbyskup (thebishop attending the kings household) throughout his reign (cf.HkrII 7273) andwas instrumental in getting the kings sainthood recognised after his death, seeHkrII 403405. He would use a tent (landtjald, as opposed to one used for shelter onboard ship) for services when the kings travels led them to a place where therewas no consecrated building available, compareNjls saga257, where angbrandruses a tjaldfor singing mass in on his mission to the then heathen Iceland (so alsoKristni saga18).

13 dagstr: -stris an ablaut variation of -seta(which is the reading of some of theother manuscripts), related to sitja/setja, meaning a sitting, a setting.

14 In the type of medieval hall referred to here, there were raised woodenplatforms along the two longer walls (bekkir,pallar, langpallar) which were usedas benches in the day-time, and, with appropriate coverings &c., as beds at night.The oor between the platforms would be bare earth, and on this there wouldgenerally be a re. At mealtimes, tables would be erected in front of the platforms,and if necessary other seats could be placed in between the tables to supplement


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28 Notesthe accommodation on the platforms. These are what is meant in the ttrby theterms reiustlarok forsti(a few lines below), in which reiu- seems to refer tothe fact that these seats were moveable (cf. reiamove) as opposed to the built-in

seats on the side-platforms, andfor-to the fact that these seats were in front of orbetween the tables. In contrast, stofan it efra(it efrais adverbial accusative singularneuter) the upper part of the room, refers to the raised platforms, which were fullyoccupied by the kings party. That this is the correct interpretation of the phrase(rather than the upper end of the room) is conrmed not only by the authorsaddition of the words me veggjunumalong the walls, but by a parallel passage inEgils saga29, where it efrais contrasted with it fremrain front i.e. of the tables,on theforsti: er alskipat var it efra ok it fremra. Cf. Valtr Gumundsson 1889,180186 and 190.Hstitthe high seat, the place of honour was in the middle of

the platform running down one of the long walls of the hall, see below.There are descriptions of the seating arrangements customary in the kings courtinMsk28990, Fsk300,HkrII 723 and III 204. All these, and that in thettr,are probably based on a description in the original compilation of the kings sagasfrom which the survivingMorkinskinnais derived, which was probably made about1220.Msk28990 reads:En at var forneskju sir Nregi, sv ok Danmrk okSvju, ar sem vru str konungsb ok veizlustofur, at konungs hsti var langpallinn ( mijan langbekk Fsk) ann er vissi mti slu. Sat drttning vinstra veg fr konungi, ok var at kallat ndugi, ok s sess vegligastr t fr hvrntveggja sta til kvenna ok karla er nst var ndugi, en hinn vegligastrer ztr var ok nst dyrum. Ok inn gfgasti mar, s er gamall var ok vitr, ok vrikonungs rgja kallar, sem konungum hafi lengi ttt verit at hafa me sr gamlaspekinga, til ess at vita forna siu ok dmi forellra sinnaessi mar skyldi sitj inn ra pall(annann langpallFsk) gegnt konungi, ok ht at it ra ndugi.Var fr honum til hgra vegs kvenna sti, en vinstra veg karla sti.

OnlyMskand Fskexpressly say which side of the hall was theri bekkr; Fskadds the detail that the hall had doors at each end (vru dyrr hvrumtveggja endastofunnar), and this fact is also included inHkrII 72, although Snorri does not seemto have a clear idea about the layout of the hall: he says that the bishop sat innarfr(hstinu), and if the high seat was in the middle of the hall, this phrase couldonly be used if one end of the hall had no entrance.Hkr II 72 and the ttrbothhave the details of where the bishop sat (on the right of the king), and both make theperson opposite the king his stallari(instead of the rgjaof the older accounts);these two facts Snorri may well have taken from thettr. He also puts the kingsrgjafaron his left, instead of the queen and the ladies, as inMskand thettr,and does not assign a place to the latter at all. He puts the bishops kennimennwherethe sons of rni sit in thettr.

HkrIII 204 gives us the information that lfr kyrri was the rst of the kings ofNorway to have the high-seat on a cross-bench at the gable end of the hall insteadof in the middle of the long wall, and this information Snorri has also taken fromthe version ofMskthat was known to him.

Thus it seems that the description in the ttr is based on a description in theoriginalMorkinskinnacompilation (or possibly on a parallel description, or even


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Notes 29on the source of the Morkinskinnapassage), although the author of the ttrhasaltered the details somewhat, particularly regarding the bishop and the stallari; and.that Snorri in HandHkrhas based his description on theMorkinskinnaversion,

but also adopted some of the changes introduced by the author of thettr, besidesmaking some innovations on his own account.15 Bjrn stallari (the marshal) comes frequently into the sagas of lfr helgi

and was clearly a historical character, through his genealogy does not seem to berecorded anywhere. He is sometimes called Bjrn digri (the fat), and is representedas one of the kings most faithful followers. He fell with the king at Stiklarstair.

On the duties of the stallari, seeHirskrchapter 22 (NGLII 410 f.):Nst lendummnnum ok kanceler hir konungs eru stallarar at llum smdum . . . stallari skalra allt at sem konungr br honum, bi ingum ok hirstefnum, and note

Bjrns rttand the kings comment on it (p. 12 above). InHkrII 8889 it is saidof Bjrn:Bjrn var frgr mar, af mrgum mnnum kur bi at sn ok at mli,eim llum, er st hfu lf konimg, v at Bjrn st upp hverju ingi ok talaikonungs rendi.

On the abrupt introduction of this and the following characters into the ttr(without the customary formulasBjrn ht mar&c.), and its bearing on theoriesabout the origin and composition of thettr, see Faulkes 1966, 6364.

16The only extant version of lfs saga helgathat mentions all the six brotherswho appear in the ttris Snorris. Snorri also names a seventh brother, mundi(only once), The Legendary saga does not mention mundi or Arnbjrn.

Snorri is careful to mention shortly before he summarises the events of thettrthe fact that the sons of rni were among the kings following (ar vru mehonum allir synir rna ArmssonarHkrII 292). It is probable that his only sourcefor this statement is the ttr, for there is no other source to suggest that therewas any tradition that they always travelled around with the king, though it is wellestablished that some of them (or all that were still living, except Klfr) followedhim when he ed to Russia in 1029.

17lendir menn: lendr mar(landed man) was a man holding land in ef fromthe king in return for various services (providing soldiers in wartime, providingmaintenance for the king and his retinue when he travelled about the country). Theterm corresponds exactly in meaning to thane as it was used in medieval Scotlandand by Shakespeare (OEDthane1senses 3 and 4). The brevity and accuracy of theterm thane perhaps justify the translation in spite of the archaism. According toHirdskrch. 19 (NGLII 407),Lendir menn skulu vera nst hertoga ok jarlum.

18 bosmenn: apparently the ordinary guests, i.e. those who were not of thekings party, Raulfrs personal friends. There seems to be no other exampleof this distinction in Old Norse. It may be noted, however, that St. 4 is the onlymanuscript which has bosmenn: all the others have fyrirbosmenn, which maywell be the original reading. This word is elswhere used only in connection withwedding feasts, where it apparently means the guests of the brides family, whousually arrived before the other guests (see slenzk fornrit III 33, note 3, Njlssaga21, note 8). InRaulfs ttr,fyrirbosmennmight mean those Raulfr wasalready entertaining before the arrival of the king.


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30 Notes19All manuscripts have skipuuarranged except St. 4, which has skiptu: this

is probably a mistake, although the meaning divided, hence shared out, servedwould be possible here. But skipta seems not to be used elsewhere in the sense

serve out food.20er ek nenni eigi at egja vi yr: which I do not care to be silent about beforeyou (i.e. he makes rash answers because he does not want to have to admit that hedoes not know with certainty) rather than which I dare not be silent about beforeyou. lfr is not under any compulsion to answer, the point seems rather to be thathe is admitting to being so conceited that he prefers to give answers he is not certainabout, rather than admit that there is a limit to his knowledge. He does not wantto appear at a loss, and so is trapped into rash statements. egjaseems to be usedtransitively here (unless ermeans when, which gives less satisfactory sense), and

it is sometimes found elsewhere with an object in the genitive, e.g. rymskvia18:egi , rr, eira oraand Gurnarkvia in fyrsta24: egi , jlei, eiraora (Poetic Edda113 and 205).

21 An apparently redundant ok introducing a main clause after a subordinateclause is not uncommon in Old Icelandic; it is an alternative to the more frequentcorrelative. SeeNIONI 261.

22This accomplishment of the kings is not mentioned in other sources.23Klfr, alone of the sons of rni, turned against the king in the last years of his

reign, and fought against him at Stiklarstair. According to HkrII 385, Klfr gavethe king one of the three wounds from which he died. His chief reasons for turningagainst the king seem to have been, according to Snorri, his resentment for the deathon the kings orders of rir lvisson, who was Klfrs stepson (HkrII 300301)and the death of slkr tjaskalli (HkrII 322323). See also the complaints of hiswife Sigrr against the king,HkrII 333.

24Both Finnr and orbergr remained faithful to King lfr to the last, and foughtwith him at his last battle, where they were both wounded. They had sworn oathsof loyalty to the king before the events related in thettr, seeHkrII 249. Kolbjrnand rni also fought for the king at Stiklarstair, and these two died in the battle.

25 This is the winter of 10278, when King lfrs authority in Norway wasbeginning to slip from his grasp. In the following year, Kntr inn rki invadedNorway and most of lfrs followers deserted him, and he ed to Russia. Amongthose of his subjects who deserted him or turned against him shortly before theevents related in the ttrwere Erlingr Skjlgsson (see HkrII 268), rir hundr(HkrII 253), Einarr mbarskelr (HkrII 267), Hrekr r jttu (HkrII 29091),and Hkn Eirksson, who had been captured by the king when he rst came toNorway in 1015 and then released after he had sworn oaths never to ght againstthe king again, seeHkrII 295. A similar complaint to that found here is expressedby the king in Hkr II 324: Era fer hafa eir fengit mr hendr, lendir mennmnir, er n hafa skipt um trnain, er um hr vru vinir mnir ok fulltrar.

26The bending of particularly strong bows as a trial of strength is several timesmentioned in Old Norse, e.g.HkrIII 260/34; compare also the episode in Ormsttr, Faulkes 2011, 78. That the motive is an old one is shown by its occurrence inHomers Odyssey, book 21.


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Notes 31Vpnfrr is usually used of a man, able to handle weapons, i.e. in an active

sense, but here it is used in a passive sense, of the bow, able to be handled as aweapon. Cf. note 57 below.

Arnbjrn is killed by Grjtgarr

lvisson in mistake for the king shortly after theepisode of thettr(HkrII 30203).27These three accomplishments seem often to be associated together in Old Norse

accounts of heroes, e.g. Hemingr inHemings ttrcompetes at all three, and all threeare included in the boasts of the kings Eysteinn and Sigurr in HkrIII 25962, andare among the eight rttirof Haraldr harri (Msk86; SkjA I 357). Bow-shootingand skiing are among Rgnvaldr kalis nine rttir (Orkneyinga saga 130), andswimming and archery are among rvar-Oddrs accomplishments (rvar-Odds

saga14757) and also feature together inEindria ttr(FlatI 45664).28

a snekkjawas a warship, apparently smaller than a drekior skeir, being usuallya tvtgsessaas here (i.e. having twenty benches, with twenty oars each side, fortyin all; a skeirwould have 60 or more oars) with a full complement of 90 men. Theterm is used especially of vessels built particularly for speed. A snekkjais describedin Flat I 325 (Fms II 50), although in this case it is a rtgsessa, but even sosmaller than Ormr inn skammi. See Falk 1912, 97 and 104105.

29aktaumarwere the ropes attached to the upper yardarms supporting the sail, toturn them from side to side when sailing in a cross-wind (Falk 1912, 64-65); sitja aktaumumthus means to control the sailing of a ship.

30hvat nst muni hla frunni: hlais here impersonal, to be permitted:the closest it is permitted to go to the point where it becomes impossible. Thereference is to daring to sail in a high wind without reeng sail (cf. at ek muni fyrrsvipta en eirin rnis boast above). rni claims that even when sailing along theshore (me landi fram), where a high wind makes fast sailing especially dangerousbecause of the rocks, he would not be the rst to reef sail so as to reduce speed. In ahigh wind a ship under full sail is of course liable to overturn or lose its rigging. Thesense of the kings remark is therefore that Arni knows how much sail it is possiblefor a ship to carry in a strong wind without it being damaged. Arnis boast thereforedoes not primarily refer to racing, but to a sort of chicken run, each ship wantingto make the other reef sail rst. Sigla hj mrtherefore in this context means sailalongside, not, as often, overtake.

The same rttis mentioned in Hlfs saga ok Hlfsrekka(FasII 37): at varannarr sir eira a tjalda aldri skipi ok aldri hlsa segl fyrir ofviri(v. l.).

31 This refers to the events related in H 16566 (Hkr II 114), where Bjrnbrought King lfr Eirksson of Sweden the offer of lfr of Norway for a peacesettlement in 1018. The Swedish king had refused all dealings with Norway andrefused to recognise lfr as king, and would not even allow his name to bementioned in his court, referring to him always as inn digri mar(that fat man).He was very angry whenever anyone spoke of him, but Snorri tells us that at anassembly called by the king at Uppsala, Bjrn announced the Norwegian kingsmessage, and thatBjrn mlti htt, sv at Svakonungr heyri grva. The king ofSweden was very angry, but Bjrn managed to complete his mission successfully:settlement of all disputes was agreed and lfr of Norway was to marry the king


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32 Notesof Swedens daughter Ingigerr. Unfortunately, the settlement was short-lived. Theking of Sweden changed his mind, and neither he nor Ingigerr turned up for thewedding: instead he married her off to the king of Russia. lfr of Norway consoled

his honour by marrying the Swedish kings other daughter, strr, without herfathers knowledge (cf. note 2 above).Bjrns part in these events is very different in Snorris version from what it is in

the earlier extant versions of lfs saga; and the reference in thettrmust be toa version of the story similar to Snorris, rather than to one of the earlier versions.On the signicance of this for the dating of thettrand theories of its origin, seeFaulkes 1966, 6465.

32This form of entertainment is traditional in Icelandic sagas, and even in otherEuropean literature, see Faulkes 1966, ch. 4.

33

Svalirseem to have been a balcony or open passage running round the wholebuilding. In Icelandic they are most frequently mentioned in connection withbuildings having an upper storey, which was usually approached by an exteriorstaircase leading to svalir, which encircled the building at rst oor level. See ValtrGumundsson 1889, 100101. In this case, however, the building has only oneoor and the svalirare evidently on a level with the ground, or only slightly raised.Between the svalir and the inside of the building was the skjaldili or woodenpartition: since this in effect would be the exterior wall of the building, the wordperhaps means rather wooden (or panelled) wall. It is uncertain whether the disradical, as the form skjaliliis also found. If the latter is the more original form, therst element would be related to skiljadivide; if the former, to skjldrshield (soAlexander Jhannesson 1956, 846: skjldrbedeutet urspr. gespaltenes holzstck,brett). Cf. Valtr Gumundsson 1889, 95 ff.

34purtrat: a loan-word from French (cf.portraire). The use of the foreign wordhas caused some difculty to the copyists, see textual note. This must be its rstoccurrence in Old Icelandic (it becomes quite common in Riddarasgur), and isa further example of the foreign inuence which pervades the ttr. It perhapssuggests that the author could read French, and possibly used a French source.

35brkr: screens separating the outer room from the inner. These evidently did notgo right up to the roof, for later ( nera rfrinu fyrir tan stafanna) we are toldthat the king could see the roof of the outer part of the room from his bed, so theywere probably only head-high.

35fjrir tigir tskemmunni: i.e. forty in each quarter of the outer part of the room.There would naturally be room for about twice as many beds round the outer walls asaround the inner partition. This would mean that there were beds for 160 altogether inthe outer room, and 80 in the inner, making 240 in all. We were told above (when herst arrived at Raulfrs dwelling, p. 4) that the king had 200 men with him.

37kopparajrnum: apparently chisels. Koppariis a man who makes kopparcups,or anything hollow, i.e. a turner or woodworker, whose most typical tool (jrn) isa chisel.Me kopparajrnum grtherefore means either nished (i.e. smoothed)with chisels, or, perhaps better, nished, i.e. decorated, with chiselling.

38The necessity for the queen to sleep in another bed is obviously so that thepurity of the king, which is necessary if he is to receive a revelation from heaven,


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Notes 33may not be sullied by carnal intercourse. For other examples of this taboo in dreamritual in Old Icelandic, see Faulkes 1966, 1213.

39inu ira(i.e. innra) stinu: the inner position, i.e. inside the screen dividing the

rkismennfrom the hirmenn.40veldishringrring of power, is the usual word for halo in Old Icelandic. ButveldishringrGusseems to mean not the usual round ring such as is often depictedabove the heads of angels and saints, but rather what is technically known as a vesicaor vesica piscis, a pointed oval gure completely surrounding a divine gure. This isshown by the description of the aureole in the dream (p. 18 above) which was vaxinn(shaped) sem veldishringr Gus, that is, it was shaped like the aureole usuallyfound round pictures of God, though in this case it was only round the head of thecrucix. This aureole is a little later described as oval and pointed at top and bottom.

That the veldishringr Gus was traditionally regarded as different from ordinaryhaloes is also implied by the quotation fromMaru sagagiven below, note 48.The vesicais in general only found associated with divine gures (or the Virgin

Mary), and is especially common in representations of the transguration, where thegure of Christ is often surrounded by one, while the watching apostles have only theusual round halo round their heads; cf. Dalton 1911, 68283, 655, and illustrationsof such scenes in that book. Illustrations containing vesicae are also found in SelmaJnsdttir 1959, plates 2 (Torcello), 6 (Mount Sinai) and 8 (S. Angelo in Formis). Inthat book the author demonstrates that the medieval carvings from Bjarnastaarhland Flatatunga show close connection with the art of Monte Casino in the lateeleventh century, where the inuence was predominantly Byzantine. The author ofthettrmay well have seen such works of art showing strong Byzantine inuence,and thus have been acquainted with the Byzantine convention of reserving thevesica-shaped aureole for God, while lesser gures had only an ordinary halo. Atany rate it must be admitted that his description of veldishringrGusaccords withthis convention.

41mlstofaspeech-hall, public hall: the large hall in a medieval dwelling wasusually used for eating, sleeping and business. One would therefore expect the roommentioned here to be the same as that in which the events of the previous eveningtook place, stofan(p. 6), but later on (p. 22) it is made clear that the mlstofawasnot used for eating in this case (Gekk konungr san brott r mlstofunni ok tilbora). It might perhaps be rendered conference room (cf. Valtr Gumundsson1889, 192 where it is glossed audiensstue). The fact that Raulfrs house hadsuch a hall emphasises the magnicence of the establishment.

42 abbragligum: i.e. afbragligum. In afbragand afburrthefis often assimi-lated to the following b, and the change is often shown in the spelling abb-, whichrepresents the usual modern Icelandic pronunciation, see Blndal under afbrag&c., and Noreen 1923, 269.

43 slarsteinn sunstone is thought to have been a piece of Iceland spar, atransparent variety of calcite that is common in parts of Iceland, which polariseslight and can be used to determine the position of the sun on a cloudy day. P. G.Foote (1956, 2640) has drawn attention to the fact that sunstones are referred to inHrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, Gumundar saga gaand in church inventories.


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34 NotesThe fact that in Old Icelandic, these stones are always the property of the church orof bishops, suggests that they were commonly used for keeping the time for churchservices, though it is also possible that they were used for navigation.

44

ftt muni vera aftkt um yra skapsmuni: compare Hreiarrs words whenasked a similar question (but with reference to physical rather than moral defects)by King Magns in Hreiars ttr (Faulkes 2011, 46, lines 1624). This wholeconversation is remarkably similar to that between Hreiarr and Magns: bothHreiarr and Dagr are asked to point out defects in the kings, and both unexpectedlygive the right answer (after protestations), and, even more unexpectedly, both kingstake the criticisms good-humouredly.

45kvennanna st: nowhere else is this explicitly said to be one of the kings vices,although, like many other kings, he had a mistress, lfhildr. Their son was Magns

gi, who became king of Norway in 1035; see HkrII 209. This fact is given inall versions of lfs saga helga, but Styrmir, in his saga, gives some details aboutirregularities in the kings conduct that are not in other versions. In the additionsto Flateyjarbk from Styrmirs saga (FlatIII 23748) we hear of another mistressof the king, Steinvr, but according to Styrmir, lfr conquered his desire for herbecause hann viri meira vilja Gus himinrki en sna eiginliga fst. He also saysthat lfr barisk dagliga vi hinn forna fjnda, although he does not specicallysay that the kings chief temptation was to lust. Compare also the verses attributedto King lfr in interpolations in lfs saga helga, SkjB I 210212, verses 4, 7, 8,10, 11, where he confesses to desire for Steinvr (4 and 7), Ingibjrg Finnsdttir (8)and Ingigerr, wife of Jarizleifr of Garariki (cf. note 31 above). All these verseswere probably interpolated into Snorris lfs sagafrom Styrmirs saga (cf. H771, 820), though no. 8 is also in the Legendary saga. This is another indication thatthe author of thettrknew lfs saga in Styrmirs version, where this side of thekings character is most strongly stressed.

It is noteworthy that in Snorris shortened version of the ttrin HandHkr,he does not specify the vice that Dagr found in the king, but merely says thatDagr fann at til er konungi tti rtt. This, and the fact that Snorri also omits allStyrmirs details about the kings relations with Steinvr and Ingibjrg, suggeststhat Snorri did not agree about this aspect of the kings character, or that he wishedto suppress it. Cf. Sigurr Nordal 1920, 240: En Snorra hefur ekki tt slikt samaum lf konung siasta rkisri hans, og rtt ur en jarteinir hans hfust. Seealso Nordal 1953, 20708.

46er n her hazk: this refers to the disintegration of lfrs power in Norwayin the last few years of his reign, when he began to be threatened, not only by thedisgruntled nobility of Norway, but also by the threat of invasion from abro

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Raudulfs Thattr. Text

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