SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Saga-Book of the Viking Society
during a longer circulation of the story in oral
tradition, as Bjorn M. Olsen suggests. It would reflect
more to the credit of Aron and the bishop's men if their
numbers on Grimsey, or in the Holar raid, had been less,
whereas in the one case where we should expect to find an
increase, in the Valshamarr episode, the figure is actually
smaller.
Two other instances, however, do appear to bear out
Bjorn's contention that the inflation has some point.
lslendinga saga says that two priests, Snorri and Knutr,
were captured in the churchyard on Grimsey, while Arons
saga names them as only two among some men (nokkura
menn) who were selected for torture. 30 The figure of
compensation paid to Sturla for the illegal protection of
Aron by Einarr and Sveinbjorn Hrafnsson is raised from
ten hundreds in Sturla to sixty hundreds in Arons saga. 31
Both these cases reflect the general trend of the latter to
blacken the deeds of Aron's enemies. Since Sturla says
that it was his brother Boovarr who paid over this money
at the assembly his account is more likely to be the
accurate one.
In many of their particulars the two stories disagree
about what actually happened at certain times and places,
and if we bear in mind that i slendinga saga is in all
probability older, and certainly more sober in tone, then
some of these divergences appear rather important.
Sturla tells that Einarr skemmingr died in Malmey at
Easter, and that the bishop and his men did not move to
Grimsey until after the festival, but in Arons saga we are
told that the move took place before Easter and that
Einarr died on Grimsey.s- Consequently Sturla has
nothing about the brutal desecration of Einarr's grave
and corpse, an episode in Arons saga which is dearly
intended to discredit the Sturlungs.s" It is just as
30 Sturl. I 292; II 249.
31 Sturl. I 305; II 259.
32 SturZ. I 288; II 244.
33 Sturl, II 249.