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The Date of the Saga of the Greenlanders 59
seems to have struck him as more satisfactory to have the
prophecy of GutirH5r's fate occur early in her lifetime, and
for that reason he invented the episode about :Porbjorg,
the Little Sybil.
Let us now look again at the genealogies. Neither of
the sagas mentions the name of Bishop Brandr's father,
but it is significant that the bishop is in no way further
identified in the Saga of the Greenlanders, whereas in both
manuscripts of the Saga of Eirikr he is referred to as
"Bishop Brandr the First" (Brandr byskup inn fyrri) and
is thus distinguished from Bishop Brandr Jonsson of
Holar (I263-I264). It is, therefore, clear that the Saga
of Eirikr was written after I264. This dating also agrees
well with the fact that the author of the Saga of Eirikr
seems to have used the Landndmabok of Sturla :portiarson.
To be sure, both the present writer and others have
held the opinion that an older version of the saga
previously existed. Sven B. F. Jansson shows, however,
that material from the Landndmabok of Sturla :Portiarson
has not been interpolated in the early chapters of the Saga
of Eirikr in any mechanical or artificial way, but rather
in a manner one would expect only the original author to
have employed. 5 It is very probable, therefore, that the
characteristics which have led scholars to postulate an
earlier Saga of Eirikr are to be explained by the author's
use of various written sources. On the other hand,
a study of the text of the Saga of the Greenlanders leads
most naturally to the conclusion that it was composed
before I263, and is thus older than the Saga of Eirikr.
Bishop Brandr Jonsson was also a descendant of
Karlsefni and Gutiritir, and, moreover, through two
branches of the family. His father, Jon from Svinafell,
was the son of Sigmundr Ormsson of Valpjofsstaoir, but
the mother of Ormr was :Porny, the sister of Bishop
Bjorn Gilsson. Again, the mother of Bishop Brandr
Jonsson was Halld6ra, whose father was Arnorr
'Sagorna om Vinland I, 84-90.