Færeyinga saga and Þrændlur: Magic in the Faroe Islands
The saga of the Faroe Islanders, or Færeyinga saga, is a very early saga, usually counted in the so-called kings’ sagas. The saga was written in the early 13th century and exists largely in three manuscripts: Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, Flateyjarbók, and AM 62 fol. Broadly, the saga covers the conversion of the Faroese Islands to Christianity under Óláfr Tryggvason and the struggle for the heart of island, represented by two men: Sigmundr Brestisson and Þrándr Þorbjarnarson. Sigmundr Brestisson is a successful warrior and chieftain in the southern Faroese islands and is a loyal retainer of Óláfr Tryggvason. Sigmundr Brestisson repeatedly attempts to convert the islands to Christianity but is met with fierce resistance, particularly by Þrándr Þorbjarnarson. Þrándr Þorbjarnarson a pagan chieftain who lived in Gǫta (modern day Norðragøta) in the northern islands. After forcibly converting Þrándr Þorbjarnarson at the edge of an axe, Sigmundr Brestisson is later attacked during the night. He and some of his companions flee in a boat. Fighting the waves and a storm, their boat begins to capsize. Despite his best efforts, one of his companions dies on their way to Suðuroy and the other drowns in the surf, close to shore. Sigmundr reaches land but lays near death on the beach. A nearby farmer sees the exhausted man and kills Sigmundr, stealing his arm ring.
What follows is one of the most well-known and interesting scenes in the saga. Sigmundr‘s daughter, Þóra Sigmundsdóttir, agrees to marry one of Þrándr´s companions, Leifr Özurarson, on the condition that he proves his father is not Sigmundr’s murderer. Þrándr Þorbjarnarson and Leifr Özurarson then travel to Suðuroy and confront the farmer, Þorgrímr, and his sons. The two would-be detectives accuse the farmer and his sons of the murder, binding them up in their own house. Then, as night falls on the island, Þrándr Þorbjarnarson begins a ritual to expose the killer. The passage, translated and edited by Anthony Faulkes (2016), reads:
...Þrándr had now great fires built up in the living room and four gratings he has made with four corners, and nine squares Þrándr cuts out in all directions from the gratings, and he sits on a seat between teh fire and the gratings. He asks them now not to talk to him, and they obey. Þrándr sits thus for awhile. And as time passed, then a person goes into the living room, and he was soaked. They recognise this person, that it was Einnarr Suðreyingr. He goes to the fire and stretches out his hands to it, and for a short time, and goes back out after that. And as time passed, a person goes into the living roomæ he goes up to the fire and stretches out his hands towards it and after that goes out. They recognised that this was Þórir. Soon after this the third man goes into the living room. This was a big man and very bloody. He had his head in his hand. This one they all recognise to be Sigmundr Brestisson. He stops for awhile in the middle of the floor and after that goes out...
Þrándr Þorbjarnarson, exhausted from his magic ritual, interprets what they saw. Einarr Suðreyingr died first, then Þórir and, finally, Sigmundr was beheaded while he lay exhausted on the shore.
This passage is interesting, not only for the magical detective work, nor the creepy imagery of drowned and frozen men reaching their weary hands out to one last fire to warm their dead hands, but also for the words used to describe the space for the incantation. Two words in particular are of interest: grind and reita. Peter Foote (1964) has written a fascinating essay on this passage and how to interpret what is happening. To begin with, the grind was likely a rectangular frame of wood with an interlacing pattern used primarily for fencing. These portable, rectangular barriers would have been combined to create a pen or fold for animals. As opposed to some of other scholars, Foote (1964) argues that these grindanna (plural) were then set in front of the fire, rather than around it. Turning to the other word, the word reitr is associated etymologically with ríta (English write) and usually denotes a scratched line. Foote (1964) takes the nine reita to mean that Þrándr carved concentric squares around the square fence, creating a “magic circle”, as it were, around the fire and his seat. Peter Foote (1964) finds similar uses of grindanna and reita have analogs in Tacitus, Eddic poetry, and even 18th century Poland. For instance, when Tacitus describes the famous bog burials of criminals, he mentions that there is a fencing placed around the marsh to prevent the dead from crossing the boundary. He goes on, “The gates of Hel’s domain are the helgrindr; and helgrind in the singular is used of the opening of Angantýr’s burial mound” (Foote 1964). Overall, the combination of reitar and grindr protects the living from the dead.
This story is also told in the saga’s rímur counterpart: Þrændlur. Þrændlur is one of two (often connected) rímur which deal with Færeyinga saga: Sigmundar rímur and Þrændlur. As the names suggest, each focuses on one of the two main characters of the saga, Sigmundr Brestisson and Þrándr Þorbjarnarson. These two rímur are unique for they are two of the few rímur composed prior to 1500 which deal with kings´ (or family) saga material. Not only is Þrændlur also a fascinating and faithful rendering of the prose but, as with other rímur, it provides a valuable insight into the history of late medieval Icelandic language and literature. While rímur are sung and were performed for dances and small gatherings, they are first and foremost a literary phenomenon. Þrændlur is a brilliant example of this literary composition. Turning to the same passage from the saga, the word choices and pacing in the rímur is almost identical to the saga. For instance, the beginning of the prose passage starts:
Þrándr hafði þá látit gera elda mikla í eldaskála ok grindr fjórar lætr hann gera með fjórum hornum, ok níu reita rístr Þrándr alla vega út frá grindunum, en hann sezk á stól milli elds ok grindanna.
Compare this with the corresponding rímur stanzas:
5.28
Fjötraðir voru feðgar þrír
Fellda hafa þeir gleði og tír
Færðu að eldi fjórar grindur
Fór hann síst að slíku blindur.
29
Reitina frá ég nú rista þann
Róstu blandinn lymsku mann
Aldrei Þránd að illsku þraut
Öllum magin frá grind í braut
30.
Setjast réð á sterkan stól
Styggðar drengur en myrk var njól
Misjafnt þótti hans möglan góð
Millum elds og grinda stóð
5.28
The father and sons were bound, three have killed
They brought gladness and glory
To have four lattices before the fire
He went worst such as a blind one.
29
I hear that man Þrándr carved
The spaces, blended with tumult
That main part never failed
All about the gate in the evil path
30.
The champion decided to seat himself
On the high seat of anger while night was dark
The uneven murmuring thought himself good
Between the fire and the enclosure stood
The rest of the corresponding rímur passage follows nearly exactly as well. The translation is given below:
32.
I hear that the heroes made such
A face it takes to behold
The breaker of shields went in the hall
They perceive that he was damp.
33. The great, proud one was weary
Stood on the floor for a long time
Einarr it was, known to all,
He stretched his hand to the fire
34. He turned to go out and they regarded
Quickly, they saw a tree of rings [warrior]
Going in about the gates there
Men recognized it was Þórir
35. He went as Einarr before
But Þrándr advised to sit at rest
No wood of heroes [warrior] spoke
And looked down at their feet
36. Next this third man rose
They saw going to the fire
The brilliant champion held his head
He was brawny and all bloody.
37. The champion stood on the floor awhile
They know fully the son of Brestir
He made after to go out
Sorrow does not diminish with men.
38. Þrándr rose stiff from the chair
Greatly was he then deprived of good fortune
He said the people were wretched about the land
The man throws off the weariness of spirit.
Overall, the rímur follows the prose text almost exactly and uses the same words consistently. It is clear that the author had access to the original Flateyjarbók, or at least a very good copy. The rímur maintains the pacing and draws out the magical and creepy scenes with few changes or digressions. As opposed to some more oral compositions or authorial inventions, Þrændlur is a highly literary work and deserves to be studied in more detail.