Trúskipti og písl í Hrafnkels sögu

Abstract

This article offers an interpretation of Hrafnkels saga through an analysis of its religious motifs and allusions. The torture (or písl) of Hrafnkell and his subsequent conversion divide the saga into two parts. Hrafnkell is introduced as a devoted pagan chieftain who dotes on Freyr, but his ardent beliefs and his oath to Freyr oblige him to kill Einar, a young farmhand, for riding Freyfaxi. As a result Hrafnkell loses his social power and property and, ultimately, his faith in Freyr's protection. The torture, the burning of the temple, the destruction of Freyfaxi and Hrafnkell's conversion are intricately linked in the saga. The article seeks to analyse the significant religious references in this chain of events in Hrafnkels saga and to show that it can be read as an allegory of Icelandic chieftains who despite their abandonment of paganism in the year 1000 did not substitute their pagan ethics of revenge and government for Christian morals. Such an allegorical interpretation of the saga is supported by the anachronisms within the saga. It is striking in a family saga to find pagan farmers committing the atrocities of wrecking temples and slaying sacred animals. Hrafnkell, though also a pagan, does not abandon his faith in order to convert to Christianity, but for personal reasons. Even though the saga notes that his temperament seems to mellow at this point, he continues with his autocratic style of government and his relentless killing of Eyvindur is in notable contrast to his former single combats (einvígi). The crucial events at the heart of the saga, which are foreshadowed in the dream in the first chapter, suggest an allegorical perspective for the saga. Such an interpretation is further sustained by the fact that the only adversaries worthy of Hrafnkell, Þorkell Þjóstarsson and Eyvindur Bjarnason, enter the saga after a period spent in the Christian world. These two men had been away for seven years and travelled to Constantinople where they had received great honours. The author may be suggesting that they came into contact with Christian ideas, which in the tenth century were foreign to Icelandic society. These two men bring about dramatic changes in Hrafnkell's life: Þorkell and his brother Þorgeir overthrow Hrafnkell (and would have killed him if Sámur had agreed), but Eyvindur falls victim to the belief that Hrafnkell would honour his settlement more than his duty to revenge. In this article an attempt is made to show that the two-fold structure of Hrafnkels saga, together with its numerous Christian and pagan references, and anachronisms, make an allegorical interpretation of the saga valid. It is, however, important to emphasise that such a reading of the saga does not exclude other approaches to this complex text.