Prophecy and the Three <i>vatnavættir</i> in <i>Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka</i>

The fornaldarsaga Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka exists in just one vellum manuscript from around 1450 (GKS 2845 4to), from which all other fifty-five paper manuscripts of the saga are descended.1 The saga is previously suggested to have appeared in the fourteenth century, and perhaps to be based on a lost saga called *Hróks saga svarta by the compiler of Sturlunga saga.2 If so, this lost saga may or may not have been similar to the saga we have now, but the lost saga does seem to have been composed between 1220 and 1280.3 Although sometimes thought to be a rather jumbled narrative, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka is notable for its themes of polygamy, rivalry amongst jealous women, and competition amongst men for women.4 The saga also plays host to several episodes that concern supernatural creatures making prophecies and thereby directing the plot.In Hálfs saga, there are three vættir (spirits) that intervene in King Hjǫrleifr's life story via prophecies.5 These three creatures do so by emerging from and interacting with the landscape of the saga. The landscape on which these struggles are set is far from being an unsettled wilderness with unrecognizable monsters inhabiting craggy peaks; Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka presents a fully-settled landscape firmly under the control of royal domain right from the beginning. The notion of settlement pervades the saga and the fate of kingdoms is frequently a central concern. This is displayed physically in the picture created by the saga narrative by the three aquatic vættir that appear in the saga, in which the landscape helps to construct the world of the supernatural. My reading of the three spirits will aim to show in particular how the three vættir in the first part of the story connect with their surroundings. Then I will go on to identify and discuss possible sources and analogues of the first and third vættir. To conclude, I will suggest that the vættir of this saga and their interaction with the landscape reflect specifically Icelandic concerns and furthermore point to Hálfs saga being composed approximately in the mid-thirteenth century.The three vatnavættir (water spirits) each present a construction of the supernatural landscape in which they dwell. Each is connected to water and each interacts with the landscape to tell their individual prophecies; Torfi H. Tulinius has argued that these vættir foretell the consequences of Hjǫrleifr's actions at crucial points in the saga, and function to emphasize the dangers of excessive lust for women.6 In his analysis of Hálfs saga, he argues that the nature of these creatures forms a progression. Reading them as anthropomorphic figures, he sees the first as a troll made out of stone, the second as a crag that juts out of water, and the third as some kind of aquatic creature. The stone troll he reads as chthonic and opposed to the third aquatic creature, while the second is intermediary, being chthonic but rising from the sea, the three originating perhaps in some kind of mythic substratum to the saga.7 Torfi's reading sits admirably with an analysis of the supernatural in the landscape, the first two figures being directly traceable to natural features (a large stone and cliff) and the third creature having a more slippery origin as a denizen of the depths of the ocean. Here, the supernatural creatures connected with stone and the landscape are one, the dichotomous worldview a production solely of those who view the rocks as creatures rather than simply as stones.However, the three creatures can be read differently in accordance with how they interact with the landscape, and I would not place so much certainty on the first two creatures being literally made out of stone as Torfi's analysis seems to imply. The third creature, aquatic in nature, I would argue is perhaps of more importance for his actions than the fact he is dragged up from the sea, although no doubt this is also significant, given the connection to water of all three vættir. These creatures form a progression: they become more obviously corporeal and human-like as the saga progresses. I will take each creature in turn, discussing the words used to describe them and how they function in terms of their landscape. For the first and third creatures I will then progress to discuss their possible sources and analogues.The brunnmigi has been interpreted previously as a troll made out of stone since an Irish analogue, Fergus mac Léite, has been identified by Davíð Erlingsson that is suggestive of several aspects of the saga.8 However, I would suggest that although the set up for the situation involving this and the third vættr may well have been suggested by the Irish tale, the tröll as depicted in the Icelandic story is unlikely to be the same beast. It is introduced to the narrative of Hálfs saga thus: Á sunnanverðri Finnmörk í Gjarðeyjargeima lá Hjörleifr konúngr um nótt, ok höfðu sveinar eld á landi, ok fóru tveir menn at sækja vatn til lækjar, er fèll af bjargi fram; þar sá þeir brunnmiga, ok sögðu Hjörleifi konúngi9(King Hjǫrleifr lay at anchor one night in the harbor Gjømma in Gjerdøya, and the men made fire on land, and two men went to get water from a brook that fell over a cliff; there they saw a brunnmigi, and told King Hjǫrleifr.)10The name of this creature, brunnmigi, indicates it is a despoiler of springs and wells, and it is glossed by Cleasby-Vigfusson as: “‘mingens in puteum,’ a kind of hobgoblin who polluted the wells,” brunnr being a ‘spring’ or ‘well’ in Old Norse, and Latin mingo (also meio, root mig), “to make water, to void urine.”11 Spotted by two men out seeking water, the brunnmigi seems at first sight to dwell in or by water that falls over a rock or precipice. We are left to imagine what this particular water-goblin looks like and how Hjǫrleifr's men were able to identify it as a brunnmigi, as it is not described. Indeed, this creature's identity is far from fixed: this is the only occurrence of such a creature in Old Norse literature and it is not found in later legend or folk belief.12 The saga author refers to the creature as a þurs and then as a tröll (p. 29).13 Generally, þurs in Old Norse is used in reference to a giant, perhaps with connotations of stupidity (cf. Danish tosse, ‘a fool’), and tröll is a somewhat generic term for undesirable supernatural creatures. So this water-creature is positively identified as an evil spirit of some kind, possibly with gigantic connotations, who despoils springs or wells through urine.Even if the brunnmigi possesses the ability to dive into the cliff face, since “þussinn skautz inn í bjargit” (p. 29) (the goblin shot into the cliff), I find no evidence that the brunnmigi need be made of rock, and although the creature is in fact presented the least physically of the three spirits, his lack of corporality shown by him shooting specterlike into a rock after the king commands:Gakk þú frá brunni,gletta littu við mik,þræll herfiligr!Þíns innis til. (p. 29)14(Go away from the well,you're provoking me,wretched slave,to your home.)This is balanced in the narrative by the creature being shot in the eye by the king (p. 29).15 The impact of the verse spoken by the tröll is augmented by the spatial divide between the humans huddled around their fire and the brunnmigi perched “af bjargi” (p. 29) (on the cliff), his home clearly in or on the rock over which the spring flows. This gap also represents the difference in nature of the characters of Hjǫrleifr and his men and the vættr. The brunnmigi is a land-dwelling, somewhat intangible creature whose connection to water possibly comes from his purging urine into it, although this seems to have no perceived effect on the water quality, since Hjǫrleifr and his men are not deterred from getting their water from it.Two supernatural events are linked to the second water creature: the prophecy coming from the “fjall” to Hjǫrleifr and the unnatural journey of Hringja's coffin. The second water vættr rises out of the sea in the north when he and his men are in Jutland, and is a “mikit fjall, ok jafnt vaxit sem mann” (p. 30). Torfi envisages this creature as “a crag that juts out of the water,” and clearly this mikit fjall (great mountain) is anthropomorphic since it starts to speak.16 It seems to be a man-like mountain but could also plausibly be a mountain-like man.17 The boundary between landscape feature and the vættr is thus distinctly hazy: the prophecy concerning the fates of Hringja, Heri, Hjǫrleifr, and Hreiðarr comes straight from the ground, planted in the open sea as opposed to the top of a rock face as with the brunnmigi. Whether or not it is a man or a mountain (or a combination of the two), the fjall is distinctly physical in comparison to the first tröll which could simply shoot into the rock face only to reappear above it.The verse spoken by the fjall is unique to the saga and its use of the first person adds directness and a tone reminiscent of prophecies made by völur: “Eg sè Hríngju / haug um orpin” (p. 30) (I see Hringja thrown towards the burial mound); the sudden and unexpected death of Hringja occurs directly afterwards. Her coffin, thrown overboard, is mysteriously and swiftly carried by the ocean currents back to her brother and father: Hún andaðist at jafnlengd þess, er hún hafði sótt tekit, ok varð skotit kistu hennar fyri borð, en hún fór svâ skjótt suðr aptr, sem róit væri sexærðu skipi. (pp. 30–31)(She died at the same time the next day as when she had become ill, and her coffin was thrown overboard, and it went so quickly back south as a six-oared boat might be rowed.)A series of opposites is built up here to form a rich picture of the characters’ interaction with the landscape. The fjall itself is between man and mountain and land and sea, juxtaposed yet combined in all its attributes.The vættr's appearance in the north is in opposition to the southwards direction Hringja's coffin shoots once overboard. Unusual occurrences caused by cargo aboard a vessel also feature in Örvar-Odds saga: Svá er veðr þetta mikit, at við því þótti búit, at af á ok til er til er ok at þeir at en aptr, til at í í at er was so that they thought the were to under Then to from his and the to do only one to do all the cargo and it use will that be to the with This was that the cargo was all see that it one of the but some of it it all forms into one then it went the direction of the with so that it was out of the and the it and his are clearly not of a nature but caused by in for their having been The and journey of the cargo the is reminiscent of Hálfs saga, although who is for the coffin shooting south of its is not in this saga, and the of the to is more than The by the appearance of the fjall (p. 30) the not is in to the coffin which shot south róit væri sexærðu (p. a six-oared might be in with the appearance of the fjall in the indicates that the vættr and Hjǫrleifr are with more the home of Hringja is with the the Danish and the of her coffin there the of events to the in three of the saga is a of creature in Norse literature and later Although in Hálfs saga, other Old Norse and (the and the creature is glossed in as a a although not man of the it is some kind of sea goblin or sea It is the corporeal and of the three up out of the sea in three on a as it the of the creatures from the nature of the brunnmigi, via the form of the fjall, to the sea three creatures with the all three or in or under The first two the brunnmigi and the fjall, are connected by their to the rock (the nature of a fjall this as does the the brunnmigi on to a the it has the to at the king and will not prophecy back to the The of the has been in by who that the is the of the more than the The be to the same in which he was found he will this creature can in the and landscape of the and in an aquatic and although clearly inhabiting and to it does not appear to be on The the to prophecy in is between the of land and the of is over his place in the sea, between to see between the brunnmigi is in Old Norse literature or later but a possible connection can be made with the of of from and well for This Icelandic had a of and just and this as well as amongst his his for their for his of natural of water, wells and was to in er þeir til við he that well that they later in to saga This in all of the saga. These two and point to the of the goblin in Hálfs saga, since they in such in saga and are clearly to of the vættr in Hálfs in to springs and of water, also rocks and humans were to the were clearly thought to in the I have on the ability to into the cliff and his prophecy spoken from the top of the rock there is no with in the of his and the connection with water it is that they are also with and supernatural creatures that are the of the brunnmigi seems to be from it is not the that this of the saga characters to the of the well in saga can be Although King Hjǫrleifr to the brunnmigi from the brunnr and so could be with has argued that to or springs in springs carried no connotations and there do not appear to have been spirits of kind with springs or sources of have been evil spirits or with It is also specifically the brunnr rather than the cliff that Hjǫrleifr to the spirit and so it is not that Hjǫrleifr might the brunnmigi coming from the of a by urine is by comparison of of the has suggested that Hálfs saga was composed in the mid-thirteenth of with one the the third of the although the manuscript (GKS 2845 is from However, there is also an between and concerning The to the brunnmigi and is in the composed after death and only when for his The is into saga, which I have from but is also found in the Sturlunga saga by from is also in the Sturlunga and is one of the sources for time as It thus seems that was with a of concerning and that composed the saga was with similar as since the brunnmigi and the figures can be linked to he was obviously seems that the and of and the was at the time of the production of 2845 the only vellum Hálfs saga, in of the and sources of are in of one of springs to be to the of water from It is not to which this although the story seems to be set in the to fourteenth and perhaps indicates the of an with in the of at this time need the of a in the with to the of thus to have into the and fourteenth time for with him to the of the its were which is in comparison to the fact that Hjǫrleifr's men are in the water from the It is that in or a was for in a in so perhaps then was the of the in Hálfs saga, combined with the of brunnr and in saga, the of the through all the of the saga and the of and connection with water as as the fourteenth century, the appearance of the brunnmigi in connection with a spring and cliff in Hálfs saga as a but tröll would have been by the as a reference to the of the landscape itself in Hálfs saga has not been from the the saga to has that of the saga. be a spring and a cliff for the to be and this also a for the creature to its prophecy to Hjǫrleifr as his men to the brunnmigi can be connected with so the of the on a with Hálfs saga. This is in the and and although the is for of ok er þú um á up a and when he do prophecy or we in This is one of the several in of a place to since the it is in this the place to his The vættr's prophecy will thus how the landscape is with the of and the that the the will is they will that the place of settlement is out of as it is by the in with the The of the landscape here is by the the the the water that will of the in the of is to Hálfs saga than the and some In the to the he prophecies ok þú the of and the of or not which is an of the of making the creature one in Hálfs saga and the of In Hálfs saga, his is since af (p. one a out of he out and of the after which (p. (the king him he in the of after making his prophecy þeir af get more words out of These two in the in Hálfs saga and are similar to suggest some of between the However, it is to have been between the manuscript that since the name of the vættr is differently in each when each is they similar at the of is a as is between manuscripts that no The name of the vættr is in and it does not as it seems that the as in is to Hálfs is that the story of the in in Hálfs saga and were that can be up by the since also this of I argued the actions of the his and are more than his in the sea, and this is out by the fact that it is only in the Icelandic of the that the creature is an aquatic In literature it is who has the of the to which the in is in Norse and of was in from at least and was into Old Norse in the to mid-thirteenth In the does not or as he his in However, in the an Latin to the between and when the his prophecies he a the is a of the by the and his that the was read and of in a form to the of Hálfs saga or and that the had introduced the by the mid-thirteenth century.The of the the the and its manuscript is thus with the Hálfs saga vellum (GKS 2845 from the The found only in the a prophecy then at the of is also a in the when the he to The he this that so and also and I that he he to his is a and of a the of the Old composed in the first of the However, the first of the of to is based on the Old by of and his in which has suggested have the narrative as a of can be shown to have been in in by the time the and then the the in that these two it is possible that the had in the form of well Hálfs saga is thought to have been of and the death may also in Hálfs saga there are three prophecies and thus three vatnavættir in the story of Fergus mac Léite, which is to have the of prophecies and there are only two The second vættr in Hálfs saga, the man or mountain rising out of the sea, is a far than the first and third and its seem created to a generic landscape feature to a prophecy for a The death in (a with the and was by when has to his as a he three for the same person who has three to and the to the as The also three at three points (the third is not a prophecy but an to the of what is for a The of the second vættr the of the brunnmigi or the and is it could have been simply to make the of death prophecies up to the of through the narrative Hjǫrleifr's above that the of the was possibly to the from a as an Icelandic of the However, given that the in in being to vellum as part of Hálfs saga or and that his name in the not become to the the it has been suggested by and that the may have its name to via the a while it that and the to the same story is not be deterred by the fact that occurs in a sea in Icelandic literature rather than a The the in is in and so it is that there are in other The and worldview of the saga is also more to a sea up on a than a in Hálfs saga in its form as by 2845 the with the from the sea in a unique to the third in the of three prophecies Hjǫrleifr in a distinctly Icelandic that to the of three vættir above all a to water but the concerns them all appear to the brunnmigi in reference to the fjall in reference to a landscape and the as an Icelandic of the This the of the of the saga to connect each of the three vættir with water, the two specifically with the has suggested that the of in its of the and in particular the of and lack of control over I would suggest that the sea as a and a to the since what humans The sea is and the prophecies are to It is the with certainty that it a landscape in which to set the three through the out of the they the in a sea of worldview this is not only with the of the saga and the saga but also with the on royal and control present in the saga. Hálfs saga is notable for the points of it has with the or clearly by and the was obviously with the life story of as by The from in Hálfs saga in the of by the as was also of the story of a being dragged up out the sea to is also in the of notion of or royal control and present in the saga is in the of the for in that the was This by the king in and was an and in the in was opposition from individual and in to the king of that the of the Icelandic of the in it is that in a saga reference be made to the of since although of all the Icelandic is the only one to have had a for his he was not by the he to he was amongst the and the is only one of the he caused some of his This is not to that was those by but of the on the was when with and the of in the of the saga towards those the and the (the story of point towards the saga being much a of the events of the century, and the and set out above point towards the to as the for the The supernatural creatures in the narrative interact with the landscape of the saga to and a based in and on the situation to and his