SOURCE: Louis-Jensen, Jonna. “A Good Day's Work: Laxdaela Saga, ch. 49.” In Cold Counsel: Women in Old Norse Literature and Mythology, edited by Sarah M. Anderson, pp. 189-99. New York: Routledge, 2002.

In the following essay, Louis-Jensen attempts to correct possible textual corruptions in Laxdaela Saga chapter 49 in order to unveil a subtle, ironic reading of Gudrun's character in her response to Kjartan's death.

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A notable feature of the “saga style” is the emphatic phrase (apophthegm, laconism), which marks the dramatic peak of a dialogue, and thereby of a scene. Well-known examples are the heroic understatements “Hneit þar,” “Þau tíðkask nú en breiðu spjótin,” “Vel hefir konungrinn alit oss, feitt er mér enn of hjartarœtr”. With its “slow, measured dialogues” (Clover 1974:65), Laxdæla saga may be atypical in this respect, but even Laxdæla contains at least two phrases that have been assigned to...