Note to Anon Ól 3I
[1] fór í braut á báru ‘went away on the wave’: This appears to suggest that Óláfr walked on the water. Given the poor state of the text and the fact that gekk ‘walked’ rather than fór ‘went, travelled’ might have been expected, this remains uncertain, and such a claim would be unique to this poem: ÓT (1958-2000, II, 231) only has engi uissi með hveriu moti hann for ꜳ land ‘no-one knew by what means he got to land’. Nevertheless, walking on water seems likely since it would match and justify the second helmingr and would allude to the Gospel story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. XIV. 22-33), with which the Þorkell episode shares several elements: Jesus/Óláfr is praying alone on land at night, while his companions are on a boat; Jesus/Óláfr walks on the water; Peter/Þorkell has to be rescued from the water by Jesus/Óláfr. A further possibility is that he was carried by an angel, as is reported elsewhere of Óláfr (cf. Flat 1860-8, I, 464).
References
- Bibliography
- Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=60> (accessed 4 May 2024)