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Hollander: Jómsv. saga. 215
are supposed to have brought the story back to their country-
men. But it follows, I believe, also from the clearly dis-
cernible Icelandic point of view from which the saga is
written. The attitude of the author toward the Danish
kings is either indifferent or scornful. Our sympathy is
entirely with those who rebel against them. In the case of
Harald Gormsson, this animosity has good historical reasons
which are adduced by Snorre (Hmsk. Olafss. Tryggv. chap.
33): An Icelandic ship had been wrecked on the Danish
coast and had been confiscated by Birger, an earl of the
king, notwithstanding the protests of the crew. When this
became known in Iceland the Althing passed the law that
a nidvisa should be made about the king for every human
being on the island. Enraged, the king collected a fleet to
harry Iceland and bring it under his dominion, but desisted:
for excellent good reasons. These circumstances were of
course known to the author.
The Jóm8víkings remain in the center of vision through-
out the story; and I, for one, cannot conceal my sympathy
even for the foxy Sigvaldi who takes king Sveinn captive
by a dastardly ruse — which, no doubt, appealed to the
Icelanders. — But no sooner do the Jómsvíkings approach
Norway than our sympathy becomes quite plainly divided
between them and the land of their enemy Håkon whose
personal antecedents are elsewhere portrayed in the most
unfavorable light (against Krijn p. 61).
Icelandic authorship is evident, also, in the limitations
of the author’s geographic knowledge. His information is
rather vague until we approach Norway. The Danish
coast is not very clear to him. The battle between king
Harald and his son Sveinn is located on the coast of
Bornholm. We are told of a bay in which Sveinn is
bottled up; but a minute study of the coastline of that
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