THE DOLLZHELLIR EPISODE IN THE ORKNEYINGA SAGA

/CHAPTER 61 of the Orkneyinga saga bears the title "Kali v> f6r i Dollzhelli" in the Flateyjarbdk and seems to have the heading "Fra Dollsh[elli]" in MS. 325; yet only one tenth of the chapter deals with Kali's adventures in the Dollzhellir, the remainder being devoted to the completely unrelated quarrel between two servants regarding the merits of their masters. Even more noteworthy than the inappropriate chapter heading are several other features such as the vague description of the scene, the sketchy narrative, several contradictory statements, and the use of certain conventional motifs none of which, to my knowledge, has been commented on in print. The following translation of the passage is based on MS. 325, with a few variant readings from the Flateyjarbdk and MS. 702, as found in NordaPs edition of the saga:1