‘Cast Out This Bondwoman’

Hagar and Ishmael in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature

Abstract

This article explores some of the striking likenesses between saga narrative and biblical narrative, which are often noted by biblical scholars. It suggests that a process of ‘convergent evolution’ may lie behind what, in both traditions, has been called ‘saga style’. It then goes to investigate the complex intertextual relations between biblical narrative and saga narrative through a careful analysis of the story of Hagar and Ishmael. The Old Norse-Icelandic translation of this story in Stjórn I shows sensitivity to its moral complexity and an unexpected sympathy for Hagar, whose face is perhaps pictured in one of the manuscript initials in AM 227 fol. There are some significant parallels with the story of Melkorka in Laxdœla saga, and the scene where Isaac and Ishmael plays recalls some of the scenes involving foster-brothers in the sagas. Although it can be difficult to prove in what direction the influence goes, it is clear both that the saga authors may have drawn on biblical storytelling, and that the translator-compiler of Stjórn I was familiar with saga narrative. The reception of Hagar’s story shows how close the affinities between the two traditions are.