The former of these stories is the _Hrómundra Saga_ which belongs to the class commonly called _Fornaldar Sögur_.[230]
Still further back in the reign of Harald Hardradith (1047-1066) we have a most important allusion to the art of story-telling. According to the saga[231] a young Icelander came one summer to King Harald seeking his protection. The king received him into his court on the understanding that he should entertain the household during the winter. He soon became very popular, and received gifts from members of the household and from the king himself. Just before Christmas the king noticed that the Icelander seemed dejected, and he asked the reason. The Icelander replied that it was because of his ‘uncertain temper.’
“That is not so,” said the king… “I think your stock of sagas must be exhausted, because you have entertained us all through the winter, whenever you were called upon to do so. Now you are worried because your sagas have come to an end at Christmas time, and you do not wish to tell the same over again.”
“You have guessed rightly,” said the Icelander. “I know only one more saga, but I dare not tell it here, because it is the story of your adventures abroad.”
“That is the saga I particularly want to hear,” said the king, and he asked the Icelander to begin it on Christmas Day and tell a part of it every day. During the Christmas season there was a good deal of discussion about the entertainment. Some said it was presumption on the part of the Icelander to tell the saga and they wondered how the king would like it; others thought it was well told, but others again thought less of it. When the saga was finished, the king, who had listened attentively throughout, turned to the story-teller and said: “Are you not curious to know, Icelander, how I like the saga?”
“I am afraid to ask,” replied the story-teller.
The king said: “I think you have told it very well. Where did you get the material for it, and who taught it to you?”
The Icelander answered: “When in Iceland I used to go every summer to the _Thing_, and each summer I learned a portion of the saga from Halldór Snorrason.”
“Then it is not surprising that you know it so well, since you have learned it from him,” said the king.