The Saga of Gaukur á Stöng is believed to have existed but is now considered lost. The saga set in the anthology of sagas known as
Möðruvallabók
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Möðruvallabók () or AM 132 fol is an Icelandic manuscript from the mid-14th century, inscribed on vellum. It contains the following Icelandic sagas in this order:
*''Njáls saga''
*''Egils saga''
*''Finnboga saga ramma''
*''Bandamanna ...
between ''
Njáls saga
''Njáls saga'' ( ), also ''Njála'' ( ), ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' ( ) or ''"The Story of Burnt Njáll"'', is a thirteenth-century sagas of Icelanders, Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 and 1020.
The saga deals with a process of ...
'' and ''
Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar'' tells of a man named Gaukur Trandilsson who lived in the 10th century. Gaukur is mentioned in chapter 26 of ''Njáls saga''. Icelandic professor and poet
Jón Helgason managed to decipher a line that read: "Let Trandilsson's story be written here. I am told that
r.Grim knows it." However, the story was never put to parchment. The Grim mentioned in the manuscript is believed to have been Grímur Þorsteinsson, knight and governor ().
Gaukur is reported to have been an exceptionally brave and gentle man. He was the foster brother of Ásgrimur. However, it is said that he had a falling out with his foster brother, who ultimately killed him.
Gaukur must have been a well-known figure in Icelandic folklore as he is mentioned in not only ''Njáls Saga'' but also ''
Íslendingadrápa ''Íslendingadrápa'' (''The drápa of the Icelanders'') is a skaldic poem composed in Iceland in the 12th or 13th century. It is preserved only in AM 748 Ib 4to, one of the manuscripts of the Prose Edda. The manuscript identifies the author as one ...
'', a poem about Icelandic heroes. He is also mentioned on a tomb in the
Orkney Islands
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, where a runic inscription translates to: "These runes were carved by the man who was the most knowledgeable of runes in the west of the sea, using the axe that belonged to Gaukur Trandilsson in the south of the land".
[Naumann, Hanspeter (2011); "Die Saga von Njal und dem Mordbrand", p. 326, , 2011] The south of the land refers to Iceland.
References
Sagas of Icelanders
{{Iceland-saga-stub