If the ‘knightly mode of combat’ displayed in Rémundar saga keisarasonar was part of a cultural program to propagate the Central European ideals of chivalry among a new Icelandic upper class, we may ask for the intentions and the audience of the ‘adventurous mode of combat’. Viking times were over, and giants and undead supposedly hard to find. Glauser argued that medieval literary production never aimed purely at entertainment:
Mittelalterliche Literatur, ästhetische Manifestation mittelalterlichen Bewusstseins, war in all ihrer Vielfalt darauf angelegt, durch das zentrale ständische Ideologem Gott zu glorifizieren. [...] Ebenso wie die Trennung zwischen Arbeit und Freizeit, Öffentlichkeit und Privatsphäre Begriffe der Neuzeit sind, die im mittelalterlichen Leben in dieser Form keine Entsprechung haben, wird man nicht von einer reinen, zweckfreien Unterhaltungsliteratur im Mittelalter ausgehen dürfen. (Glauser, 1985, p. 93)
But on the other hand, we would hardly do justice to texts like Egils saga einhenda ok Ámundar berserkjabana or Bósa saga ok Herrauðs if we were to deny their entertainment value as their first and foremost quality. While even the most ardent fan of chivalric literature will, at some point, have enough of Rémundar saga keisarasonar's stereotypical combat scenes, the vivid fight descriptions ‘adventurous mode of combat’ are sure to provoke a different reaction than boredom – be it excitement, amusement, or disgust. Concerning Ǫrvar-Odds saga, Torfi Tulinius remarked:
It is striking that the saga relates this theme of conversion to a certain kind of ethic that the saga seems to be promoting, one which encourages warriors to seek legitimacy through royal service. It may be noted in addition that Ǫrvar-Oddr is not of royal blood himself; and his story is not integrated into that of a dynasty. This gives an indication of the kind of public this saga was intended for: most probably the households of Icelandic aristocrats of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, many of whom were members of the Norwegian court and who themselves had at their service men whom they could ask to fight for them. (Tulinius, 2005, p. 457)
Maybe, in some way, this can also be applied to the sagas in question. While three of the four heroes (Ásmundr, Egill, and Herrauðr) are of noble birth, this has no consequence for the course of action. Egill behaves like any low-born pirate. Only by his decision to enter the king's service and quest for his daughters, he can become a positive figure. Herrauðr, on the other hand, is even banned from his father's court. Nothing distinguishes him on their adventure from his friend Bósi, a farmer's son. For both of them, reconciliation with the king is dependent on completing a mission in his service. It is noteworthy that this
mission is of no importance to the well-being of king or country. The vulture's golden egg, once brought home, merely serves as a drinking cup to Hringr. But it proves the heroes' eagerness to be re-established within the social system. Schäfke points out the permeability of social borders in Bósa saga, where the Viking-farmer Bósi is finally elevated to be king. (Schäfke, 2013, pp. 56, 88)
Beyond the entertainment value59 of the ‘adventurous mode of combat’ (which might have appealed to all layers of society), we may assume that the intended audience for its ideological subtext60 were the fighting men in service of the social elite. Two qualities were expected from them: Readiness to use violence and face danger, and loyalty to their leaders. This may be also a reason why Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundr berserkjabana and Bósa saga ok Herrauðs merely brush on huge battles and the killing of large numbers of foes, while Rémundar saga keisarasonar vividly describes the horrible fate of hundreds of ordinary soldiers. The latter may not be the best way to motivate retainers for combat. Figures like Egill einhendi or Bósi serve as role models for both qualities. To identify with them, a man did not need to have the training and equipment of knightly mounted combat. The ability to swing a sword (or a broken piece of wood) was enough. Just like in their depictions of love and sexuality,61 the combat scenes of the two adventure tales are much rougher and more ribald than those in the riddarasaga, yet at the same time more entertaining. This is not due to the author's lack of aesthetic sensitivity, but the result of a different literary intention.
59 Mitchell (1991, p. 105) wondered: “[F]or reasons that may wholly escape modern readers, the audiences of the late Middle Ages found the fonaldarsǫgur to be exceptionally enjoyable.“ On must be quite on the intellectual side of life to share Mitchell's lack of understanding. Exaggerated fighting and gory violence have always been proven methods to guarantee the audience's interest – a look at any modern DVD-rental can back this up. Add, as in the case of Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, some borderline pornographic material, and you'll get a sure hit.
60 Note that the ideological implications of the ‘mode of combat’ constitute only a part of the ideological position of the saga as a whole.
61 Compare e. g., Bósi's erotic adventures with the three farmers' daughters to Rémundr's romantic love for a woman he saw only in dreams, and his chastity: Nú sem Rémundr er meiri en nǫkkurr konungsson í verǫldinni, svá er hann