We may in fact see the origin of the _Íslendinga Sögur_ in certain passages of the sagas themselves. In _Fóstbroethra Saga_, for instance, the story is told of an Icelander named Thormóthr, who went to Greenland in order to avenge the death of his foster-brother Thorgeirr. On one occasion he fell asleep in his booth, and when he awoke some time later he found, to his surprise, that the place was quite deserted. Then his servant Egill “the foolish” came to him and said: “You are too far off from a great entertainment.”
Thormóthr asked: “Where have you come from and what is the entertainment?”
Egill replied: “I have been to Thorgrímr Einarsson’s booth and most of the people who are attending the _Thing_ are there now.”
Thormóthr asked: “What form of amusement have they?”
Egill answered: “Thorgrímr is telling a saga.”
“About whom is the saga?” asked Thormóthr.
“That I do not know clearly,” replied Egill, “but I know that he tells it well and in an interesting manner. He is sitting on a chair outside his booth and the people are all around him listening to the saga.”
Thormóthr said: “But you must know the name of some man who is mentioned in the saga, especially since you think it so entertaining.”
Egill replied: “A certain Thorgeirr was a great hero in the saga, and I think that Thorgrímr himself must have had some connection with it, and played a brave part in it, as is most likely. I wish you would go there and listen to the entertainment.”[232]
Then Thormóthr and Egill went to Thorgrímr’s booth and stood close by listening to the saga, but they could not hear it very distinctly. Thormóthr had, however, understood from Egill’s remarks that this was the same Thorgrímr who had slain his foster-brother and was now recounting his exploits for the amusement of the crowd.
More famous is the scene in _Njáls Saga_ where Gunnar Lambi’s son, who has just arrived at Earl Sigurthr’s palace in the Orkneys is called upon to tell the story of the burning of Njáll’s homestead.
“The men were so pleased that King Sigtryggr [of Dublin] sat on a high seat in the middle, but on either side of the king sat one of the earls… Now King Sitryggr and Earl Gille wished to hear of these tidings which had happened at the burning, and so, also, what had befallen since.