Medieval Icelanders drew richly on their own storytelling tradition when translating stories from the Old Testament, and this was facilitated by the significant overlap between biblical stories and sagas. The translator of Stjórn III might even be thought of as a saga author in his own right, recreating the world of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the style of an Icelandic saga. But what can be said about the opposite scenario: it is possible that any of the Icelandic sagas were influenced by the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament? Although the translations into Old Norse-Icelandic are relatively late, stories from the Old Testament must have circulated early in order for some of the allusive references in the Old Icelandic Homily Book to make sense. Most monastery and cathedral libraries would have had copies of the Pentateuch with Joshua and Judges and the Libri regnum, so those well versed in Latin could have read the historical books of the Old Testament, especially in Augustinian monasteries that followed the educational programme recommended by Hugh of St Victor. Any Icelanders who studied abroad after 1215 would also know Comestor’s Historia scholastica, since this was prescribed reading for the first year of university study.

Although there is no overview of material in the sagas borrowed from the Bible, a number of individual studies have found possible loans in Sverris saga, Oddr’s Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar, Hrafnkels saga, Egils saga Skalla- Grímssonar, Eyrbyggja saga, Laxdoela saga, Njáls saga, Flóamanna saga, Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss and Yngvars saga viðfqrla. Some of these are New Testament loans: the nativity and the transfiguration in Oddr’s Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar or the temptation of Christ in Flóamanna saga. These are easily visible, and there can be little doubt that they are borrowed, since they stand out in the saga world. The same cannot be said for borrowings from the Old Testament. While Sverris saga and Oddr’s Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar, both written at the Benedictine monastery of Þingeyrar, make direct references to biblical characters or verses, this is not the case in the sagas of Icelanders and most of the possible loans could be disputed. Many would question Torfi Tulinius’s typological interpretation of Egils saga – ingenious and insightful though it is – and Hermann Pálsson’s moralised reading of Hrafnkels saga. Others are cautious about claiming direct influence.