Gripla - 01.01.1984, Side 249

SAXO IN ICELAND
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Gheismer calls him Amblethus. However, if Páll knew this summary, he
must also have heard a fuller account of Amlethus as his rímur contain
details not found in the summary. As Vedel’s translation was known in
Iceland at the time it is likely that this was his other source. In addition
to the rímur there are some forty manuscripts of a saga of Ambáles, or
of Amlóði (which is the name in Eddic poetry of a character thought
to correspond to Saxo’s Amlethus). These manuscripts fall into two
main groups and Hermann Pálsson has shown in his edition of the rímur
that two sagas were derived independently from the rímur.
Probably the next saga to be composed was Sagan af Hálfdáni Bark-
arsyni, which concerns the deeds of the brothers Haldanus and Hildi-
gerus recounted in Book Seven of Gesta Danorum. The earliest manu-
script of this saga is dated 1744 (Lbs. 2121 4to), and some thirteen other
manuscripts survive. In addition a version was printed in 1889.8 In
contrast to the sagas concerning Ambáles, this saga underwent little
change, although certain minor adaptations were made in the names of
the chief characters at some early stage. No verses are contained in the
saga, which is a fairly good indication that it was based on Vedel rather
than on a Latin edition of Saxo, as it is unlikely that any writer would
omit these, in particular the death-song of Hildigeir, if he had known
them.
As in Saxo the saga is concerned with the fight between the two half-
brothers, Hálfdán and Hildigeir. Hálfdán is not aware of their relation-
ship until his brother is dying at his hands. In addition, however, adapta-
tions have been made to soften the tragedy of the situation and to bring
the saga into line with other romances of the post-medieval period. For
instance, the villain Gunnar, or Gunni, who is merely a marauding
viking in Gesta Danorum, is given a common romance motivation for
his attack on the aging king Rögnvaldur. He demands his kingdom and
his daughter, Þrúður. When Rögnvaldur has refused and been slain,
Gunnar does not, as in Saxo, drag Þrúður from her refuge and rape her,
but marries her instead. In Saxo Þrúður’s next husband slays Gunnar in
order to avenge Rögnvaldur, but in the saga he does so because he also
regards Þrúður as a desirable prize. The two brothers, each a son of one
of Þrúður’s husbands, are also given more gentle attributes than in Saxo,
8 Sagan af Hálfdáni Barkarsyni, Þorleifr Jónsson gaf út, Reykjavík (Prentsmiðja
ísafoidar), 1889.