Gripla - 01.01.1984, Síða 251

SAXO IN ICELAND
247
therefore able to take fewer liberties in composing his saga, but could
use the lengthy account in Saxo to supplement the Icelandic sources.
Several summaries of Starkaður’s history survive, which are based on
the Icelandic material, or on Saxo, or on a combination of the two, and
it is not surprising that the different accounts were finally amalgamated
into a complete saga. This was presumably done before 1760 as Stark-
aðar saga seems to have been known to the author of Brávalla rímur,
which were composed at this time.10 As the saga contains translations of
the verses found in Saxo, the author cannot have used Vedel’s trans-
lation, and must therefore have had access either to Schousb0lle’s 1752
translation or to a Latin edition. Some thirty manuscripts of the saga,
dating from the late eighteenth century onwards survive, which indi-
cates that it was fairly popular.There are also at least two late nineteenth
and early twentieth century manuscripts which contain an expanded
version of the saga, in which the additional material has been taken
mainly from Gautreks saga (Lbs. 1492 4to and Lbs. 3891 4to). The
version printed in Winnipeg in 1911 belongs to this latter group.11
The subject-matter of this saga has little intrinsic interest as it consists
of very little that is not derived from the medieval sources, and what
additional material there is comprises mainly of fights with vikings and
similar stock episodes. However, the material has been welded together
very competently, and minor alterations have been made in the order of
events where this has been required to ensure the smooth flow of the
story. Apart from the opening, which is derived from Gautreks saga, the
pattern of events has generally followed Saxo. Those episodes which
occur both in Saxo and in the Icelandic sources have been combined as
far as possible, but where the divergence is too great to have made this
possible, the author has usually preferred to follow Saxo, as for example
in recounting the death of King Huglaður (in Heimskringla Hugleikr) at
the hands of Haki and Hagbarður. Every incident from Saxo that con-
cerns Starkaður has been retained, though with minor changes where
these were required, but the other tales with which Saxo intersperses his
account of Starkaður have been omitted. Gísli Konráðsson, who used
10 Brávallarímur eftir Árna Böðvarsson, ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson, Reykjavík
1965 (Rit Rímnafélagsins viii), cxcix-ccv. An account of some of the manuscripts
of Starkaðar saga is also given.
11 Sagan af Starkaði Stórvirkssyni. Prentuð eftir gömlu handriti. Winnipeg
(Kostnaðarmaður N. Ottoson bóksali), 1911.