Gripla - 20.12.2005, Blaðsíða 25

STYLISTICS AND SOURCES OF THE POSTOLA SÖGUR 23
Astriges’ accusations against the apostle and the apostle’s answers are given
expression in typical Pseudo-Abdian circular form. For instance, when
Bartholomew is accused by the heathen bishops of having led King Polimius
astray through his sorcery, and when Astriges questions him concerning this
accusation, Bartholomew’s answer is semantically circular: „Eigi vilta ec
hann, heldr leida ec hann fra villo,“ Post.:761.29-30; he did not lead Polimius
astray but rather led him from straying.
Similarly, the main conflict between the apostle and the king in this section
is given as a common Pseudo-Abdian power struggle presented in terms of
juxtapositions and parallels: just as Bartholomew made Polimius forsake his
gods and believe in the apostle’s God, Astriges threatens to make Bartholo-
mew forsake his God and bow down to Astriges’; but conversely, if Astriges
can do to Bartholomew’s god what Bartholomew did to Polimius’, it is then
right that Astriges should worship Bartholomew’s god. Bartholomew is of
course martyred,31 but it is Astriges who loses the contest, through the im-
mediate destruction of the idol of Astriges’ god Balldath, which again em-
phasizes the almost omnipotent power accorded to the apostle in the first de-
scription of him: he is able to bind or destroy the heathen gods at will even if
he is not in the vicinity of these gods (this surreptitiousness is alluded to once
again in the passio section by the fact that Astriges’ men are ordered to arrest
the apostle if they can find him: „[...] fla reidesc Astriges oc sende flusund
manna mefl alv∂pni mefl blótbyscopom, at fleir tøki postolann ok leide
flangat bundenn, ef fleir m∂tti finna hann,“ Post.:761.25-27).
The apostle’s elusiveness is the reason why the extended description of
him is given in the first place, and the fact that the description is given by a
demon reflects not only a notion of the apostle’s overwhelming presence in
both the physical (whether he is actually present or not) and spiritual worlds
(since the demon apparently has never actually encountered the saint before),
but also the interesting use of secondary characters in this particular saga. It
was noted above that in the Pseudo-Abdian apostolic romances the apostles’
missions are often aided greatly through the agency of a secondary character
close to the figure of the ruler with whom the apostle contends (with either
positive or negative results for the ruler), and that often these narratives’
strongest didactic effects are achieved through the presentation of either the
31 His martyrdom is characteristically brief: „fia reidesc konongrenn oc reif af sér cl∂fli oc lét
postolann beria, oc siflan flogo fleir scinn af honom kycom oc hioggio hann siflan,“ Post.:
762.7-9.