Gripla - 20.12.2005, Page 29

STYLISTICS AND SOURCES OF THE POSTOLA SÖGUR 27
illi autem non sanando subueniunt sed a laesione cessando, et cum desinunt
laedere curasse putantur“ (A A A II,1:129:7-9).36 The balanced contrast is in
fact heightened by the translator of the AM 645 4to text to a better degree than
in later versions, since he makes a clear linguistic distinction between the verbs
meifla and granda, with meifla strictly indicating the physical harm wrought
by the demons, and granda the spiritual harm done to the people when they
foolishly believe the false healing miracle performed by the demons and give
their souls entirely to Satan in worship of these false gods (AM 652/630 4to
has granda for the final meifla; see Post.:755.11 and 744.26).37 This dynamic
is stated explicitly by Bartholomew in his sermon later, when he says: „Fiand-
inn sialfr gefr monnum sottir af velum sinum ok eggiar menn at trua a sik ok
a skur›go›, til fless at hann hafi forra› anda fleira“ (*Post.:748.19-21), and
Astaroth himself confesses to the scheme (as mentioned before), repeating the
semantic distinction between meifla and granda, when he says: „fia er ver
mei›um likami fleira, fla latum ver halldaz mein fleira, me›an ver megum eigi
granda πndunum“ (*Post.:749.17-23).
Further study of such linguistic subtleties is warranted, not only with re-
gard to the differences inherent in the various texts of the saga, but also to how
these particularities work in each text to support the saga’s somewhat intricate
fabric of variation on the theme of the primacy of God’s truth over Satan’s
wiles. The Icelandic translations seem to adapt the Latin source text carefully
in order to make the most of the ways in which this central theme is bolstered
by the narrative’s concentration on appearances, both true and false, seeming
and non-seeming: almost all of the action and dialogue in the saga is propelled
by attempts to discover the truth of a particular situation or to convince others
of a certain truth. The dichotomy between true natures and false appearances
reaches its apex in the saga in the contrast of appearances between the apostle
and the demon: the one, still only a rumor at the start of the saga, is described
as concretely and powerfully as possible, and the other, who was previously
36 See Collings 1969:175.
37 The idea of the devil’s control over people achieved through the people’s idolatry is expres-
sed in a similar fashion in the saga of Simon and Jude, when, in one of their sermons, the
apostles say: „En sa hinn versti engill ger›i sva, at ma›rinn hvarf fra skapara sinum gu›i al-
matkum ok tru›i a skur›go›, ok kalla›i flat gu› sinn, er hann ger›i sialfr. En er ma›rinn hvarf
fra gu›i grø›ara sinum, fla var› hann i velldi ovinar sins, en πfundarengill føddi af flvi flessa
villu me› monnum, at hann mætti hafa velldi yfir fleim, at gera vi› fla, sem hann villdi,“
Post.:783.35-784.5.