Gripla - 20.12.2005, Page 38

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translation, in other early Icelandic translations of hagiographical texts (espe-
cially the Pseudo-Abdian material), and in the family sagas, should give cause
to wonder just how much Icelandic saga narrative owes to Bible narrative
(which is renowned for its paratactic and parabolic tendencies) and to its
closest descendants, the lives of the saints.46
Jónas Kristjánsson points out that the earliest Icelandic translations of
saints’ lives display characteristics that are „pointedly reminiscent of the dic-
tion and story-telling methods of Icelandic saga-authors,“ (1992:137) and in-
deed, the saga of St. Clement seems to bear the closest resemblance of any
other Icelandic saint’s life to a family saga, especially in the tripartite structure
of its scenes, its prominent use of direct speech (as Jónas (1992:137) sum-
marizes: „[...] rapid dialogue exchange, charge and counter-charge“), and its
techniques of narrative stranding (facilitated by the use of narrative tags). The
following passage from ch. 2 of the saga quite obviously displays all three
features, and I have marked the structural divisions (and the tags) to em-
phasize its saga-like scenic and narrative qualities:
[Preface] Mathidia fann flat bratt, at fla matte eki flar lengr vera vifl
vanheilso flá es hon haffle, fla for hon braut ór florpe flvi oc gec til
sevar. fia sa hon hus litifl flat riuca, flat lauc hon up oc hitte flar kono
eina fatøkia, [Dramatic encounter] er sat vifl gløflr, oc qvade hon
fla fyrre. Hon svarafle oc melte: „Vel flu comen, drotning min! Alt mitt
scal flitt vera. Ertu husfreyja en rumverska, su er comt ein a land, fla er
alt førunayti flitt forsc. Micill harmr es flat, er flu ert sva aum orflen.
Vestu mefl mér, sva lengi sem flu vill, oc scaldu ein aullo rafla flvi es ec
á.“ fieim orflom varfl Mathidia sva fegin, at hon feldi tór. Siflan melte
hon vifl fla es firer bio: „Fir hvi es flu comen i cot fletta?“ Hon svarafle:
„Fir nøcqeriom vetrom mista ec buanda mins, svat vifl ottom engi erf-
ingia. En ec vilda ein vera firer mér efter dag hans, fór ec af flvi a braut
or borg oc baurluflumc her firer. Nu a ec akr necqern oc fá flá saufle til
atvinno mér. Ec hefi nu fengit licflra, oc ma ec nu eki at hafasc.“ fia
melte Mathidia: „Ec mun vera her oc hugga flic oc fliona flér, unz enn
coma betri dagar ifer okr.“ [Conclusion] En fra fleim dege fór Mat-
hidia of florp oc borger oc bafl firer fl∂r matar, oc burgosc fl∂r fla vifl
flat. I fleim stafl hƒfflosc fl∂r vifl litils vant .xx. vetr, unz fl∂r fingo
46 For further discussion of the similarities between saga narrative and Bible narrative, see
Roughton 1995:82-90.