Gripla - 20.12.2008, Page 87

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notwithstanding its corrupt record in the manuscript, the statement is
unambiguous for the audience. Cf.:
siþan gecc hann framan at orminom oc stacc vinstri hendi i ginit. en
leggr hann þegar meþ enni høgri enom vinstra megin þar sem hann
hvgði at næst scyldi ganga hiartano ormsins. oc leggr knifi at hepti
vpp. oc var vandalvtr at vinna með sva litlo iarni a sva miclo
qviqvendi oc illo. [Flat III, 304–5: en so fast lagde hann til ormsins
ath skellr uid hepte vppe og var mikell vande j ath vinna hann med
mycklu.6] Viþ þetta vacnar ormrinn oc bryz vm fast. oc letr Haralldr
nv felldinn taca viþ eitrino. oc førisc hann a orminn ofan viþ. en sva
er hann stercr at stvndvm hefir hann a lopti .ii. hveria. en meþ
hamingio oc travsti Olafs konvngs oc hvatleic Harallz oc tionaþi
liðsmanna hans þa søfiz ormr. oc fa þeir hlaþit honom (Mork, 13).
[Then he advanced against the serpent and thrust his left hand into
its maw, striking immediately with his right hand into the serpent’s
left flank where he thought the knife would penetrate closest to the
heart. He plunged the knife in up to the hilt, and it was no easy
thing to contend with such a huge and evil creature with such a
small blade. At that moment the serpent awoke and went into
contortions. Haraldr let the cloak absorb the poison and at the same
time was dashed down on the serpent. It was so powerful that it
sometimes tossed two of them in the air simultaneously, but with
the luck and aid of King Óláfr and Haraldr’s own valor, as well as
the support of his followers, the serpent was overcome, and they
were able to get the best of it (Mork trans.,146).]
We can only guess which of the two variants of the story may be
closer to the original. It is possible that the idea of introducing into the
story, prior to the scene which depicted Haraldr’s heroic combat with
the monster, the weapon the serpent was defeated with could belong to a
later scribe or redactor of the saga, who thus aimed to make the narrative
more consistent and clear for the audience. But it is equally possible that it
might have been the other way round, that is, a decision of a later redactor
to omit reference to the knife from the king’s speech, in order to impress
the reader with its unexpected appearance at the very moment of the dra-
6 Here there is an editor’s note to this passage: “r. so litlu jarne” (Flat III, 305).
THE FANTASTIC IN Í SLENDINGA ÞÆTTIR