Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1992, Page 262

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Marianne Kalinke
þagde Sathanas þvi hann villde þat ecki giarna j liose latha þat sem hann hvllde
med sier j eitvrfvllv myrkre og j folskvm hvg. þa mællte Reprobvs til hvsbonda
sins j annat sinne. Seig mier þaa mina spvrninngh en eina. hvar til at þat treid
skyllde er þar stod aa gavtthonne og hvat þat mercker at iþat var so giortt. ^aa
þagde enn Sathanas vit þessa spvrning þvi hana villde hann enn sijdr j liose latha
en þa hinv fyrre so at Reprobvs mætte nockvrn hlvt þar af skilia. þvi fiandan
grvnade þat þa strax. sem efteraa fram kom. Og er Reprobvs fornemvr þat at
hann fær einngen svor vmm þessi efne. af sinvm hvsbonda. þa sagde hann. Nv
fra þvi at þier vilit mier ecki svor thil giefa. er eg leithazt efter med avdmivkre
bæn til ydar. Þa vil eg fyrer vijst at þv seiger mier hvat þetta er med fvllvm
sannleik. eda skal eg alldre þier leingvr þiona vpp fra þessv. (I, 276:23-277:29)
A striking discrepancy between the Passionael and Reykjahólabók
versions - apart from length - is the name of the protagonist. In the
Passionael the name Reprobus appears only in connection with the Baptism
of the former heathen. From the first line of the Low German legend -
”Sunte Cristoferus was ein heyden. vnde was gheboren van Cananeen”
(lxxxi,d)36 - the protagonist is consistently referred to as St. Christopher,
even before he has become a Christian, not to mention a martyr. The fact
that the reader or listener, as the case may be, knows from the start that the
life of a saint is being told in the Passionael automatically removes the
suspense that the narrative might otherwise have.
As told in Reykjahólabók the incident is superb in its structure and
development. The episode is bipartite, the first half being dominated by
Satan’s command, the second by Reprobus’s three questions. The repeated
refusal of Satan to permit Reprobus to accompany him into the woods in the
first half of the episode and Reprobus’s escalating questioning concerning his
lord’s strange behavior in the second half create tension and suspense.
Reprobus turns out to be a suitable foil for Satan, who behaves in a cowardly
fashion no less in respect to the cross than the questions posed by his
servant. The contrived literary structure and development of the episode are
unmistakable.
The above episode is not the only augmentation of this type in
Reykjahólabók, that is, expansion vis-á-vis the text in the Passionael. We
find, for example, a tiny scene in the PassionaePs legend of St. George,
consisting of two sentences, transformed into what might be considered a
travelogue. George’s brothers are searching for him, and the Passionael
tersely reports: “vnde makeden syk vp den wech. vnde quemen des anderen
daghes by Georgium eren broder” (vii, d).37 The brief remark transmits three
pieces of information concerning the brothers: what they do, why, and
where. What functions as a transitional statement in the Passionael
corresponds to a travel account in the saga. The brothers have a guide in the
36 St. Christopher was a heathen and was born in Canaan.
37 They set out on their journey and the next day they came to George, their brother.