Gripla - 01.01.1995, Qupperneq 164

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GRIPLA
Common to Sth. 3 and the Passionael is the homiletic character of the
opening sentence and the dating, but the Low German version lacks a
reference to Honorius and Theodosius. Honorius is named, however,
in the opening sentence of the Inventio account in the Legenda aurea,
which reads: „Inventio corporis protomartiris Stephani anno domini
CCCCXVII Honorii principis anno VII facta fuisse narratur" (p. 461).
The reference to the reign of the two emperors also occurs in the Sth.
15 (80v25) and Sth. 2 (46ra41-42; Hms 298:14-15) redactions, not by
way of introduction, however, but as a chronological reference point
for the night during which Lucianus experienced his dream vision:
lucianvx prestr var lóngvm at k/rkiu ok abænv/n ok var vanr at
sofa j k/rkiu skoti. enn þe/ta gerdiz adógvm konvnga þe/ra er
annar het honorivs enn annar theodosius (46ra39-42; Hms
298:12-15)
The homiletic character of the opening statement of the Inventio in
Sth. 3, as well as the fact that the historical reference occurs initially in
Sth. 3, but in medias res in Sth. 15 and Sth. 2, suggest that Stefanus
saga in Sth. 3 is a copy of a redaction that distinguished more neatly
between the Passio and Inventio accounts, and that derived ultimately
or was revised from a version that transmitted the Passio separately
from the Inventio and Translatio narratives, in keeping with the liturgi-
cal calendar. This is the case in the Legenda aurea and the vernacular
legendaries deriving from it. The central portion of the Inventio narra-
tive provides the most convincing evidence for positing as source of
Stefanus saga in Sth. 3 a redaction that diverged substantially from the
one transmitted in the other Icelandic manuscripts, a redaction deriv-
ing from a version popular on the continent in the Middle Ages, in
which the dream of Lucianus had undergone a striking transformation
vis-á-vis the original account set down by Avitus.
III. The roses-and-saffron dream
Central to the Inventio section of the legend of St. Stephen is a
dream vision given to a priest named Lucianus, the principal figure re-
sponsible for the finding of the saint’s body. Following the introduc-
tory comments discussed above, the narrative proper in Reykjahóla-
bók opens as Lucianus lies down to sleep in a corner of the church af-