Gripla - 2020, Síða 150

149
[The king arranged for 30 men to satisfy his curiosity, all of them
well-armed. Their leader was named Talirus. The king trusted him
greatly on account of his wisdom, renown and valiant deeds. And
when he got so close that he saw King Tamerláus’ war-tents and
standard, he was overcome with fear. Now he took an olive branch
in his hands, and his men too and they rode up to the sentries. A
space was made for him, and he said that an interpreter should
be found. The king had Ambáles meet with him to answer his
questions. Ambáles asks him his name and purpose, and he said
what they were. Ambáles said to him: “You may tell your lord that
King Tamerláus of Scythia has come upon him with his army to
avenge the disgrace done to his sister and her death and the other
evil deeds which he has done to Christian people. And there is no
chance that he will live or receive mercy, and should he dare to
defend himself, then he will have to meet us when the time seems
right’. Talirus said that he would hardly be scared of such prattle
and they would not have to wait long for him. Thus they ended
their conversation.]
The fact that Talirus bears an olive branch (a white flag of sorts) to avoid
facing a violent reception must surely bring to mind the olive branches
which the maidens carried before being trampled to death upon Timur’s
orders. This is all the more the case since olive branches are few and far
between in Old Norse literature: the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose
lists only a handful of appearances of the word ólífakvistr/ólífukvistr/
olíuviðarkvistr ‘olive branch’, all of which involve a messenger being sent
to parley but otherwise have nothing distinctly in common with the de-
scription in Ambáles saga.64 The point here, however, is that Tamerláus re-
sponds in a very different way to Timur as represented in Oddverjaannáll.
Talirus is rude and condescending, but nevertheless is treated with dignity
and provided with space and an interpreter. While Timur did not hesitate
64 Two occurrences are from the same passage in Karlamagnús saga. See C.R. Unger, ed.,
Karlamagnus saga ok kappa hans: Fortællinger om Keiser Karl Magnus og hans jævninger i norsk
Bearbeidelse fra det trettende Aarhundrede (Oslo (Christiania): H.J. Jensen, 1860), 334–35.
Another two are from Rémundar saga keisarasonar. See Sven Grén Broberg, ed. Rémundar
saga keisarasonar, STUAGNL 38 (Copenhagen: S.L. Møller, 1909–1912), 155, 323. The
Dictionary of Old Norse Prose only covers the period up to 1550.
TIMUR, ‘THE WRATH OF GODʼ