Studia Islandica - 01.06.1956, Page 52
50
present tense 10 times, of which 3 are no time-indicators,
2 the verbum dicendi segir. V uses the preterite 11
times, the historic present tense 5 times, of which 2 are
neutral (1 no time-indicator, 1 segir).
Both versions in these passages differ from the use
they make of the two tenses in the rest of the respective
chapters, where they agree with M in contents as well
as in style.
This is an indication of the extra passages not having
been written by those who copied the rest of the chapter,
but probably by the authors who also wrote the whole
of R. and V. Gl. respectively.
They must have been written in addition to and later
than the original nucleus of the story as represented by
M, and do not derive from the þáttr.
11.1. Next we survey the average length of periods and
phrases, listed as follows:
Length of periods and phrases Parataxis : Hypotaxis
Narrative Dir. speech Narrative Dir. speech
M ch. 7. 21.83 8.95 21.30 8.69 27 32 7 22
8. 15.73 7.87 21.41 9.06 15 11 8 22
9. 22.33 9.50 32.54 9.68 28 27 6 20
13. 11.53 7.07 14.31 7.55 17 7 11 15
14. 14.32 7.16 20.— 10,— 27 14 12 16
15. 12.71 6.37 15.92 8.30 6 1 6 5
16. 16.51 7.22 20.15 8.64 45 25 17 19
17. 16.33 9.80 30.67 10.22 7 9 2 6
18. 18.03 7.99 16.59 7.86 20 24 11 19
28. 22,— 9.26 18.50 8.53 10 12 1 6
V ch. 15. 38,— 8.26 18.71 9.03 14 4 5 10
16. 23.88 7.88 20.25 8.96 43 26 14 15
17-18. 27.22 8.75 23.50 8.74 28 29 13 19
28. 21.76 9.50 21.25 9.44 8 14 1 4
@gm. þáttr 27.20 9.54 29,— 11.16 22 15 3 5
C ch. 7-9. 26.82 8.16 29.32 9.50 32 32 23 23
R. ch. 26. 20.56 7.64 24.43 8.14 48 45 21 49