Studia Islandica - 01.07.1966, Blaðsíða 13

11
heroes are satirised: the poem, with its boisterous and some-
what crude humour, may have been inspired by the farcical
failure of the second crusade. Its tone could perhaps be called
anti-heroic. The author of Rauðúlfs þáttr, however, has only
borrowed the story-elements from the French work, and has
not imitated either its humour or its satirical view of heroic
ideals. The poem tells how Charlemagne, having been told
that King Hugue of Constantinople held a finer court than
he himself, went there to see what truth there was in the
report, and if possible prove it wrong. When he and his
men arrived at King Hugue’s court they were entertained
in a splendid hall that revolved with the wind, so fast that
the Frenchmen became giddy and lost their balance. They
were given heds in another equally magnificent building
where, unknown to them, King Hugue’s spy listened to their
conversations. Made indiscreet by wine, the emperor and his
men indulge in extravagant boasts or “gahs” which are drily
commented on by the spy in “asides” and later reported to
King Hugue. The next morning the now soher and con-
siderably abashed Frenchmen are called upon to carry out
their boasts. Charlemagne prays to God for assistance, and
with His help several of the impossible feats boasted of are
performed, and Hugue is forced to acknowledge the sup-
eriority of his guests.
The description of the sleeping chamber in Raúðúlfs þáttr
is similar in many ways to the descriptions of the buildings
in Le Voyage de Charlemagne, and in hoth stories the re-
volving building is associated with an episode involving a
series of boasts by the visiting king and his men (in the þáttr
the host and his sons also participate), and in both stories
some of the boasts (but not all) are put to the test the follow-
ing day. Although, therefore, all these motives are found in
many other places in medieval literature, the combination
Le Voyage de Ckarlemagne á Jérusalem et á Constantinople, ed. Paul
Aebischer (Genéve 1965). Quotations in the following are from the nor-
malised text in this edition.