Studia Islandica - 01.06.1975, Blaðsíða 169

SUMMARY
The article Herra Valvin og Karlinn grái (Sir Gawain
and the Grey Carl) is a discussion of Sveins-rímur Múks-
sonar, and concentrates particularly on the third section of
the group. Rímur, as the reader will be aware, are a distinc-
tive form of epic poetry, which has been popular in Iceland
from the mid-fourteenth century right down to the present
day.
Sveins-rímur Múkssonar were written by the seventeenth
century poet-farmer Kolbeinn Grímsson from Snæfellsnes,
who also composed other rímur and poems. The little that we
know about his life, and also a few details conceming his
other works, are mentioned in chapter one of the article.
In the intervening centuries the poet has been better
known for the folk legends which have been associated
with him; especially famous is the account of a verse con-
test between him and the devil.
Sveinsrímur were published by the Icelandic Rímur So-
ciety in 1948, as the first volume of the society’s rímur col-
lection. The edition was prepared by the late Dr. Rjöm Þór-
ólfsson, who also wrote part of the introduction, the rest of
which was the work of Dr. Björn Sigfússon and the present
writer.
Ámi Magnússon thought that in the rímur the poet might
have handled his sources quite freely, that there might have
been once a written saga of our hero, though probably Kol-
beinn did not use it directly. Since then scholars in general
have adhered to the opinion that the poet grossly exag-
gerated the matter found in his sources, whichever they
might have been. Now we know that in the year 1569 there