Gripla - 2021, Side 151

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greinarinnar gerir leit að dæmisögunum tveimur í hinum ýmsu kvæða- og lausa-
málssöfnum kenndum Esópi úr fornöld og frá miðöldum og kemst að þeirri niður-
stöðu að hinn óþekkti höfundur Adonias sögu hljóti að hafa þekkt þær í þessari
ákveðnu gerð á latínu jafnvel þótt endursögn hans sé frjálsleg og væntanlega samin
eftir minni. Auk þess eru borin kennsl á frumtexta tveggja latneskra skrifaraversa,
sem einnig er vitnað til í formála sögunnar, í tvítyngdu alfræðihandriti íslensku,
AM 732 b 4to, er sömuleiðis má rekja til norðlenskra Benediktsmunka. Í þriðja
lagi leggur höfundur greinarinnar til að innskot dæmisagnanna tveggja í formála
Adonias sögu, sem er frumsamin íslensk riddarasaga, sé vísbending um að söguna
eigi að túlka eins og dæmisögu, þ.e.a.s. að hún sé ekki aðeins skemmtun heldur
flytji í einhverjum skilningi siðferðilegan boðskap.
S U M M A R Y
Two Æsopic fables and some Latin scribal verses in the prologue to Adonias saga,
and their connection to the Latin fragments in Þjms frag 103, 104, and AM 732
b 4to.
Keywords: Medieval literature of Iceland, chivalric literature, Benedictines mon astic
houses, Latin culture in Iceland, Icelandic manuscripts, Latin fragments, Æsopic
fables, scribal verses
The author of this article conclusively traces the source of the two Aesopic fables
retold in the prologue to Adonias saga to the medieval collection of Latin fables
known as Anonymus Neveleti (alias Romulus elegiacus), fragments of which are
preserved in two Icelandic vellum bifolia (Þjms frag 103 and 104) that probably
originate from the Benedictines monastic houses of North Iceland. In a review of
various ancient and medieval collections of Aesop’s fables, the author concludes
that the unknown Icelandic author of Adonias saga must have been familiar with
the two fables in this particular Latin version, even though his Icelandic rendering
of them is free and likely based on memory. A parallel to a Latin couplet cited in
the prologue is furthermore identified in a bilingual encyclopædic manuscript,
AM 732 b 4to, also associated with the northern Benedictines. The author of the
article suggests the possibility that the incorporation of two Aesopic fables in the
prologue to Adonias saga, a riddarasaga, is an indication that such sagas ought to
be interpreted like fables, that is not only read as entertainment but also as ethical
instruction.
Gottskálk Jensson
Hagamel 12
107 Reykjavík
gthj@hi.is
TVÆ R DÆ MISÖ GUR ESÓ PS