Gripla - 2021, Page 281

279
4. Garpur klókur geds um flet,
gaf baug einum manni
þessi Hrókur þegnin hét,
þundar jók sá tídum hret.
5. Voli sódi sóma spar
seggin drapum grímu
hríngin góda burtu bar,
bjódur glóda þángs valla.
(III:4 & III:5 (9r:17–9v:1))
It is clear from the clauses “gaf baug einum manni” and “Hrókur þegnin hét”
in RHG that Hrókur is a man rather than a dog, and that the object of Vóli’s
jealousy is a golden ring, not the dog – the misunderstanding introduced
in 17HsG – indicating that RHG are dependent on 17HsG.
Further verbal similarities between 17HsG and RHG serve to confirm
this interpretation of the relationships between these two adaptations. In
RHG II:40–41, Hrómundur asks Þráinn how many men he defeated in
duels, and Þráinn answers that it was 124 men. This is a clear borrowing
from 17HsG, because both 19HsG and Griplur refer only to a hundred du-
els. Additionally, in 19HsG we read about the killing of twenty-four kings
“xxiv Konga hjó ec til bana meþ því” (114r:18), which is omitted in other
adaptations.
Another similarity between RHG and 17HsG can be found in the fol-
lowing stanza (RHG, II:42), in which Þráinn tells Hrómundur that he and
Semingur, the king of Sweden, were competing in sports: “okkar gjördum
ágætar íþróttirnar reina” (stanza II:42, 8v:3–4). This closely resembles
“reindom ockar i þrótter” in 17HsG (A601, 3r:7), but neither Griplur nor
19HsG refer to íþróttir (sports) in a direct way.
Finally, there are also two stanzas which allow closer identification of
the source of RHG. In stanza 51 in the third fit we read: “Frækna Helga
fylgja réd frilla sem hét Lara illsku velgja otargeð álptar belg hún klæddist
með” (12r:14–16). Similarly, in the first stanza of the fourth fit: “Þar nam
farast þulins knör vid þagnar kletta sem hún Lara dauð nam detta” (13v:2–
4). In both stanzas of RHG Helgi’s mistress is called Lara (or Lára), while
in 19HsG, Griplur, and the majority of the manuscripts preserving 17HsG,
HRÓ MUNDUR IN PROSE AND VERSE