Gripla - 2021, Qupperneq 282

GRIPLA280
the name of the mistress is Kára. The only part of the tradition of 17HsG
in which Helgi’s mistress is called Lára is the text-sub-group A3 (Kapitan
2018). Text-sub-group A3 includes the manuscripts that are based on Rafn’s
printed edition of the saga. RHG’s composition post-dates the publication
of the edition, so there is a fair likelihood that the edition served as the
basis for the composition of the rímur. It is, however, impossible to deter-
mine with high certainty whether the text of RHG was based on the printed
edition or on one of the manuscripts derived from it.11
Discussion and Conclusion
Through comparative analysis of textual and structural similarities and dif-
ferences between four manifestations of the story of Hrómundur in prose
and verse in the Icelandic language, the present study aimed to reveal the
relationship between these manifestations, primarily to cast light on two
previously marginalized versions of the story, the younger saga (19HsG)
and the younger set of rímur (RHG). While the influences on RHG are
fairly straightforward, the sources of the younger prose adaptation are
quite difficult to identify with certainty and open up many possibilities
for interpretation.
The seventeenth-century saga of Hrómundur (17HsG) is certainly
based on the medieval rímur Griplur, and it can be seen as a sort of sum-
mary of the contents of the rímur. The practice of preparing summaries
of rímur in the early modern period is well attested in the literature, but as
the present study has demonstrated, this summary is not completely true
to its sources, as it is not free of misunderstandings. For instance, the case
of Hrókur, a dog or a man, is a good example of such a misunderstanding
which survived all the way to the literary descendant of 17HsG, i.e. the
younger rímur of Hrómundur (RHG).
RHG establish a reliable versification of the story presented in 17HsG,
as they preserve all the corruptions of 17HsG without altering anything.
RHG are most likely based on Rafn’s printed edition of the saga, or some
edition-derived manuscript, as they reproduce an error on the part of the
saga’s editor. The name of the mistress of Helgi in RHG is Lára, which is
11 There are multiple manuscripts derived from Rafn’s printed edition; see Kapitan (2018,
109–25).