Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Qupperneq 34
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unlike that of Ivens saga, moderately rhetorical, but with a number of
foreign words and terms. A peculiar feature of the Parcevals saga is the
attempt to use rhymed couplets at the end of the chapters. Most of them
are rather unfortunate attempts to imitate the verses of the French
source48. There are, again, fairly numerous omissions, and only a few un-
important additions.
7. Erex saga, based on Chrétien’s Erec et Enide. The saga is preserved
in two Icelandic paper MSS of the 17th century. Both MSS contain other
sagas as well, and in the cases where older MSS are extant, a comparison
shows that these copies are not based on particularly good MSS49. As far
as it is possible to judge, the language is the moderately rhetorical “Court
Prose” of the other Arthurian romances. The saga follows the French
poem fairly closely.
8. Mpttuls saga. The source is the fabliau Le Mantel mautaillié, and
is was translated at the request of King Hakon. The text is based on the
same 15th century MS as Parcevals saga (the MS is not complete, but
one good paper copy of the 17th century was written while there were no
lacunae in it), and there is a small fragment of the early 14th century,
which contains a better text. Both MSS are Icelandic. The style is the
same moderately rhetorical prose as we have already found in Ivens saga
and the Parcevals saga, and the translator follows the French text closely,
without important omissions or additions.
9. Flores saga ok Blankiflur. The source is the roman d'aventure Floire
et Blancheflor, the older, more aristocratic of the two French versions.
The text is preserved in two Icelandic MSS of the 15th century and a
short Norwegian fragment of the early 14th, and as usual the Icelandic
text has been shortened by later scribes. The translation follows the poem
closely, and it is a peculiar feature of this translation that even monologues
have been preserved. One of the Swedish Eufemiavisor is based on the saga.
The language is “Translator’s Prose”, flexible, pleasant, and with only a
few examples of alliterative phrases. This saga is one of the hest of the
translations.
10. Partalopa saga. The source is a roman d’aventure, Partenopeu de
Biois. It is preserved in a number of Icelandic MSS, two of them dating
48 For other examples of rhymed couplets in Norwegian and Icelandic texts, vide
Jon Helgason: Norges og Islands digtning, in Nordisk Kultur VIII: B, pp. 159-60.
49 Vide E. Kolbing in Riddarasogur, pp. m-iv (on AM 181 A fol.), and ix-x (on
Cod. Holm. 46 fol.).