Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 98

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tween the French texts and the Kms easier. V4 has shortened the first
1000 verses of the O text to such an extent that we often have to resort
to the version rimée to get an adequate idea of the original contents of the
a version, but the “rhymer” has made many changes, and added a number
of verses, and it is therefore often impossible to decide whether a version
rimée reading is really that of the original a version, in cases where there
are omissions in V4. Every one of the MSS, even O, has omissions, addi-
tions, and corruptions of its own, and this renders the comparison even
more difficult. But whatever the MS used by the translator was like, it
is at least certain that it was older, and probably better, than e.g. V4.
III
The Scandinavian texts
The text of the Runzivals påttr is preserved in MSS a, B, and b of the
Kms, and in Fri (called o by M. Aebischer), in all four MSS of the
Swedish adaptation of the saga, and in D. The Rollantsrimur af Runsi-
valspætti are based on the text of an Icelandic MS.
Fri contains the text of vv. 183-217, 248-79 and 319-23 (V4 177—
218), 330add.-347, and 383-41620. The fragment is too short to be of
any great use in reconstructing the text of the original translation, but a
comparison between the text of the fragment and that of aBb may at least
give us an idea of how the text has been treated by the later scribes.
First and foremost, the Icelandic MSS have a number of additions
which we do not find in the older text, and although most of them are
unimportant and do not lead to any changes in the actual story, these
additions have made the language of the pdttr more smooth, but at the
same time more conventional.
Examples are:
O 210: Faites la guer cum vos l’avez enprise, (cp. V4 147)
Fri: Nu halt hu frara hernabi blnum {Kms p. 55618'19)
a: Halt fram hernaSi binum, lierra, segir Rollant, = B
b: hvl haldit fram hernaSi ySrum s em pér hafit aSr ætlat-(p. 48834, and
p. 489, note 1)
20 Verse numbers are those of O (Bédier’s edition), when not otherwise stated.
330 add. means additional verse(s) after O v. 330, found in one or more of the
other versions and in the Kms.