Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 99
85
O 250: Vos n’irez pas uan de mei si luign. (= V4 179, cp. C 295)
Fri: — eigi ferr {m Jiessa .xij. man(uSr) sua langt fra mer. (p. 5571)
a\ — eigi ferr svå langt frå mér Jjessa 12 månuSr ena næstu, fyrir pvl
at pat er mér ofgeigr, ef pér verSr nokkut til meins (p. 48928"29, the whole
passage omitted in Bb).
The additions in a here are typical: they consist of amplifications,
phrases like “he said”, “he answered and said”, etc.; titles, such as the
herra in the passage quoted; and unnecessary explanations, such as the
phrase fyrir pvi at pat er mér ofgeigr, etc.
But there are also examples of more elaborate changes in the text, as
in the following O verses:
O 337: “Sire” dist Guenes, “Dunez mei le cungied.
338: Quant aler dei, n’i ai plus que targer.”
correctly rendered in Fri:
Karlamagnus konungr segir hann. gef mer leyfi.
æf ec scal fara. ha vil ec eigi dveliaz lengr. (p. 55732-34)
But a is more sagalike (the passage is omitted in Bb):
En sioan mælti hann <viS Karlamagnus konung: "Herra” segir hann, “gef mér
leyfi, at ek fara i brott sem skjotast, alls j>o em ek nu skyldaSr til Jx'ssarrar farar,
f>å vil ek eigi lengr hér dveljast” (p. 49210'13).
This is still a translation, but considerably less close to the French text.
Only one small detail in the a text is doser to the French original than
the corresponding words in Fri: herra in a is better than the Karlamagnus
konungr of Fri. But we here have to consider the hahits of the Icelandic
scribes: it is one of the characteristics of the later lygisggur that they are
very careful about titles and ways of addressing princes and nobles, but
the translators are less careful about the exact rendering of details of this
kind: they may use the name, the title, or a pronoun to translate the cor-
responding terms in a French source, but they do not feel obliged to use
the exact translation in every case21. Cp. O v. 214:
Li emperere en tint sun chef enbrunc
Fri: Karlamagnus konungr hneig J>a niSr haf3e sino (p. 55621-22),
a: Karlamagnus keisari hné niSr (p. 4891), om. Bb
O v. 15: Oez, seignurs, Kms: Go5ir hofSingjar (p. 48414); 232: E dist al rei:
“Ben l’avez entendud, Kms: "Karlamagnus konungr”, segir hann, “heyrir Jm and-
svor Guineluns jarls----(p. 48912"13).
21 Cp. Meissner: Die Strengleikar, pp. 154-57, note.