Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Blaðsíða 112
98
the branch, except for the episode of La belle A udej which is not preserved
in any Icelandic MS of Kms. There are 18 nmur, consisting of from 50
to 104 stanzas, and dealing with the whole fråttr. 4>6r3ur a Strjugi seems
to have had a better MS of the Bb version than those now extant30. Dr.
Bjorn K. Porolfsson has very kindly transcribed for me a few passages
from the nmur, and as an example of how closely they follow the saga
text in most cases, I quote the passage corresponding to O vv. 1139-44,
with additions:
The Bb text is:
SiSan risu fieir upp ok klæddust goSum herklæSum ok eru nu bunir til bardaga,
add: fylktu be*r siSan li3i sinu ok settu upp merki sin = S, (fyrir hverju hundraSs
liSi, Bb only) ok hvatti hverr annan til framgongu. = S (Kms p. 508, note 1, lines
11-14; S p. 26930-2702).
Rimur:
Eftir f>etta seggir sig til soknar bjuggu,
sterklega meS hrotta hjuggu.
Hått fyrir hvorju hundraSa liSi herlegt merki
reisa lét upp Rollant sterki.
Ståli klæddist stoltar liS er striSa vildi,
fyrir sig setti fagra skildi.
(The spelling is normalized; the text is that of MS 192 fol. in the Ice-
landic Landsbokasafn)31.
IV
How to establish a critical text
From what has been said about the MSS it is clear that in only a few
cases can we be reasonably certain that our text is that of the original
translation. These cases are:
a) The parts of the branch preserved in Fri, and
” Bjorn K. Pårolfsson: Rimur fyrir 1600, pp. 485, 488-89. Extracts from the
rimur are published in Sir William A. Craigie’s Synisbok islenzkra rimna (Edin-
burgh/London, 1952), vol. II, pp. 32-52.
31 As in my opinion Runzwalspattr, Bb version, has not been directly influenced
by the Speculum Historiale, I am rather sceptical about the possible reminiscences
from that work in the rimur, pointed out by Dr. Bjorn K. Pårålfsson, op. cit. pp.
487-88.