Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Page 205
191
Svå mælir Oliver hit sama (p. 50817),
and it is therefore fairly certain that Roland’s words have been taken from
v. 1179, the end of Oliver’s speech:
L’enseigne Carle n’i devum ublier.
All the distinctive features in Oliver’s speech have been left out,
probably because they are repetitions of earlier warnings, but we have
no means of deciding whether the shortening was carried out by a French
or a Norse remanieur.
The first battie is described in much the same way in all the MS S of
the assonanced version, and there is no important difference between the
Kms and OV4 until we reach the final scene, vv. 1395—1422. In O and
V4 we get a powerful impression of the tumult and confusion, with blood-
stained spears and dead warriors all over the field. The poet reminds us
of Charlemagne who is far away, and the traitor Ganeion, who will be
punished, together with thirty of his kinsmen (vv. 1396—1411). Only a
few of these verses are translated in Kms:
1396 or 1412: Nu er orrosta horS ok åkof
1398: ok ymsir hiiggva ok ymsir verja BbS, diff. a
1413: svå ok åvalt eru peir framast Rollant ok Oliver
1414: ok Turpin erkibyskup
1415: ok allir 12 jafningjar er fylgdu peim,
1416: allir Frankismenn berjast djarfliga b, svå berjast peir roskliga B,
om. aS
add: svå engum J>arf at åmæla, a, S, Bb;
ok at engu æj>rast peir bibi (sic) dauSa R., B; ok engan lut ottast
J>eir, meSan Rollant er å lifi, b; ok rædas ingen døda roland ær
hednom mannom nær gongol och tho ey them fagnada, S3;---------oc
them til angin faghnath, SI (Kms p. 5124-7 and note; S p. 27315'21;
S3 p. 6918-26).
Once again the saga is shorter than any other version. Some of the verses
contain descriptions, and may have been omitted for that reason, e.g. vv.
1399-1404, 1420-22. The omission of the allusion to Ganelon’s fate in
vv. 1404-11 is certainly due to the French remanieur who revised and
abridged the episode dealing with the trial of Ganeion (on this episode,
see below, pp. 242-47). In faet only one verse of laisse CIX (vv. 1396—
1411), v. 1398,
Fierent li un, li altre se defendent