Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Síða 225
211
Roland’s monologue, and his fainting. The last of the three laisses is
fairly correctly translated.
The omissions are due to a desire to shorten the story, and since Oliver’s
wounds are described again in w. 1990-93, this time in order to explain
his blindness, the description in vv. 1979-81 is, from a strictly prosaic
point of view, not needed. Roland’s monologue also belongs to a type of
verse that is frequently omitted in the saga, and sometimes shortened by
French scribes. It is therefore difficult to decide whether the translator
or the French remanieur is responsible for these omissions.
As pointed out above (p. 132), the translator has not understood the
word pasmet in v. 1989. But if he had known the last verse of the previous
laisse, v. 1988,
A icest mot sur sun cheval se pasmet
he could scarcely have failed to understand that Roland had fainted. In-
deed v. 1988 reappears in almost the same form in v. 2031,
A icest mot se pasmet li marchis,
which is correctly translated:
ok begar er hann så bat, bå fell å hann umåttr (pp. 52031—5211).
This points to the conclusion that the translator did not have v. 1988
in his source, and consequently that the omission of laisse CXLVIII is due
to the French source.
Laisse CLII, vv. 2035-55, in which Gualter de l’Hum reappears, is
translated in the saga, but a number of verses describing his exploits in
the mountains have been omitted (vv. 2040-43, 2051). Nor is there any
trace of the additional laisse after v. 2055, describing the fighting in
greater detail. If the translator had had this laisse (V4 vv. 2173-98) he
could scarcely have failed to recognize Gualter, and it is therefore safe
to conclude that it was added in the source of V4 and the version rimée.
The following laisse, vv. 2056-65, is a good example of how the trans-
lator shortens his source, cutting out all poetic embellishments, leaving out
repetitions and general descriptions, and keeping only the bare facts:
Nu tekr Rollant af nyju at berjast, ok b^ mæltu heiSnir menn: Låtum bå eigi
undan komast, segja be>r (P- 52110"11).
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