Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.10.1979, Blaðsíða 240

214
Not content to depend on Jon, the Earl demands to be taught his ability, but
Jon refuses, saying that that is impossible since it is a gift and not an art.
Tempted by the Devil, the Earl decides to have it whether or no, and orders
his wife (the Emperor’s sister) to kill Jon and cook his heart. She dåres not
disobey, but when she approaches Jon in his bed he is awake and knows what
is to happen. He persuades her to substitute a dog and give its cooked heart to
the Earl. Jon now lives in hiding, and he makes a waxen image of himself for
funeral purposes. His death from disease is announced, and the funeral (of the
statue) takes place.
Later, when the Emperor comes with a dream, the Earl must admit that he
does not know it. The Emperor also enquires after the young man and, sensing
something amiss, he interrogates his sister who admits that Jon is not dead.
Jon is now brought before the Emperor and ordered by him to tell his story,
although his request for one life in return is refused, The Emperor is greatly
angered by Jon’s story of the Earl’s perfidy, but after a while he calms down
and asks Jon to relate and interpret his dream. Once again Jon’s request, for
two lives, is denied, and he must obey the order. The dream was of a flood in
the Emperor’s city, but strangely, although some people were standing in the
water up to their necks, for others it was less deep. This dream signifies the
queen’s adultery with ‘the Flemish man’, her ‘leiksveinn’ whom she had
brought with her from abroad. These two were in the water up to their necks,
and with others the differing depths signified the degrees of their complicity.
Again Jon manages to still the Emperor’s rage. He persuades him not to
have the Earl executed, and he is merely evicted from the country. This was
the one life Jon wanted to save. After this, Jon undertakes to go to the
Emperor’s city as his ambassador of justice. Here he finds the Queen and her
lover in bed together. Instead of subjecting them to the penalty of death they
are merely put on a ship abroad, never to return. Theirs were the two lives Jon
wanted to save. For the other citizens Jon arranges a procession of repentance
to meet the Emperor and to beg forgiveness at his feet. This they were granted,
and “it was like the dawning of a feast following a dark night”.
In the end, Jon is given the Earl’s title and estates, and is given the
Emperor’s sister as his wife.
The telling of the story in the preserved text is obviously subservient to the
purpose of preaching the moral of Christian patience and restraint.
Part I of the article contains an analysis of the tale (p. 175-176) and gives a
survey of earlier scholarship on its matter (p. 176ff.). The only detailed earlier
investigation of the storymatter was published by Margaret Schlauch in an
article in 1934 (quoted above, p. 176).
Her conclusion was that the story was apparently put together in 14th
century Iceland from different component parts of ultimately oriental origin.
The evidence presented here in Parts II and III necessitates a revision of
this opinion. The story as such was not put together in Iceland. At the same
time, M. Schlauch’s opinion as to its provenance is not challenged. The story
is most likely to have come from the East.