Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Side 40
to interpret the assertion of the pre-eminence of literature over other
forms of artistic expression as an indication that even in the iate Middle
Ages story tellers were forced to compete for the attention of a fickle
audience. Indeed, the author of Elis saga deemed it necessary to admon-
ish his audience regarding proper deportment while they were being
entertained with a tale:
Nu lydit godgæfliga! betra er fogr frpde en kuidar fylli; Jro
scal vid saugu supa, en æi ofmikit drecka; sæmd er saugu at
segia, ef hæyrendr til lyda, en tapat starfi, at hafna at hæyra.20
(Listen attentively now! A fair tale is better than a full stomach;
although one should drink during a tale, one should not drink too
much. It is an honor to relate a story if the audience pays attention,
but a lost effort if they refuse to listen.)
Authors went so far as to maintain the intrinsic merits of a tale - even if it
is not well told - because menn hugsa eigi adra syndsamliga hluti, medan
hann gledsk af skemmtaninni (‘while one delights in some entertainment,
one does not think of other, sinful things’).21 The path of literature be-
comes the path to virtue: the appreciation of a good tale is exalted over
other, worthless pursuits and evil thoughts, the promptings of the devil.22
Literature was perceived from the double perspective of amusement and
edification.
Nonetheless, not everything one hears is worihwhile, literary, or amus-
ing. A distinction is made between the seemly entertainment provided by
tales of noble men on the one hånd, and the useless babble and witless
laughter preferred by fools on the other - unytsamligt skvaldr, framflutt
med uhyggiligum hlåtri, sem margir heimskir menn gera.2' We learn that
most people do not consider stories about God and the saints very enter-
taining.24 The authors of the riddarasogur found it necessary to defend
their preference for fantasy. To the reproach that the romances are entire-
ly fictional, and that there is not an ounce of truth to them, one author
20 Eugen Kolbing, ed. Elis saga ok Rosamundu, 33:11-13.
21 Sigurdar saga pogla, LMIR, II, 96:13-14.
22 Adonias saga, LMIR, III, 74:6-10.
23 Rémundar saga keisarasonar, 12:5-7.
24 Flores saga konungs ok sona hans, in Drei Lygispgur, ed. Åke Lagerholm, ANSB,
XVII, p. 121:3-5.
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