Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Blaðsíða 45
the text of the Latin source,37 to present Arthur at age fifteen, at the time
of his father’s death:
Hann var mikill å voxt, vænn at åliti, spekingr at viti, orr af
fé, sterkr, hardr ok våpndjarfr, gladr ok godr vinum, en
grimmr ovinum, fastnæmr ok forsjåll, sidlåtr ok sigrsæll, vid-
frægr ok at ollu vel menntr.38
(He was tall of stature, handsome of face, a wise man in under-
standing, liberal with his wealth, strong, fierce and gallant,
cheerful and kind towards his friends, but merciless towards his
enemies, firm and foresighted, well-mannered and blessed with vic-
tories, far-renowned and highly accomplished.)
Since the amplified passage is embellished stylistically through allitera-
tion, it is plausible that a tendency to rhetorical ornamentation more than
a desire to impart further information regarding the king occasioned the
expansion of text in Breta sogur. Indeed, the amplification presents mate-
rial familiar from personal descriptions found in other sagas. On the one
hånd, the portrait of Arthur in Mottuls saga could have been inspired by
Breta sogur; on the other, a prototype for the depiction of Arthur can be
found in a work that originated - as did Mottuls saga - at the Norwegian
court, and ir. a translation commissioned by King Håkon Håkonarson -
as was Mottuls saga. Tristrams saga opens with just such a portrait of
Kanelangres, Tristram’s father:
Å Bretlandi var eitt ungmenni, hinn fridasti madr å likamans
fegrd, hinn vildasti rikra gjafa, oflugr ok audigr rikra kastala
ok borga, kænn til margrar kunnåttu, hinn roskvasti at ridd-
araskap, hinn druggasti at allskonar drengskap, vitr ok vårr i
rådagerdum, forsjåll ok framsynn, fullgerr at ollum atgervum
yfir alla menn er i j^ann tima våru i J)vi riki; ok hét jaessi
riddari Kanelangres at nafni. Hann var hinn hardasti hordum
ok hinn grimmasti grimmum. Hann hafdi med sér svå mikinn
fjolda traustra riddara ok hardra hirdmanna, at meira vildi
37 See Hammer, IX, ch. 1, p. 152 and p. 226; Faral, p. 229.
38 Hauksbok, ed. Finnur Jonsson (Copenhagen: Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrifts-
Selskab, 1892-96), ch. 35, p. 287.
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