Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 103

“Sæl væri su er svå dyrligr riddari hefdi gefit åst sfna, J)vi'at
hann er svå måttugr i våpnum, at engi riddari stenzk honum.
Svå er hann einkanligr fyrir adra riddara, sem vaxkerti yfir
flotkyndla, eda solargeisli fyrir tunglsljos. Gud låti oss J^at
bida,” kvådu t>ær, “at Jtessi fåi vårrar fru ok rådi ollu riki
hennar.” (97:10-16)47
(“That woman would be fortunate to whom such a magnificent
knight gave his love. He is so powerful in the exchange of blows
that no knight is his match. He is as outstanding above other
knights as a wax candle is above tallow candles, or a sunbeam
above moonlight. May God grant,” they said, “that he win our lady
and rule all her realm”.)
Thus Iven’s female admirers react upon witnessing his feats of bravery.
The similes, albeit somewhat modified, derive from the French text:
Si con cierges antre chandoiles
Et la lune antre les estoiles
Et si solauz desor la lune. (vv. 3247-49)
(Like candles over tapers, and as the moon above the stars, and the
sun above the moon.)
The corresponding passage in Stockholm 46 differs considerably from the
vellums in that it is longer and alliterates; there is also a change of
speaker: the lady of the castle, and not her attendants, wistfully murmurs
to herself:
“Sæl er su fru er slikum riddara48 hefir nu gefit
sik ok allt sitt riki i vald,
Jyvi at engi riddari man betri,
en er svå harår i moti sinum ovinum sem eitt leo,
en hægr sem eitt lamb vidr sina menn.
47 The passage cited is from the vellum AM 489 4to, 55r. The other vellum, Stockholm 6,
contains the simile sem rautt gult fyrir eiri (‘as red gold over brass’) instead of the candle
comparison.
48 The reading of the vellum Stockholm 6 agrees here with the text of Stockholm 46 in
that the lady, not the knight, is the subject of the relative clause.
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