Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Side 114

derives from the French source, but the motif must have been considered
an appealing element of plot. In both Erex saga and Parcevals saga -
independently of their respective French sources - the abduction motif
plays an integral role in several episodes. Although Erex saga derives
ultimately from Chrétien’s Erec et Enide, the extant Icelandic saga devi-
ates substantially from the French romance in content as well as struc-
ture. No doubt the work, as we know it today, was composed to conform
to principles of effective narrative and structure that differed considerab-
ly from those of Chrétien de Troyes (see pp. 192-93). The major portion
of Erex saga consists of episodes depicting armed encounters between
Erex and a series of strangers. Several of the challenges to combat are
precipitated indirectly by the presence of Evida as a traveling companion.
In the French romance there is a single allusion to the abduction motif,
that is, in Erec’s encounter with five robber knights (vv. 2925-3085). The
episode parallels but expands a previous incident involving three robbers.
Upon catching sight of Erec and his wife, one of the knights in the second
robber episode announces to his companions that he intends to claim
Enide for himself (vv. 2945-46). Erec resorts to arms, but not specifically
to prevent Enide’s abduction, since the knights issue no challenge to the
hero. Their threatening appearance is provocation enough.
Erex saga deviates from the substance of the romance at this juncture
of the plot only insofar as the saga conflates two different events - an
encounter with three robbers and one with five - into a single episode
including eight antagonists (see pp. 192-93). As in the French romance
one of the robbers informs his companions that he has designs on Evida
(33:6). The author of Erex saga must have considered the threat of ab-
duction an attractive motif and an appropriate reason for combat, since
the theme recurs several times in the saga. The implicit challenge to the
hero’s right to his wife in the episode deriving from Erec et Enide is
transformed into an outright threat in a subsequent interpolated episode
in the saga. Erex and Evida meet up with seven armed men who have
kidnapped four knights and their ladies. One of the armed men immedi-
ately threatens to take Erex’ life if Erex does not hånd over his weapons,
clothing, and wife. The passive role of a king - of Markis in Tristrams
saga or of King Arthur in Lancelot - when confronted by the threatened
abduction of his wife, is not the lot of the Arthurian knight. Erex re-
sponds immediately and forcefully by rising to the challenge; he slays
every one of the opponents. In this interpolated episode as well as in the
one deriving from Erec et Enide, the primary objective of both groups of
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