Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Blaðsíða 115

robbers is the acquisition of all of Erex’ possessions. Evida is thus essen-
tially part of the coveted loot; abduction plays only a secondary role.
In two other episodes that derive from Erec et Enide but diverge strik-
ingly in the saga because of a change of motivation, the abduction motif is
more pronounced. The author of Erex saga has altered, for example, the
content of the Guivreiz-le-petit incident (vv. 3663-3930), so that Erex is
challenged not because Guivreiz wants to test his skili at arms, but be-
cause Guimar - as the Icelandic counterpart is called - challenges Erex’
right to his wife. The knight who is so large and strong that Erex thought
he had never seen any one quite like him, arrogantly demands the lady
since he, the challenger, considers himself the more suitable mate (41:8-
9). Despite serious wounds, Erex unhesitatingly engages in combat for
the sake of Evida because, he responds, ek hefi réttara at mæla (41:11-12
‘I am more in the right’). It should be noted that Guimar’s assertion that
he is a more suitable mate for Evida is analogous to a response by
Tristram in the Icelandic Saga af Tristram ok Isodd when, ironically
enough, the hero rejects Isodd because he considers his unde a more
appropriate match (see p. 110).
Erex saga culminates in an episode that deviates from the romance
precisely because the saga incorporates the abduction motif. The ulti-
mate test and demonstration of the eponymous hero’s prowess in Erec et
Enide occurs in the last aventure, in the Joy of the Court adventure. In
the French romance Erec is challenged to battie and in the ensuing duel
overcomes Mabonagrain, a knight who has been held captive by his lady
as the result of a promise to do her every bidding. Only defeat at the
hånds of another can release him from his self-inflicted seclusion. The
episode takes place in a fantasy world: a garden surrounded by a wall of
air, the heads of vanquished knights impaled on sticks, a magic horn to be
blown by the victor. The knight’s captivity as depicted in the French
romance must have appeared selfish and capricious to the saga author.
Sheer whim enslaves him to his lady. In addition, Erec is challenged to
fight for just as insignificant and insufficient a cause: the faet that Erec
dåres to approach the spot where Mabonagrain’s beloved is reclining on a
silver couch arouses the knight’s ire (vv. 5907-14). The character of the
episode differs considerably in the saga primarily because abduction is
the underlying motif both for the knight’s seclusion and for his challeng-
ing Erex to combat. When the latter approaches the tent in which a
beautiful lady is sitting, her knight, Malbanaring, accuses Erex of intend-
ing to steal from him both his property and his lady (65:6), and for that
8 King Arthur
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