Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Síða 122

just as blatant a case of unrequited love as the Guinevere-Janual inci-
dent. The episode in Ivens saga differs, however, inasmuch as a blending
of erotic attraction and gratitude motivates the lady’s magnanimous offer
of herself and her realm to Iven. When I ven responds that he prefers to
ride away in solitude - heldr vil ek i samri stund einn saman brottu rida
(99:26) - and indeed immediately leaves, the lady is reduced to tears, but
takes no action. This episode contains an admixture of different yet
related motifs that originate in the French romances but develop further
into standard clichés in the Arthurian riddarasogur. The one common-
place is the offer of self to a member of the opposite sex because of the
physical endowments or accomplishments of the other. Iven’s response to
the lady who offers self and kingdom - that neither gold nor lands inter-
ested him, and that his conduct had not been motivated by love - reveals
the underlying erotic implications of the episode. Nonetheless, an added
factor comes into play, namely gratitude. Unlike the various offers of
love that spring primarily from physical attraction and sexual desire, the
lady in the Earl Alies episode is compelled to generosity out of gratitude
to Iven for his assistance. In the Arthurian riddarasogur the offer of self,
of one’s possessions, and - if one is a father - even of one’s daughter to a
knight for services rendered is common practice.
In one episode in Ivens saga the eponymous hero rescues 300 captive
maidens from the clutches of two giants by whom they have been con-
signed to slave labor until some knight might come along, sufficiently re-
sourceful in combat, to be able to defeat the oppressors. The episode
takes place in a castle named Finnandi Atburdr (‘Adventure to be discov-
ered’) and this site bears some resemblance to the Hirdar fagnadr
(‘Joy of the Court’) in Erex saga. Just as many a knight has lost his life in
the enchanted garden in Erex saga, so also in Ivens saga many a knight
has met death in attempting to rescue the lovely captives engaged in
spinning and weaving. The maidens, it turns out, had been handed over
to the giants by Reinion, King of Hungary, in order to ransom his own
life after he had been defeated at arms by them (see pp. 66-67). The lord
of the strange castle refuses to let Iven depart until he has engaged the
giants in combat. He makes Iven a magnanimous offer, however: if Iven
succeeds in overcoming the giants, the lord promises to bestow on him his
daughter, his castle, and all his kingdom. In the French romance, more-
over, the father is only spokesman for his daughter, who desires Yvain as
husband - Ma fille a seignor vos desirre (v. 5476). The manner in which
the knight responds to the lord’s munificent proposal in romance and
saga makes apparent the thoughtfulness with which the author of Ivens
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