Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Blaðsíða 125

ages. Moreover, Morodd continues, ek ann pér allvel konunnar ok rikis-
ins (ch. 10, p. 58 ‘I am pleased to grant you the lady and the kingdom’).
Morodd’s magnanimous offer - in regard to Isodd’s future - only con-
firms what is historical faet: Tristram and Isodd have already consumma-
ted their love and have for that very reason delayed their arrival in
England for three months. Tristram’s reply to the offer of both woman
and kingdom is sly as well as revealing; despite previous and future
deception in deed towards his uncle, he nonetheless does not prevaricate
in speech: Nei, herra! sagdi hann, ek vil ekki konungr vera, medan
ydvar er vid kostr (ch. 10, p. 58 ‘No sire,’ he said, ‘I do not want to be
king while you are still alive’).
In the Saga af Tristram ok Isodd the various motions to bestow Isodd
on Tristram not only echo Blenzibly’s offer of herself to Kalegras, but
also foreshadow the offer to Tristram of another Isodd - whom he does in
faet accept. In the Icelandic version of the Tristan tale the hero’s mar-
riage to Isodd svarta, Isodd the Dark, results from the acceptance of an
offer that other heroes, such as Iven, turn down; Tristram receives Isodd
svarta from her two brothers as victory prize. After Queen Isodd has
been cleared of the charge of adultery by Bishop Hildifonsus of Valland,
Tristram journeys - his departure is entirely unmotivated - to Spain,
where an army led by a certain King Benidsus and two earls, Sigurdr and
Hringr, attacks him. Tristram slays the king and vanquishes the earls,
who surrender to him their lands and additionally offer him their sister.
Hon hét Isodd svarta, ok pot ti så kostr beztr å ollu Spanialandi (ch. 12, p.
68 ‘She was called Isodd the Dark, and was thought to be the best match
in Spain’). Tristram marries her without qualms.
A primary characteristic of the Arthurian riddarasogur is a penchant
for thematic variation: the commonplaces of Arthurian romance were
recognized as such and repeated in varying combinations by the Norwe-
gian translators of the French romances or by later Icelandic redaetors or
authors, as the case may be. Especially the Icelandic Saga af Tristram ok
Isodd and Erex saga demonstrate the ingenuity of their authors in isola-
ting stock features of the romances and modifying them to fit their re-
spective contexts and the author’s particular point of view. An example
of a Creative adaptation of a familiar Arthurian personage is Kæi hinn
kurteisi, Kay the Courteous, counsellor to King Engres, Isodd’s brother
in the Icelandic Tristram. Kæi is an ambivalent figure: although his advice
is deemed bad, he is nevertheless the king’s highly esteemed intimate.
When Tristram slays the dragon, Kæi’s behavior belies his epithet, hinn
kurteisi, for he himself claims to have killed the dragon and sues for the
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