Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 136
Svå byrjar fessa sogu at karl bjo ok åtti sér kerlingu. Pau åtti
son at einberni er hét Perceval. Pessi karl var bondi at nafn-
bot, en riddari at tign. Hann hafdi verit allra kappa mestr.
Hann hafbi tekit konungs dottur at herfangi ok settisk si'5an i
ubygd, fviat hann forbi ekki millum annarra manna at vera.
(ch. 1, 3:3-8)
(Thus relates the beginning of this saga that there lived an old man
who was married to an old woman. They had an only son named
Parceval. This old man’s title was “bondi” and his rank was knight.
He had been the greatest of champions. He had taken a king’s
daughter as war booty and thereafter settled down in the wilder-
ness, because he dared not live among other men.)
The account is the epitome of succinctness and as a result one gains the
impression that Parceval’s parents withdrew to solitude as a direct conse-
quence of the forcible seizure by a knight - Parceval’s father - of a
princess - Parceval’s mother. Later Parceval learns from his mother that
his parents fled to the wilderness after they had incurred the loss of all
their possessions, apparently as a result of the liberality of Parceval’s
father (4:23-24). The information gleaned from Parcevals saga concern-
ing the fore-history of the hero’s parents has only one point in common
with Perceval, that is, the loss of wealth (w. 441-49). Otherwise, the
short narrative concerning Parceval’s parents bears a striking similarity to
the background of the couple in the Hirdar fagnadr episode at the con-
clusion of Erex saga (see pp. 101-02). In both cases a solitary life is
depicted, and this element derives in each case from the respective
French source. The novel twist in both saga accounts is the combination
of unequal social standing and abduction to account for the need to live
far removed from society. Nonetheless, despite the similarity of Parce-
vals saga and Erex saga in regard to a couple living in seclusion, no
evidence is available for postulating influence of one work on the other.
Erex saga is also prefaced by what is functionally a p’rologue. The saga
discards Chrétien’s initial self-laudatory verses (vv. 1-26) and commences
with what corresponds to vv. 27-34 of Erec et Enide, that is, the saga
provides the setting for the tale that is to unfold:
Pat er upphaf fessarar fråsogu, at Artus kongur sat i sinum
kastala, er Kardigan hét. Pat var påskati'5, ok hélt få enn
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