Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 139

(True stories bear witness to this and many kinds of good records
kept by worthy clerks about his many deeds, and sometimes about
many different fine events that took place in many different ways
within his court and far and wide in his realm, sometimes about
valiant deeds of chivalry, sometimes about other extraordinary
events.)
Since the stage for the tale to be told is set with such care - with almost
excessive care - the reader anticipates that the subsequent plot will illus-
trate one or the other aspect of Arthur’s character, or that the author will
perhaps relate one of the many tales of adventure or of chivalry that he
mentions in the introduction. What follows is indeed a development of
the prologue, but totally unlike what one might reasonably expect. The
tale of the mantie fails under the category sannar sogur ... um adra
kynliga hluti. In the context of the prologue one expects that these extra-
ordinary events attest further Arthur’s eminence. Instead, the plot that
follows moves directly counter to the description of Arthur - and impli-
citly of his court - with which the saga opens. Time and again the unas-
sailability of Arthurian perfection is shown to be wishful thinking. The
tale gradually demonstrates that the magnificence and honor of Arthur’s
kingdom - virduligr gdfugleikr ok sæmd rikis hans - are not based
entirely on faet, as one lady after another at Arthur’s court is shown to be
unfaithful to lover or husband. The irony is all the greater since the young
man with the mantie had reassured King Arthur that he was requesting
no boon that might bring disgrace to the king’s reputation or damage to
his kingdom - ek beidumsk enskis pess, er tign ydvarri sé til svivirdingar
edr riki ydru til skada (ch. 4, pp. 8-9). At first, the mantie test seems a
fine idea, a private joke for the knights, but one not to be taken too
seriously. Since the ladies know nothing of the distinetive power of the
mantie, the queen willingly accedes to the request that she be the first to
try on the beautiful garment. All too soon, however, it becomes evident
that the mantie is an instrument for exposing as fiction what had hitherto
been considered an unassailable tenet of the Arthurian creed: feminine
fidelity. Time and again hopes are dashed as the knights expect to walk
off with honor, but instead participate indireetly in the shame of their
ladies. Beginning with the queen (ch. 6), one lady after the other has to
take her seat in disgrace. Especially Kay feels the brunt of his lady’s
failure. He had boasted as usual, and more than any of the other knights,
that he and his lady would carry off the honors that day - Vit skulum med
sæmd ok soma hedan sigr bera i dag (ch. 7, p. 16). Instead, his lady has
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