Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 140

to take her seat, like the others, disgraced and dishonored - med skomm
ok svlvirding (ch. 7, p. 18).
From the above it should be clear that the function of the prologue in
Mottuls saga differs from that in the other works previously discussed.
Moreover, although the introduction provides background information
regarding one of the important personages in the mantie tale, as also
about the setting in which the plot unfolds, the author hardly intended to
present in King Arthur an ideal figure for emulation (see pp. 34-35).
Instead, he created a prologue that would enhance the comic spirit perva-
ding the plot. By means of the introduction, that is, the hyperbolic enco-
mium of King Arthur, the author of Mottuls saga exploited the possibility
of ironic contrast. The subsequent development of the plot time and
again calls into question and discredits the introductory depiction of the
monarch and his surroundings.
The prefatory sections of some of the Arthurian riddarasogur display
considerable variety; they also are evidence of considerable independence
vis-å-vis the content and structure of their sources. In addition to the
prologue, the riddarasogur adopt another structural feature of the indige-
nous sagas, namely the epilogue. Two basic types exist: “One variety
provides information on the later life and deeds of the hero (or a hero)
and the other provides notes on the survivors.”10 Both tendencies are
apparent in several of the riddarasogur.
As afore mentioned, the French Perceval is known in the North as two
separate works: Parcevals saga and Valvens fråttr. The reason for the
division is understandable given the fragmentary character of Chrétien’s
Perceval. To deal with the faet that the author of the French romance
turns to an account of Gawain’s adventures in v. 6514 without, however,
properly concluding the story of Perceval, the translator, or a later Ice-
landic redaetor, divided the material into relatively independent narra-
tives. He assigned separate titles to the stories of Parceval and Valven,
and additionally appended an epilogue to Parcevals saga.11 The author of
Parcevals saga concludes the Good Friday episode as follows:
10 Andersson, The Icelandic Family Saga, p. 26.
11 Kolbing commented: “Ich meine, der Verfasser der Parzivalsaga hat - und dies mit
einem sehr richtigen Instincte - wohl gefiihlt, daB jetzt, wo bei ihm der Hauptheld der Saga
glucklich in den Hafen eingelaufen war, die Nebenrolle, in der Valver in der weiteren
Erzahlung noch auftreten solite, nur einen sehr matten und klåglichen Eindruck machen
wiirde, und aus diesem Grunde dem noch iibrigen Theil seiner Vorlage eine gesonderte
Existenz gegeben, allerdings das dabei aus dem Auge lassend, daB dadurch der in die
126