Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 141

Hann reiQ nu brott ok létti ekki fyrr, en hann kom til fogru
borgar, ok vard Blankiflur unnasta hans honum hardla feginn
ok allir adrir {>eir sem {rar våru fyrir. Fékk Parceval {rå Blanki-
flur ok gerdisk ågætr hofdingi yfir bilu riki hennar, svå ågætr
ok sigrsæll, at aldri åtti hann svå våpnaskipti vid riddara, at
ekki sigradisk hann, ok mætti hann ollum hinum snorpustum
riddarum er våru um hans daga. Ok lykr hér nu sogu Parceval
riddara. (52:35-53:7)
(He now rode away and did not let up until he came to the beautiful
castle, and Blankiflur, his beloved, was delighted to see him again,
as were all the others who were present. Parceval then married
Blankiflur and he became an excellent ruler over her entire realm,
so excellent and victorious that never did he have a battie with
another knight without overcoming him. He encountered all the
most dashing knightS who lived in his day. And now here ends the
story of Parceval, the knight.)
Alfons Hilka, the editor of Chrétien’s Perceval, considered the above
conclusion arbitrary - “der Schluss des Percevalteils ist gewaltsam herbei-
gefiihrt, indem Perceval nach der Einsiedlerperiode zu seiner Geliebten
Blankinflur geschickt wird, die er heiratet, um als beriihmter und siegrei-
cher Fiirst deren Reich zu beherrschen.”12 Hilka was only echoing an
earlier judgment by Kolbing, the editor of Parcevals saga and Valvens
påttr. The latter explained, however, his use of “gewaltsam” by adding,
“will sagen, dass seine Vorlage nur ein Bruchstiick eines unvollendeten
Gedichtes gewesen ist.”13 To be sure,'the fragmentary character of Perce-
val demanded a satisfying conclusion from a thoughtful translator or
editor. Nonetheless, an epilogue is in the best tradition of saga-writing -
even given a complete Perceval as source - and is merely a manifestation
of a different sense of what is considered a proper conclusion. The differ-
ence between the French Erec and Erex saga illustrates what is meant.
Chrétien’s Erec is no fragment, and the romance concludes - as it had
Parzivalsaga enger verflochtene Theil der Valverssaga ebenfalls seine Pointe einbuBe, was
freilich nicht zu vermeiden war, da dem franzosischen Buche das Ende fehlte.” (“Die
nordische Parzivalsaga und ihre Quelle,” Germania, XIV [N. R., II], 1869, p. 179).
12 Der Percevalroman (Li Contes del Graal) von Christian von Troyes (Halle/Saale: Max
Niemeyer Verlag, 1932), p. XLVI.
13 Germania, XIV, p. 177.
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