Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Side 158

J)vl at J)at, sem konungr gefr ok jåtar,
å aldri at onytask ok aptr takask,
sakir enskis manns vilja né eggjanarorda. (ch. 7, p. 15)
(That is not right, sir, nor becoming, nor proper to your rank. And
I will not accept the mantie any sooner than I see that all women
and maidens have tried it on, for that which a king grants and
promises is never to be rescinded or revoked on account of any
man’s will or inciting words.)
The accumulation of verbal pairs in the saga to accentuate the boy’s stern
reminder makes his speech stronger and hence a more effective reminder
than in the lai that royal authority is at stake as well as the sacredness of
the royal word. At a later point a similar scene is enacted as Arthur once
more attempts to call a halt to the proceedings; a second time the boy
intervenes with a reminder of the king’s promise. In the French version
he remarks, Je vos demant/que vos me tenez covenantlsi com vos le m’avez
promis (vv. 603-05 i request of you that you keep your word, as you
have promised’). The boy’s words are amplified in the saga. The author
sets the scene by informing us that the boy’s words are spoken svå at oli
Yiirdin heyrdi å: “Herra," segir hann, “haldid vid mik ord ydur ok
peim formåla, er pér hétud mér” (ch. 9, p. 24 ‘So that the entire court
heard: “Sir,” he said, “keep your promise to me and your previous word,
which you promised me.’”) The French covenant is represented by the
non-alliterating ord and formåli, while the other key words in the pas-
sage are linked by alliteration.
The two passages from Mottuls saga cited above recall a similar epi-
sode in Tristrams saga in which an Irish baron chides King Markis for
having made a promise that he is loath to fulfill:
Lygr Jdu nu ok ryfr heit jjin,
er {ju seldir mér, allri /lirdinni å Zieyrandi.
Ok eru log ok réttindi, at [)u rådir aldri optar riki;
Jjvi så hofdingi, sem opinberliga lygr ok gengr å eida
si'na ok ord,
å aldri at hafa vald né riki yfir dugandis monnum. (ch. 49, p.
105).
(Now you are lying and breaking your oath which you made to me
in the hearing of all your retainers. It is legal and just that you no
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