Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 161
rejected by Arthur’s court, for his beloved has given him the means to be
extraordinarily munificent. Nonetheless, Janual now chooses to set him-
self apart, for the object of all his thoughts and desires is of an entirely
different world. The author elects to stress Janual’s rift with Arthurian
life through repeated references to the pleasures of court (gaman) on one
hånd and Janual’s self-imposed isolation on the other by depicting Janu-
ars withdrawal with gecc ser einn saman (p. 70 ‘he kept to himself), settiz
mioc fiarri peim (p. 70 ‘he sat down far away from them’), and hann sat
einnsaman fiarre odrum (p. 70 ‘he was sitting alone far from the others’).
The reason for this behavior is that Janual haf de ecki pat er honum
licade (‘did not have what he wanted’). The word lica recurs in various
semantic settings, and within a relatively short section of text, to express
Janual’s attraction to his otherworldly lady and at the same time his
distaste for the pleasures of court and the queen’s offer of her love. Only
once does the verb lica actually translate the French text, when we hear
about Lanval’s sojourn with his beloved:
Un entremés i ot pienier,
qui mult plaiseit al chevalier:
kar s’amie baisout sovent
e acolot estreitement. (vv. 185-88)
(He received there a rich repast which greatly pleased the knight:
for his beloved kissed him often and embraced him tightly.)
The Ijod follows suit: Enn riddarenn lét sér vel lica med kossum oc
halsfadman vnnasto sinnar (p. 69 ‘The knight was well pleased with the
kisses and embraces of his beloved’). Independently of the French text,
the Norwegian redaction later repeats the phrase lica vel in a negative
context to express Janual’s dissatisfaction with the type of entertainment
he finds at Arthur’s court: licade honum ei at kannazc vid drotningena
ne meyiar hennar (p. 70 ‘he had no desire to be familiar with the queen or
her maidens’) and hann hafde ecki pat er honum licade (p. 70 ‘he did not
have what he wanted’). To the queen’s offer of love he replies, Vist ei
licar mér ast pin ne unna ydr (p. 70 ‘I truly want neither your love nor to
love you’). The ei licar mér is, of course, a fairly accurate translation of
the corresponding French Ieo n’ai cure de vus amer (v. 272), but the point
being made here is that the Ijod unlike the lai chooses to repeat this very
phrase in successive scenes interrelated in content and spirit. When Janu-
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