Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Side 187
cal.”46 On doser examination, however, one realizes that we are dealing
with more than syntactical and structural changes. Surprisingly enough,
the invocation of God is omitted - whether by Brother Robert or a later
redactor cannot be determined. Tristram’s entire monologue becomes an
indictment of Isond, and commences with the words Nu ertu, Isond, mik
hatandi. Thereupon the model of vv. 1761-62 of Thomas’ text is adopted
and expanded into a triple accusation of Isond. The three-fold repetition
of er pu vilt ekki lends a particular poignancy and element of despair to
the passage that are lacking in the French text. Thomas’ Tristran expres-
ses the certitude that Ysolt will grieve his death; the Norwegian Tristram
dies utterly forlorn. The triple charge that Isond has abandoned him, in
effect anticipates Tristram’s calling on Isond three times before expiring
at the fourth invocation.
Of the Arthurian riddarasogur only Parcevals saga contains participial
clusters that resemble those in Tristrams saga in function and style. For
example, the lyrical and emotional quality of the drops-of-blood episode
is stressed through the combination of several rhetorical devices charac-
teristic of the riddarasogur:
Ok sem hann så Jtessa hluti,
nyfallinn snjo ok hit raudasta blod,
[tå kom honum i hug at slfkr litr var i andliti Blankiflur,
unnustu hans,
ok var [hann] [tat nu svå mjok hugsandi,
at hann var ollu odru gleymandi.
Hann gådi enskis annars en sjå hér å.
Svå var hann [>etta mjok ihugandi
ok svå tok hann [>å mjok at unna,
at ekki måtti hann [)å annat kunna. (ch. 13, 38:16-22)
(And when he saw these things, newfallen snow and the reddest
biood, there came to his mind that such a color was in the face of
Blankiflur, his beloved, and he now reflected on that so much that
he forgot everything else. He cared to do nothing else but to look
upon this. So much did he muse over this and so much did he begin
to love, that he could not do anything else.)
46 Angevin Britain and Scandinavia, p. 177.
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