Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 209

after the dragon has been slain and the abducted knight has once more
recovered consciousness. In Pidriks saga, in contradistinction to Erex
saga, we find a ludicrous situation: a man, his entire body, except head
and shoulders, trapped in the jaws of a dragon, is nonetheless able to
orchestrate his own rescue. Narrative focus during the struggle is on the
victim, who is alert enough to be able not only to call for help, but also to
explain - despite his predicament and the need for speed - how he got
into such an uncomfortable position, and furthermore to offer helpful
advice during the rescue effort. The potentially parodistic character of
the scene is unmistakable, regardless how the author of Pidriks saga
intended an audience to react. The author of Erex saga must have sensed
how ridiculous the episode might appear and therefore undertook chan-
ges in content and structure. Erex’ sword, as might be expected of one of
Arthur’s knights, is quite capable of slaying a dragon, and Erex, aided by
God alone, needs no advice from another, least of all from the victim. In
Erex saga we do not learn how the dragon abducted the victim until after
the dragon has been slain. Like his counterpart in Pidriks saga, the
abducted knight in Erex saga had been sleeping on his shield. Except for
the faet that dragons, especially flying ones, exist in the realm of fantasy,
there is nothing preposterous about the episode as related in Erex saga.
An analogous case of literary borrowing - this time coupled with modi-
fication of existing material in Erec et Enide - is the conflation of the two
robber episodes in the French romance into a single episode in Erex saga.
In Erec et Enide the hero and his wife come across three armed knights.
Their leader informs his companions that he plans to appropriate Enide’s
palfrey for himself and suggests that the others share the remaining pos-
sessions (vv. 2796-2822). In the ensuing combat Erec is victorious and
takes the robbers’ horses as booty, one white, one black, and one dapple-
grey. Hardly have the couple proceeded on their way, when they meet
another group of robber knights, this time five in number. The leader of
the group announces to the others that he plans to abduct Enide. There-
upon the second robber speaks up that he intends to seize the dappled
horse; a third has his eye on the black horse, a fourth on the white horse;
the fifth wants Erec’s armor (vv. 2945-54). The author of Erex saga
combined these two distinet but consecutive scenes of the romance into a
single episode featuring eight robbers, each of whom speaks up and
makes a claim, beginning with Evida and concluding with an element not
found in the romance: the eighth robber considers himself to have been
shortchanged and lays claim to Erex’ right hånd and foot, in faet, his life
(see Appendix III). On the surface the episode in Erex saga seems to be
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