Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 219
åstar sakir vid mik, en ekki mun jyeim verri hlutr til ganga (ch. 11, p. 60
‘They do everything out of love for me, and they can have no worse
motive’). The irony of åstar sakir is unmistakable, especially if one imag-
ines the tale being read aloud, with a slight pause before vid mik. Even
after Tristram’s footsteps are discovered in the flour which Héri has
scattered between the beds of the lovers, Morodd vacillates between
trust, which he expresses in speech, and distrust, which his subsequent
action betrays. Despite the evidence that Tristram has been in Isodd’s
bed. Morodd rationalizes and provides an explanation that is humorous
and based on a far from subtle double-entendre. The king reassures Héri:
“Ekki ætla ek honum illt til ganga, f)6tt hann fari til rekkju
hennar, heldr mun hann vilja skemmta henni,” sagåi ko-
nungr, “{)å ek em å brottu.” (ch. 11, pp. 60-62)
(“Even though he goes to her bed, I do not think that he has any
evil intention. He wishes rather to keep her amused,” said the king,
“while I am absent.”)
The intent of the words is to dispel suspicion; therefore Morodd uses
skemmta in a neutral and general sense to refer to any sort of amusement
or pleasure. Nonetheless, Morodd immediately transfers Tristram to oth-
er quarters; his action thereby gives the lie to the intent of his words. By
assigning new chambers to Tristram, the king gives himself away; his use
of skemmta embraces both more general forms of amusement as well as
specifically sexual pleasure.21 Moreover, the humor deriving from irony
and double-entendre is re-enforced by the general situation in which Tris-
tram’s nocturnal visits to Isodd’s bed take place: at a time when Morodd
- a very devout man, the author informs us - prays in church.
Morodd is the epitome of the cuckolded husband. Tristram, for his
part, turns out to be an atypical and clumsy secret lover. Far from depic-
ting him as a resourceful individual, the author makes him appear some-
21 Skemmta, ‘to amuse,’ frequently is an euphemism for sexual pleasure, for example in
Equitans Ijod, one of the Strengleikar: “oc logduzt f>a bæde saman i rækkio rædesmannz-
ens oc skemtado ser ok leko sua sem f>*im likade” (Unger, 28:31); in Bærings saga: “‘Pit
skulud skemmta ykkr i nott vid mædgur Jjessar.’ Ok svå gerdu Joeir; Osus lå hjå greifans
konu, en Nisus hjå dottur hennar. Lågu f>eir ok skemmtu sér um nottina.” (Fornspgur
Sudrlanda, 114:65-115:4); Partalopa saga: “Nu skemmta jiau sér \>& nott eptir f>vi, sem
[leim likadi, ok sofnudu sidan i fogru fadmlagi ok godu” (Oskar Klockhoff, ed. Uppsala,
1877, 10:3-5; see also 10:13 and 11:6).
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