Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 224

courtesy of romance on one hånd, and the earthiness of farce or fabliau
on the other.
The most curious and surprising aspect of the Icelandic version of the
Tristan legend is that the tragic love story turns out not to be so tragic
after all. As noncommittally as the author depicts Tristram’s dalliance
with Isodd, he also paves the way for a bittersweet ending. Without
misgivings or compunction Tristram accepts the other Isodd - the Dark -
as part of his victory prize in war against the king of Spain. When the king
is slain, his two staunchest supporters surrender to Tristram all the land
and offer him, moreover, their sister. Without any comment on his part,
or analysis of Tristram’s mental process at this point, the author laconi-
cally and neutrally relates the course of events:
En jarlar logdu undir land vid Tristram ok budu honum syst-
ur sina; hon hét Isodd svarta, ok f>otti så kostr beztr å ollu
Spanialandi. På lét Tristram bua prydilega veizlu ok bydr til
ollu stormenni, er i var landinu; Jjå kvångadisk Tristram ok
})å var honum gefit konungsnafn yfir ollu Spanialandi. (ch.
12, p. 68).
(And the earls surrendered the land to Tristram and offered him
their sister. She was called Isodd the Dark and was thought to be
the best match in Spain. Then Tristram had a magnificent banquet
prepared and invited to it all the powerful men in the land. Then
Tristram married and he was granted the title of king over all
Spain.)
The author’s later comment - the only one on the subject - that Tristram
only gradually gave up thinking about Isodd the Fair, is unmotivated, as
is a following remark that Isodd the Dark thought that she was not in
possession of his love - pykkisk ... ekki få åst hans (ch. 12, p. 70). Both
remarks are reflexes of the Norwegian version. The comments are entire-
ly gratuitous and incongruous in light of what happens: Isodd gives birth
to a son, whom they name Kalegras. One Icelandic copyist must have
been struck by the incompatibility of these details, for he interpolated a
mitigating phrase: ok pot tisk Isodd svarta ekki få åst hans nog å nætrnar
(Lbs. 2316 4to, ‘And it seemed to Isodd the Dark that she did not receive
enough love from him at night’). By means of the novel twist of providing
for offspring - novel, albeit acceptable in the context of the saga - the
author imitates the happy ending of Arthurian romance and bows to the