Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 231
us because the work demonstrates the author’s familiarity with the ma-
nere de Bretagne. One stanza is devoted to each of the important knights
of the Table Round: Valvin, Arthur’s nephew (I, 12); Ivent, who is dear
to the king (I, 13); Errek - who does not appear in Mottuls saga -
considered the equal of Valvin and Ivent, and who brought to the court a
most beautiful lady (I, 14); Parcival, the chivalrous (I, 15); Estor and
Idrus, celebrated for their great exploits (I, 16); and Kæi, the seneschall
with the sharp tongue (I, 17). The approach to the plot is more gradual in
the Skikkju rimur than in Mottuls saga because of the formal presentation
of the various knights. The illustrious assemblage is augmented, more-
over, by just as noteworthy a group of guests, none of whom is men-
tioned in Mottuls saga, and whom the author of the Skikkju rimur has
borrowed from Erex saga. The king of the dwarfs accepts Arthur’s gener-
ous invitation; he arrives accompanied by 600 fellow dwarfs and by his
queen (I, 28-30). We know him from Erex saga (26:3; 26:15-16) - as well
as from Erec et Enide (w. 1993-94) - where he is one of the guests who
attends Erex’ wedding to Evida. The king of the dwarfs is followed in the
Skikkju rimur by King Felix the Old (I, 31-33; III, 41). He is 300 years old
and has brought with him 100 long-bearded men, all as old as he. The
aged king is accompanied by his rather corpulent wife. This chieftain and
his entourage correspond to another group of wedding guests in Erex
saga, except that in the saga their age is somewhat more reasonable: none
of them is under 60 years of age (25:10-11; 25:24-25). In Erec et Enide the
gentleman is Kerrins li viauz rois de Riél (v. 1985). The group of elderly
guests is succeeded by another group characterized by age: a wise chief-
tain arrives accompanied by 300 men, all of them so young that none of
them has beards; each escorts his beloved (I, 34-35). This group too is
borrowed from Erex saga (26:1-2; 26:12-14), but the author of Skikkju
rimur informs us that these guests come from Småmeyjaland (I, 35), that
is, from the land of the little maidens, a name borrowed from Samsons
saga fagra (32:15; 26), which saga also seems to have contributed some
material to Section II of the Skikkju rimur. In section I, the contribution
of Erex saga to the Mantie Verses is considerable. Strangely enough, the
wife of Erex plays no role in the rimur, is not put to the chastity test, is
not even mentioned despite the faet that the presence of Errek is re-
marked upon in the Skikkju rimur - but not in Mottuls saga. Moreover,
nordiques du fabliau frangais “Le mantel mautaillié. ” Textes et notes, Lunds Universitets
Årsskrift, XIII (Lund, 1877), pp. 54-71; also, Finnur Jonsson, Rimnasafn. Samling af de
ældste islandske Rimer, II (Copenhagen: STUAGNL, 1913-22), pp. 326-56.
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