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the very proliferation of Arthurian motifs bespeaks the authors’ familiari-
ty with contemporary literature and is also a fair indication of the
popularity of certain aspects of the matiére de Bretagne in Iceland.
One of the favorite episodes of romance - at least judging by the
prolific use Icelandic authors made of the grateful-lion motif - is the
rescue of a lion in Ivens saga. No fewer than six Icelandic romances
employ the grateful-lion motif, that their authors borrowed from Ivens
saga either directly or through an Icelandic intermediary. Because of the
frequency with which analogues to Iven’s rescue of a lion occur in the late
medieval romances, and because of the chameleon-like character of the
analogues, the grateful-lion motif is particularly suited for demonstrating
a singular facet of Icelandic romances: their adaptation and modification
of matter from existing literary works.
The best known of Iven’s adventures relates how he rescues a lion from
a serpent’s venomous and fiery embrace (ch. 11). The lion is so grateful
to fven for his kind deed that it henceforth becomes the knight’s insep-
arable companion, coming to his aid whenever assistance is deemed
necessary. The integral parts of this episode are as follows:
1. Iven rides into a forest and hears frightful sounds.
2. He witnesses a violent struggle between a serpent and a
lion.
3. Iven considers which of the two animals he should assist.
4. Iven chooses to aid the lion because the animal appears to
be appealing to him for help.
5. fven cuts the serpent in two.
6. Once the serpent has been slain, Iven prepares to defend
himself against the lion.
7. The lion demonstrates its amicability and gratitude.
8. The lion henceforth becomes Iven’s constant companion.
The protagonist of Ivens saga became known as så madr, er ledns riddari
er kalladr (‘the man who was called the Knight of the Lion’) because of
his unusual companion. The very same epithet - ledns riddari - could
have been bestowed on the heroes of a number of Icelandic romances, all
probably dating from the fourteenth century. Analogues to the grateful
lion motif appears in Ectors saga (ch. 10), Grega saga (only a fragment
without chapter division is extant), Kåra saga Kårasonar (ch. 18), Kon-
råds saga keisarasonar (ch. 8), Vilhjålms saga s jods (ch. 13), and Sigurdar
saga pogla (chs. 13; 16-17).23 The primary difference between the epi-
23 References are to the following editions: Ectors saga, ed. Agnete Loth, LMIR, I
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