Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 244

tion. Because of the lion’s weight, the dragon is foræd to fly low over the
earth. This enables the lion to impede the dragon’s progress by holding
on to the tops of oak trees and bending them to the breaking point
(Sigurdar saga frogla). The lion’s strength is so prodigious that the ani-
mal uproots some of the trees (Ectors saga, Vilhjålms saga sjods, Grega
saga).
In several of the romances, just as in Ivens saga, the hero is in a
quandary when he comes upon the struggling animals: which one should
he help? Three of the sagas ignore the issue and have the hero enter the
fray without any reflection. Ivens saga presents the model for a dilemma
in the other romances, however. Iven has difficulty reaching a decision
until he realizes that the lion seems to be appealing to him for help. The
hero immediately decides to assist the lion, come what may. In Grega
saga, which contains borrowings from Ivens saga in addition to the epi-
sode here being considered, the hero concludes that unless he helps the
lion, the animal will die, and besides, he reasons, the lion seems to be
expecting his help. The author of Sigurdar saga Jpogla knew not only the
episode from Ivens saga, but also the analogous scene in Pidriks saga.
When Sigurår ponders the course of action he is to take, he remembers
that the coat of arms on his shield depicts a lion. Moreover, the real lion
looks at him as though appealing for help. The topos of the image of a
lion in a coat of arms is a loan from the dragon-lion episode in Pidriks
saga, despite the faet that the episode in Pidriks saga does not contain
the grateful-lion motif.
The episode in Pidriks saga is analogous to Ivens saga as to inception
but dissimilar as to outeome. Like Iven and the heroes of the six indige-
nous romances being discussed, the great warrior TiSrikr happens one day
upon a dragon and a lion as they are engaged in a fierce struggle.24 Tidrikr
comes to the assistance of the lion because he remembers that he carries a
lion’s image on his shield. Curiously enough, he has left his good sword
Ekkisax at home, and the sword he is carrying is useless against the
dragon’s tough hide. Lidrikr calls upon God for help and reminds the Lord
that he has never before requested a divine favor. He pulis out a tree by
its roots to strike the dragon; possibly the uprooted trees in the later
romances are a reflex of this topos in Pidriks saga. At this, the dragon
becomes so furious that it grabs the lion in its jaws, while wrapping its tail
around bidrikr - the method of transport corresponds to that employed
24 See Pidriks saga af Bern, ed. Henrik Bertelsen, STUAGNL, XXXIV (Copenhagen,
1905-11), vol. II, 361:25ff.
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