Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Blaðsíða 246

Finnur Jonsson rightly observed that no other romance combines such a
variety of motifs and topoi from the fornaldarsogur and the riddarasogur
as does Sigurdar saga frogla.25 Indeed, the manner in which the author
constructs and integrates the several scenes constituting the dragon-lion
episode illustrates in general how authors of the late romances proceeded
to give new form to literary loans.
Sigurd’s rescue of the lion is preceded by an episode in which a flying
dragon - analogous to the one in Erex saga and in Pidriks saga - flies
over an army commanded by Sigurd’s brothers, kills sixty men with the
poison it spews out, carries off two of them, and swallows a third (ch. 13).
The author thereupon shifts scene to focus on Sigurdr who sets out at age
18 in search of whatever adventures he might come across - at leita
æfintyra, ef til kunnu falla (136:21-22). He comes to the place where his
brothers’ army had been encamped. Now he hears strange sounds and
learns that the noise is that of trees being bent almost to the breaking
point and catapulting to their original position (only later do we learn the
origin of the mysterious phenomenon: it is occasioned by the lion’s hang-
ing on to the branches as the dragon flies overhead with it). Instead of
explaining the cause of the strange sight, the author turns to the hero -
thus leaving the reader in suspense - and describes lavishly the sword
with which Sigurdr girds himself (139:5-141:4). Only now is the struggle
between the two animals depicted. After Sigurd’s rescue of the lion three
days of rest follow during which Sigurdr feeds the lion and attends to its
wounds. Only now does Sigurdr, accompanied by the lion, proceed to
investigate the location of the dragon’s lair. Once again the author checks
the pace of events, and thereby produces a hero unlike the others we
know from analogous dragon-lion episodes. Sigurdr realizes that the
monster’s lair is a treasure trove of gold, yet does not act immediately.
Instead, the hero shoots game, prepares it, and feeds the lion - a reversal
of the situation in Ivens saga, where the grateful lion hunts deer for its
master. After their repast the two companions recline for the night,
Sigurdr in his tent, the lion immediately outside the opening. Only the
next day does the hero set off for the spot where he had espied the gold.
Once more the author retards the action, explains how intelligent the lion
is - with details borrowed from medieval bestiaries (145:6-146:3) - and
then proves the truth of his assertions by having the lion demonstrate for
Sigurdr how the gold can be reached. The hero, accompanied by the lion,
Finnur Jonsson, Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie, III (Copenhagen: G.
E. C. Gad, 1902), p. 120.
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