Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Blaðsíða 250

third day after His Passion. The lion drags its tail along the ground
in order to obscure its tracks. Master Lucretius says that the lion
has a holy nature, since it does not harm human beings except in
extreme hunger or if he is attacked. And if a man gives himself up
into a lion’s power, it lets him go freely as he will.)
The above passage from Sigurdar saga pogla explains the still-born cub
in Vigkæns saga. A dead lion cub is, of course, quite acceptable from a
purely factual standpoint. Nonetheless, in Vigkæns saga kuahirdis the
presence of a dead cub is unnecessary and unmotivated. The motif can be
understood, however, as a reflex of the belief - popularized by bestiaries
- that the lioness bears her young dead but that the male lion’s breath
restores the cubs to life on the third day. Vigkæn’s behavior toward the
lioness is also predicated on lore gleaned from bestiaries, and analogous
to Sigurd’s deportment in Sigurdar saga frogla. In the latter work the lion
demonstrates its remarkable intelligence by showing Sigurår how he can
acquire the gold in the dragon’s lair. In Vigkæns saga the hero’s action
presupposes belief in an omniscient lion, since Vigkænn inquires of the
animal regarding the location of the dwelling place of RauQr and his
brothers, three evil men whom Vigkænn had slain for stealing the king’s
cows. Without hesitating, the lioness leads Vigkænn to the desired place.
In Vigkæns saga kuahirdis folk tale, romance, and learned elements
meet, blend, and beome transformed by assimilation. The faithful lion,
after having passed the initial test of intelligence, fulfills the function
assigned customarily to a dog: it is ordered to watch the horses for
Vigkænn (p. 21) and to protect the property of the hero’s father (p. 26).
The saga begins and ends as a proper riddarasaga ought: with a cast of
principal characters consisting of a king, a queen, a princess, and the
king’s favorite knight; in the epilogue we learn of the fate of King
Vigkænn, his queen, and their children - two sons and a daughter. The
juxtaposing of romance and folk tale elements can at times prove discon-
certing. The prologue to chapter I transports us into the land of romance
with its list of principals, only to surprise us with the subsequent state-
ment concerning a major source of conflict in the saga: the king is unable
to find anyone to watch his herd of cows, because each New Year’s Eve a
cowherd and one of the cows disappear. The problem of the missing cows
is not solved by one of the king’s knights, but by Vigkænn, a farmer’s son,
who fulfills the role ordinarily assigned to the Arthurian knight. He slays
each one of three brothers who comes to claim a cow on New Year’s Eve
in each of three successive years. Like Erex and Parceval, Vigkænn also
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