Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 264
through the belly, so that Tristram buried part of the shaft in his body and
neck. But the fire that the dragon flung out killed and dispatched his
horse. Tristram nimbly sprang from its back, drew his sword, made at the
dragon and cut it asunder at the middle.)
Saga af Tristram ok Isodd
Tristram bidr nidri fyrir hellinum, J)ar til er drekinn ferr at drekka, på
steig hann af hestinum, hann lét hestinn vera i milli sin ok hellisins; en i
t>at mund er ormrinn ætlar at fljuga ut af hellinum, på leggr Tristram
spjotinu undir bægslit, svå at i hjartanu nam stadar; ok i Jdvi er hann fékk
lagit, på féll hann ofan i gljufrit, er fyrir hellinum var, en hestr Tristrams
vard undir honum, ok ef hann hefdi setit å baki hestinum, hefdi hann
aldri sol sét sidan. Ok J?at er likara, at hann hafi ekki til einkis undan
dregit; på sæfdisk drekinn svå at spjotit stod i sårinu; svå hafdi ormrinn
fast hoggvit klonum i hestinn, at inn hafdi gengit milli rifjanna. (50-52)
(Tristram waited below the cave until the dragon went in to drink and
then he dismounted from his horse. He put the horse between himself
and the cave. And at the moment when the reptile was about to fly out
from the rock, Tristram thrust his spear into the animal’s shoulder so that
the spear transfixed its heart. And the instant that the dragon received
the stab, it feil down into the chasm that was in front of the cave and on
top of Tristram’s horse. And if he had been sitting on the horse’s back, he
would never have seen the sun again, and it is more than likely that it was
not without reason that he escaped. Then the dragon expired, with the
spear remaining in the wound. The reptile had struck against the horse so
hard with its claws that they penetrated between the ribs.)
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