Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1985, Blaðsíða 168

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people to him, as some time later he goes out to check that they are
safe during a storm, and is abducted and taken to Glæsisvellir. There
he stays as Ingibjorg’s lover, only returning briefly one Christmas,
until he is released, though blinded, through the power of the saintly
Olåfr Tryggvason. He dies a year later.
This opening is striking, as there is nothing similar to it in medieval
Icelandic literature. No reason is given for Helgi not accompanying
Ingibjorg freely to Glæsisvellir after their first meeting, and it is in
itself striking that a woman should solicit a man, as all the literary
conventions are against it. However, these matters, and even the
elaborate descriptions of the women’s clothes, their pavilion and their
utensils, can be explained by the parallels to the opening scene of Le
Lai de Lanval.
Lanval is a king’s son who is living at the court of King Arthur. He
has impoverished himself through his generosity, and in his misery he
wanders into the forest and lies down beside a river. Here he is
approached by two beautiful women, one of whom carries a golden
handbowl, and the other a towel. They invite him to accompany them
to their mistress, who is sitting in a well-decked and beautiful pavilion,
richly dressed, though naked to the waist. She addresses him by name,
and tells him that she loves him. He reciprocates, and agrees when she
tells him that no one must know of her. They become lovers, and when
they part she gives him rich gifts, and tells him that as long as he does
not speak of her to others, she will come to him when he is alone.
They eat a meal together before parting. The rest of the tale is quite
different from Helga påttr.
In spite of the differences of setting, there are so many correspond-
ences between the two episodes that there is a considerable possibility
that Le Lai de Lanval has provided the source for the episode in Helga
påttr. The hero wanders into the forest, and meets the richly-dressed
ladies, clothed in red in Helga påttr, and in »purpre« in the lai (line
59). There is a handbowl made of, or decorated with, gold in each,
and a pavilion, on the top of which there is a golden eagle in Lanval,
and in Helga påttr a gold ball. The hero stays with the lady and, at her
invitation, becomes her lover. In both they eat a meal. At parting, the
hero receives gifts from the lady, and in both there are further meet-
ings and the hero spends time in her land. In Lanval he finally accom-
panies her to her own land, but in Helga påttr, because of the moral