Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1991, Síða 158
A Linguistic Peculiarity in Gydinga saga
by Kirsten Wolf
The style of Gydinga saga, as represented by AM 226 fol., is generally
characterized as rather plain and unadomed with a minimum of so-
called leamed style feamres. Accordingly, the present participle is rare,
and the use of the participle does not distinguish itself from that found
in popular style.
The construction in Gydinga saga »bida komandi skulu« in the
phrase »Pilatus ... vill eigi bida komandi skulu harmkuæla« (99,15-17)
is, however, noteworthy, as it is not an ordinary use of the present
participle in Old Icelandic. The fragments covering this section of the
saga, i.e. DKNVSB 41 8vo (164r6), Lbs. 714 8vo (101,4), and Lbs. 4270
4to (269,16), all retain the participle form of koma, and omitting the
infiniuve skulu they simply write »bida tilkomandi (harmkvæla)«. The
original - and correct - version is undoubtedly to be found in AM 229
fol. IV, which has »bida koma skulandi (harmkuæla)« (2r34). The
construction infinitive + skulandi was common in East Norse in the late
Middle Ages; according to Niels Haastrup’s study (Infinitiv + skullen-
de: Skolegrammatiske studier i den ældste danske bibeloversættelse, Copen-
hagen 1968), it corresponds in meaning to a Latin future participle or a
gerund(ive) and has its origin in very literal translations from Latin into
Germanic languages. The Latin source of Gydinga saga for this section,
a so-called »historia apocrypha«, does not contain the corresponding
phrase and thus provides no clue as to how the construction found its
way into Old Icelandic, in which it is rare. Apart from Gydinga saga, the
construction occurs in only four instances: once in AM 232 fol. from
the fifteenth century (Mariu saga, cf. Haastrup, p. 118) and three times
in Cod. Vind. 2713 from the second half of the sixteenth century (cf.
Heiko Uecker, ed. Der Wiener Psalter, Editiones Arnamagnæanæ,
Series B, vol. 27, Copenhagen 1980, p. XCVI).