Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Side 355
Editor’s postscript
335
the poems by attributing cases of similarity of expression or even of
metre to direct imitation. This is perhaps the only point in which
Eddie scholars can be charged with undue precipitancy. We have in-
dications of such a vastly greater body of poetry than has come down
to us that the Edda must be considered a mere sample of the whole.
But in that case, tums of phrase or tricks of metre, which in one poem
we may regard as highly reminiscent of another extant poem, may in
point of faet belong either to a third poem, lost to us but known to the
authors of the other two, or to a common tradition, possibly a local
one, of which we have no other hint.
- On the question of allusions
A chapter on verbal parallels as a means of dating could concentrate
on the discussion surrounding Lokasenna (Neckel, Noreen, Rugge-
rini, Soderberg), and may well conclude that allusion is the only vi-
able concept, since it can potentially provide a relative dating.
The literary study of allusions normally presupposes that the relat-
ive age of the sources is known, since a reference to or an allusion
from an earlier text provides additional meaning.
If allusions are to be used as a criterion for dating we have to look
at it the other way round: if two text segments are so similar that it is
reasonable to suppose that the one serves as an allusion to the other,
the younger text will be the one which most clearly receives additional
meaning from the allusion. The criterion is a highly uncertain one, and
it is in all cases preferable to use other criteria to decide relative dating.
It can, however, be used as a last resort if no other criteria are available.
However, it is also entirely possible that an earlier text may have
received additional meaning due to the reader’s knowledge of a
younger text. These so-called “false allusions” are fairly frequent in
the everyday non-scholarly reading of texts: people are reminded of
other things they have read, and even if the text in question is younger
and cannot possibly be known to the author of the earlier text, the
reader’s knowledge of the younger text gives additional meaning to
the earlier text. This faet only serves to demonstrate how uncertain
allusion is as a means of dating. It does not, however, invalidate it.
In addition, the draft contains a number of bibliographical references
and unnotated citations, in addition to some paragraphs corresponding