Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.1981, Qupperneq 49
XLV
Stylistic revision in a
A comparison between a, (3 and D also reveals that even if the a
redaction gives a clearer picture of the outline of Tmsl than does
the heavily interpolated (3, it has undergone a much more extensive
stylistic revision.
In the introduction to Tmsl963, p. xxxiii, the fragment a is
characterized as containing “a more verbose redaction of Tms than
the other MSS”. Now that we can compare the two redactions in
their entirety this verbosity proves to be particularly characteristic
of descriptions of armed encounters and of lengthy speeches put
into the mouths of characters who are anything but eloquent in the
Latin Dares.
Battle scenes.
The expansions of battle scenes are of a fairly stereotype kind,
reminiscent of riddarasögur in vague generality. The passage a 34,1-
13 may serve as an example. This is a rendering of Dares ch. XX:
“Hector Boetem Archilocum Protenorem occidit. nox proelium diri-
mit”. (3 gives an almost word-for-word translation: “Ector feldi þa
Boécem oc Archilocum oc Protenorem ok sleit þa natt bardaga”
(102,4-5), whereas in a the recital swells up into ten times its
original length:
Hector var j ondverdre filkijngu, og hafdi firer sier gilltann skiólld og lagdi med
miklu spióti hvom er firer vard, og vann mikinn skada á Grickium og felldi
margann mann, þar mætti honum sá hófdijngi er Boestea het, hann var hertugi
yfer miklu riki, og er þeir mætast, leggur hvor til annars med spióti, Boestea
leggur spióti til Hectors enn hans skiólldur var so hardur ad eckj tok á, Ector
leggur j móti j gegnum skiolldinn og brinjuna so ad spió'ts oddurinn geck ut um
herdarnar og hnie hann daudur til jardar, efter þad leggur hann Archilocum’j
gegn med sverdi, þar næst áttu þeir vopnaskifti Anchinor og Hector og lauk þvi
so ad Achinor fell firer Hector daudur til jardar, Trojlus berst allrósklega og so
Æneas og fellur Grickium nu þungt j þessare sókn og slijtur nótt bardagann.
- Other instances are 29,17-30,10 (þ 95,2-3), 30,12-18 (p 96,1-2),
30,20-31,11 (p 96,4-97,1), 41,14-42,13 (3 176,13-177,10), 42,14-
43,3 (3 17,11-178,7), 58,10-15 (þ 201,8-10), 64,17-23 (þ 204,12),
75,23-76,5 (þ 210,3-5).