Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 83
81GENESIS AND PROVENANCE OF THE OLDEST SOUL
Table 25.
P (116/123) N (282/3) A (282/35) R2 (282/22)
deable
[devil].
dioflinom
[devil].
fiandanum
[enemy].
fianndanum
[enemy].
The Subarchetype Z1 (R1R2)
As mentioned above, Widding and Bekker-Nielsen suspected the existence
of a subarchetype Z, ancestor of the three Icelandic manuscripts AR1R2.
However, based on an analysis of the significant errors, another previously
unidentified subarchetype—here designated as Z1—seems to precede R1
and R2.
The first error is a case of embellishment in Z1. In her speech, the soul
accuses the body of having been a traitor, second only to Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed the Lord. The original reading “svæic” (betrayed), transmit-
ted in N and A, is corrupted in Z1 with the verb “selldi” (sold), a New
Testament echo of Judas’s vile delivery of Christ to the crowd sent by the
high priests and scribes,36 which replaces the well-known betrayal by Judas
in Gethsemane (see table 26).37
36 See, for example, Mc 14,10–11: “Et Judas Scariotis unus de duodecim abiit ad summos
sacerdotes ut proderet eum illis qui audientes gavisi sunt et promiserunt ei pecuniam se
daturos et quaerebat quomodo illum oportune traderet” [And Judas Iscariot, one of the
twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray him to them. Who hearing it were glad; and
they promised him they would give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently
betray him]. Mt 26,15: “Et ait illis quid vultis mihi dare et ego vobis eum tradam at illi
constituerunt ei triginta argenteos” [And said to them: What will you give me, and I will
deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver]. All quotations from
the Vulgate are taken from Biblia sacra iuxta Vulgatam versionem, ed. Robert Weber et al.
(1969; 5th ed., rev. 2007). All English translations of the Latin text are taken from the
Douay–Rheims Bible, available at http://drbo.org.
37 Mc 14,43–46: “Et adhuc eo loquente venit Iudas Scarioth unus ex duodecim et cum illo
turba cum gladiis et lignis a summis sacerdotibus et a scribis et a senioribus. Dederat autem
traditor eius signum eis dicens quemcumque osculatus fuero ipse est tenete eum et ducite et
cum venisset statim accedens ad eum ait rabbi et osculatus est eum at illi manus iniecerunt
in eum et tenuerunt eum” [And while he was yet speaking, cometh Judas Iscariot, one of
the twelve: and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and
the scribes and the ancients. And he that betrayed him, had given them a sign, saying:
Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; lay hold on him, and lead him away. And when he was