Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1978, Page 39

Sniolvs kvæði
47
the five tcettir comprising the somewhat older second layer.
Like them, it was composed as a prehistory to a tragic episode
in the cycle and reflects a keen interest in depicting the charac-
ters of the protagonists of the cycle. In Frúgvin Olrina the
ballad man pays special attention to Sniolv, whom he portrays
as altruistically defending the fatherless Olrina from the thug-
gish assaults of Ásmund. The portrayal of Virgar relies on a
knowledge of three earlier tættir. Whereas in the earlier bal-
lads he is merely a somewhat flawed character, Virgar is in
Frúgvin Olrina a full-fledged villain, a lecher with a castle full
of women. This aspect of his character is doubtless derived from
the scene in Hildibrands táttur when Virgar’s women, his
troop of stoltsinsmoyggjar, reveal to Ásmund their knowledge
of past incidents in his life. Virgar’s villainy in Frúgvin Olrina
is probably inspired by Hildardalsstríð, in which his sending
of Ásmund to fight Grím ultimately leads to Grím’s death.
And there is a clear reference to Virgars táttur when, after
rejecting Virgar, Olrina insults him by saying that he has been
afraid to set foot outside his castle ever since he was deafeated
by Ásmund.
In composing Frúgvin Olrina the ballad man seemed to
delight in exhibiting his intimate knowledge of Sniolvs kvæði.
He designed his new ballad to be a prehistory of important
episodes in the cycle just as the ballad men before him had
done when composing new tættir. But the composer of Frúgvin
Olrina outdid the earlier poets of the Sniolv cycle — his ballad
is the prehistory of not just one, but two episodes in Sniolvs
kvæði. Sniolv defends Olrina by imprisoning Ásmund. Ás-
mund’s remark when he is released — that someone will have
cause to remember these doings — is an articulation of his
motive for killing Sniolv in Ásmunds táttur. Likewise, when
Olrina rejects Virgar’s suit, his messenger, Geyti, kills her father
and brothers, murders which Grím tries to avenge in Hildar-
dalsstríð.
It is interesing that Clemensen did not collect Frúgvin Olrina
until 1827. Sniolvs kvæði was among those first recorded when