SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Dunst
JonB
The Language of Dunstanus saga 333
Reverse
word order
70 per cent
44 per cent
Present
tense
18·5 per cent
24 per cent
Distribution of
mcela segja suara tala
Dunst 0 II 3 3
JonB 40 17 16 7
In the considerable frequency of the verb mala, Jon B
differs strikingly from the average "Bergr-profile", while
Dunst comes rather close to it. But tala, extremely
unusual as an introductory verb outside the "Bergrtexts",
is fairly well represented in .Jon B too.
In the vocabulary tests Dunst also reveals a somewhat
closer resemblance to the typical "Bergr-profile" than
.Jon B:
dasama etc. einkanliga etc.
Dunst 10.5/10000 13.5/10000
Jon B 2.4/10000 13.5/10000
]on B shows 3 instances of the unusual phrase an dvol
(218, 221, 260), just as Dunst does.
Now, if]on B is to be regarded, by my standards, as
a "Bergr-text", Dunst obviously ought to be so too. But
as the latter is explicitly said to be the work of Ami
Laurentiusson (and we have no special reason to doubt
that statement), the hypothesis will not hold good for
Dunst. But if so, it might not be true of Jon B either.
That is the problem we have to deal with here.
It should be emphazised, however, that Jon B ­
unlike Dunst - is a revision by some other author of an
earlier Icelandic version. A revision may be more or less
thorough, depending on various circumstances. One
cannot suppose that a reviser's work will reveal his
individual linguistic preferences to the same extent as an
"original" translation he has made. Personal characteristics
may show up in a very uneven way, more on some
points than on others. Thus, as has already been
mentioned, Jon B has a rather high frequency of the verb