SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

344 Saga-Book of the Viking Society
marga hluti owordinna j himexiki 24 1 3 .
The only example in Fritzner is taken from Nik
(100 34), with a reference also to another of my "Bergrtexts".
sytiligr (deplorable, sad': burt farandi ur pessa heimms
utlegd ok sytiligum sorgar dal til himneskrar faudur
leifdar 25 16 •
Fritzner gives 2 instances, both from my "Bergrtexts",
one of them Guam: en sumar gleyma hennar
sytiligum harmi 7622
The list of items in this section, which could certainly
be considerably enlarged by further research, seems to
confirm the close verbal resemblance between Dunst and
the characteristic "Bergr-profile".
VIn
The documentation and argument above have probably
offered a rather complicated and confusing picture of the
main problem under discussion: the relation of Dunst to
Bergr Sokkason and the "Bergr-texts". But one must
fear that the picture will necessarily remain so, at least
as long as we have to rely on the facts and methods at
present at our disposal. As far as I can see, there is no
possibility of giving a reasonably precise - not to speak of
a statistical - measure of the linguistic affinity between
Dunst and the Bergr-texts, authentic and supposed. It
is certainly safe to maintain, however, that this affinity is
very remarkable - in the first hand, perhaps, with
.Jon B, but to a high degree also with the authentic works
of Bergr Sokkason, Mik and Nik. The present paper has
provided further evidence in that direction.
But how are we to interpret the facts, the rather
intricate and puzzling pattern of facts? Are we to draw
the conclusion that one or other of my earlier attributions
to Bergr Sokkason should be doubted, or rejected? Or