SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Treatment of Sources in the Vplsunga saga 319
merfyrmuniJo / minir brcear, / at ek ietta uer/ pllom fremra; /
sofa peir ne mdtiot, / ne of sakar dcema, / dOr peir SigurO /
svelta lito. (VS 61/23-26) 'Betra var pei udrt lif er ek dtta
Siguro. Sod bar hann af pllum mpnnum sem gull af jeirni
eaa laukr af pOrum grpsum eOa hjprtr af pOrum dyrum, unz
brcear minir fyrirmuno« mer sliks manns er pllum var
fremri. Eigi meittu peir sofa eiOr peir dreipu hann. (21) Betra
var pei veirt!iferek dua Siguro. Formally parallel to GOr. II
I, the thought expressed is new, and these words are best
seen as an addition, one by no means essential yet
appropriate to the circumstances. It is this consideration
that brings Gudnin to lament Sigurd's loss and the manner
of it. Such appropriate additions are not infrequent.
(22) the Siguror of GOr. I I 2/1 is changed to hann since the
prose text has already mentioned the name. (23) Poetic
attributes are avoided, and the compiler omits glOiJrautt
(of gold), hvpssom (of animals), and also (the perhaps not
especially poetic) heibeinn (of the stag). (24) He deems it
unnecessary to specify the greenness of the laukr.
(25) The change of sonom Giuka to pllum mpnnum and of
gra silfri to jeirni makes a considerable difference of
degree still greater. As far as prose style is concerned,
grei silfri (something of a technical term) could have been
retained, but the compiler may have wished to avoid
alliteration with gull. (26) Drepa again replaces a more
poetic phrase viz. lata svelta, and the rather elevated
language of the clause dependent on fyrmunoo is turned
into prose style by means of a change in construction and
vocabulary. (27) The varied prepositions expressing
superiority (i.e. of, um, af) are levelled out in favour of
a single one, probably making for a better prose style.
Unfortunately, the poetic image expressing the superiority
of the laukr is also made to conform to the new pattern
and the image is destroyed. Further, the compiler's
sequence of compared objects differs from the original.
This is possibly due to a different order of lines in the text
he had, or else he may have considered the final comparison