SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Treatment of Sources in the Volsunga saga 321
eleven, becomes the harsher and clearer statement that
nineteen champions were slain, leaving eleven. Or er par
brunnit becomes the ungarnished nu eru margir af oss
fallnir. The compiler also takes exception to yar er pat
kenna, not that it leaves an especially poetic impression ­
possibly he thought of it as smacking of legal technicality
and so best avoided; his equivalent is rather longer and less
pithy. The compiler also prefers flaut i bl60i to the
originalfl60i bl60i, the latter being, perhaps, a slightly less
prosaic turn of phrase and rather obviously rhyming.
(31) Am. 5313-4are a repetition of the details of the battle's
duration in the preceding lines, and they are omitted as
superfluous. fyrr var fullvegit may also be thought of as
expressing little more than the following fl60i vgllr bl60i,
and the compiler omits them. The fyrr, implying that
there was much slaughter before the end of the battle, is
at any rate superfluous. P6tt hann reior vceri is so
obvious a state of mind in the circumstances as to need no
mention. The compiler also omits dar fello (which must
surely apply to the Gjukungs, not the Huns), probably
because he considered it an unnecessary, commonplace
remark, though in fact it is rather more than that since
the stress laid on their outliving the enemy they vanquish
amounts to a statement of their valour. (32) The compiler
substitutes for Bero tveir sveinar, synir H ggna, possibly
a more appropriate reference to their parenthood since
they are on the field of battle, and since VS (unlike the PE
source, see below) has just spoken of Hogni's prowess.
The number of warriors who fell before their onslaught is
omitted, and the attack is recorded in the historic present.
(33) An interesting example of a clarification or explanation
of the source is shown in the compiler's treatment of
Illt er um litaz. Abandoning the original thought, he
states the reasons that gave rise to it, here by substituting
the words Ver hgfOum lia mikit ok fritt ok st6ra kappa,
linked to his prose rendering of Or er par brunnit (see
above), thereby incidentally changing the order of the