SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Treatment of Sources in the Volsunga saga 339
In his attempt at a natural prose style the compiler
makes use of the suffixed article, rarely found in poetry,
e.g. (Fm. 25/3) a grasi : a grasinu (VS 33/9); (Sg. 23/3)
hendr ok haufu6 : hpfu6it ok hendrnar (VS 58/31); (Am.
Il/5) runar : runarnar (VS 66/19)·
In fact, he avoids throughout all grammatical elements
that seem to have any sort of poetic or archaic flavour.
He avoids the auxiliary verb knd, e.g. (Fm. 34/5) ksui :
md (VS 34/5); (Am. 56/4) knaka : ekki md ek (VS 69/33).
This last example also illustrates the compiler's
avoidance of the verbal negative suffix (d. (II) and (29)
above) and of the suffixed ek. Further combined
examples are: (Fm. 2/4) ek akka : ok a ek engan (VS 31/Il);
(Fm. 16/6) fannka (ek) : aldri fann ek (VS 32/13); and of
the simple negative: (Sg. 25/5) grdiao« : grd: eigi (VS
58/35); (Sg. 26/3) kannat : kann eigi (VS 58/36). The
compiler also avoids the poetic use of the nominal negative
suffix, e.g. (Am. 78/6) manngi : engi (VS 72/26). He also
avoids the form hir6a6u, e.g. (G6r. II 28/1) Hirbaa«
hpl6um / heiptir gialda : Eigi skaltu ntt a heiptir hyggja
(VS 63/28), and the construction of lata with the past
participle, e.g. (HH 10/5-6) ok hann let ... Hunding
veginn : en Hundingr konungr [ellr (VS 14/24).
VII
In view of the compiler's clear intention to write a
straightforward prose narrative, it is only natural that his
rendering of his poetic source should sometimes be of
a clarifying, explanatory or interpretative character (d.
(20) and (33) above), as Wieselgren points out from time
to time.I! e.g. ok her skallijit a leggja (VS 15/19, i.e. Helgi
will stake his life to prevent Hunding marrying Signin)
explains nema ek dau6r siak (HH 20/4). The words 'Heim
munda ek rica, /JOtt ek missta bessa ins mikla [jdr, ef ek
vissa at ek skylda aldri deyja' (VS 32/27-28) explains what
14 E.g. op. cit., I 43, Sr.