Francini, Tristrams Saga.pdf
(
191 KB
)
Pobierz
M
ARUSCA
F
RANCINI
(Università degli Studi di Pavia)
The
Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd:
an Icelandic reworking of
Tristrams saga
Summary
.
The
Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd
, which is also known as
Tristrams saga
ok Ísoddar
, is an Old Icelandic reworking of the Tristan legend, dating back to the
14
th
century. In the past, critics analyzed the
Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd
in relation to
its alleged source,
Tristrams saga
, which is the Old Norse prose translation of Tho-
mas’
Tristan
; more recently, critics have argued for the necessity of studying this
saga in the context of the wider Icelandic and European cultural and literary frame-
work. Following this suggestion, this essay investigates some aspects of structure
and style in the Old Icelandic reworking. The analysis of the composition technique
reveals that the use of the conventions of various different literary forms which were
current in medieval Iceland (such as translated
Riddarasögur
, original
Riddarasögur
and
Íslendingasögur
), has been crucial to the reshaping of the Tristan legend.
1.
Introduction
The
Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd
, also known as
Tristrams saga ok Ísoddar
, is
a prose work written in Iceland in the 14
th
century and handed down in a 15
th
century manuscript. It is a reworking of the legend of Tristan and Isolt and
its model has been traced to
Tristrams saga
, a Norwegian prose translation
of the Anglo-Norman poem
Tristan
by Thomas.
In their studies on the
Saga af Tristram
, Leach, Schach and Kalinke focused
on its relation to
Tristrams saga
, whilst Thomas and Barnes have more re-
cently enlarged the field of comparison by placing the Icelandic work in the
literary framework of its time. Leach (1921: 169-198) held the Icelandic
work to be a vulgarization of
Tristrams saga
, written for a less refined audi-
ence. Schach (1964: 281) at first deemed it a “clumsy retelling of
Tristrams
saga
based on a faulty recollection of the original”, further distorted by the
addition of names and situations from other sources, and as a result an unin-
tentional parody; he later changed his mind and spoke of “a deliberate re-
ply”, of a farcical imitation of
Tristrams saga
[Schach (1964: 281), (1987:
95)]. Kalinke, noting that the Icelandic reworking has but scarce affinities
with the tragic love story we know from the Norwegian translation [Kalinke
M
ARUSCA
F
RANCINI
(1985: 348)] speaks of an “iconoclastic approach” [Kalinke (1981: 211)],
considering the
Saga af Tristram
a parody of translated
Riddarasögur
and of
Arthurian romance in general; in her opinion, the Icelandic work, by means
of distorsion and exaggeration of certain motifs, mocks the behavioural pat-
terns put forward by courtly literature [Kalinke (1981: 199-211)].
Whereas Schach and Kalinke see a burlesque purpose, M.F. Thomas (1983:
54) rejects the idea of parody and considers the Icelandic work in the light of
the influence of other European traditions; she claims that it is essential to
enlarge the field of comparison beyond
Tristrams saga
and to place the Ice-
landic work in the wider European context of the Tristan issue as a whole.
Finally, Geraldine Barnes (1999: 380) argues that the Icelandic work should
be placed in the cultural context of late medieval Iceland and not only com-
pared to the Norwegian translation.
This paper, following the suggestions of Barnes and Thomas, will analyze
some structural and stylistic features of the
Saga af Tristram
, with the pur-
pose of highlighting how and why it strays from the Norwegian translation:
the characters, the narrative strategies and analogies in structure and style to
genres of Scandinavian literature such as
Íslendingasögur
, translated
Ridda-
rasögur
, and original
Riddarasögur
, will be investigated.
2.
The manuscript tradition of the
Saga af Tristram
The composition of the
Saga af Tristram
probably dates back to the early
14
th
century; the work was handed down in a mid-15
th
century manuscript,
AM 489, 4to, which was a little more recent than the oldest manuscript of
Tristrams saga
(which was written between the end of the 14
th
century and
the beginning of the 15
th
century). While AM 489, 4to is the oldest and the
most authoritative manuscript, two later manuscripts are also extant: NKS
1754, 4to (18
th
century), a copy of AM 489, 4to, and 2316, 4to (dating from
about 1850).
AM 489, 4to is made up of two different manuscripts, AM 489A and AM
489B, bound in a single codex: AM 489A comprises ff. 1-26, originally part
of AM 471, 4to, and AM 489B comprises ff. 27-56.
1
AM 489, 4to contains
1
There were originally two distinct codices. One of them, AM 489, 4to, contained
Hrings
saga ok Tryggva
,
Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr
,
Saga af Tristram
,
Ívens saga
. The other, AM
471, 4to, contained
Barðar saga
,
Kirjalax saga
,
Þorðar saga Hreðu
,
Króka-refs saga
,
Kjalne-
singa saga
,
Ketils saga Hængs
,
Gríms saga Loðinkinna
,
Örvar-Odds saga
,
Viktors saga ok
250
T
HE
S
AGA AF
T
RISTRAM OK
Í
SODD
:
AN
I
CELANDIC REWORKING OF
T
RISTRAMS SAGA
six sagas, or parts of them. AM 489A contains
Barðar saga Snæfellsáss
and
Kirjalax saga
, while AM 489B contains
Hrings saga ok Tryggva
(the con-
clusion only),
Flóres saga ok Blankiflúr
(a translation from French),
Saga af
Tristram ok Ísodd
, and
Ívens saga
(another translation from French; the con-
clusion is missing).
A comprehensive view of the manuscript tradition allows us to infer some
data: the oldest extant manuscript was written down about half a century
later than the oldest Icelandic manuscript of
Tristrams saga
, during a period,
the 15
th
century, that saw the flourishing and manuscript dissemination of
original
Riddarasögur
. Unlike these latter, however, which were handed
down with an abundance of copies over a long time span (until the 19
th
cen-
tury), the
Saga af Tristram
appears to have existed in only one vellum from
the 15
th
century, and in two later paper manuscripts, from the 18
th
and 19
th
centuries respectively.
AM 489, 4to is an important witness for two romances which ultimately de-
rive from medieval French works (i.e. the only complete vellum of
Flóres
saga ok Blankiflúr
, and one of the two vellums of
Ívens saga
) and of a third
romance of similar origin (i.e.the only complete vellum of the
Saga af Tris-
tram
). It thus forms an important link in the trasmission and development of
the so-called
Riddarasögur
[Blaisdell (1980: 9)].
3.
The translated
Riddarasögur
The Norwegian translation of
Tristan
was commissioned in 1226 by king
Hákon Hákonarson “The Old” to a monk named Robert;
2
it is the first in a
series of translations from French courtly romances
3
which form a distinct
group of works within saga literature, the
Riddarasögur
(‘sagas of knights’,
‘chivalric sagas’), also called “translated
Riddarasögur
” since they are trans-
lations and must be distinguished from the so-called “original
Ridda-
Blávus
. The folios containing
Barðar saga
and
Kirjalax saga
were then removed (we cannot
determine when and why) from AM 471, 4to and added to AM 489, 4to.
2
That the translation was commissioned by the king from Brother Robert is stated in the pro-
logue of
Tristrams saga
in the manuscript AM 543, 4to, dating from the 17
th
century. Brother
Robert lived in the monastery of Lyse, near Bergen, which was the seat of the Norwegian
royal court. An Abbot Robert is mentioned as translator of
Elis saga
, also commissioned by
Hákon and written a little later than
Tristrams saga
. This Abbot Robert is probably the same
person as Brother Robert, who had in the meantime advanced in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
3
Chansons de geste
were also translated, for example
Elis saga
is the translation of
Elie de St.
Gilles
.
251
M
ARUSCA
F
RANCINI
rasögur
”, which are later, original creations, though they were greatly influ-
enced by the translated ones.
Tristrams saga
,
Elis saga
,
Ívens saga
,
Möttuls
saga
,
Parcevals saga
,
Válvers Þáttr
and the
Strengleikar
are products of
Hákon’s cultural activity and were probably all translated by Brother
Robert.
4
The translated
Riddarasögur
, however, were not unaffected by the
influence of native literature; the translations were executed in the 13
th
cen-
tury, a time when a large number of
Íslendingasögur
(‘sagas of Icelanders’,
also called “family sagas”) were being written down; around 1220 Snorri
was composing
Edda
and
Heimskringla
[Mitchell (1959: 462)].
The introduction of this translated literature to Norway was part of Hákon’s
political programme. Under his rule the crown became stronger and the king
strove to claim a place among European monarchies; the translations repre-
sent Hákon’s endeavour to make Norway conform to the great courts of his
time, where chivalric literature was flourishing. Hákon’s model was the
Plantagenet court in England; indeed, commercial and cultural relations be-
tween Norway and England were thriving and they probably advanced the
knowledge in Norway of the literature written in French which was prosper-
ing in England under the patronage of the Angevin kings and their barons.
5
English influence was strong in literature, architecture and church affairs
[Helle (1968: 107, 109)] and the majority of the manuscripts of the romances
which were then translated probably came from England, including the
Tris-
tan
of Thomas [Leach (1921: 152)].
4.
The original
Riddarasögur
This activity of translating French romances lasted just as long as Hákon’s
reign [Togeby (1975: 183-185)]. The translated works themselves, however,
lived on in Iceland, where they were copied over a span of more than six
centuries [Kalinke (1982: 36)]. The majority of manuscripts containing
translated
Riddarasögur
are Icelandic copies
6
of Norwegian originals, rang-
ing from the 14
th
to the 18
th
century; as these copies are geographically and
4
These sagas reveal affinities in their vocabulary: see Hallberg (1971: 114-138); Blaisdell
(1974: 134-139); Hallberg (1975: 1-17).
5
The 13
th
century was a period of growth for trade in the North Sea and the market for Nor-
wegian dried fish was expanding; Bergen, the seat of Hákon’s court, was the main trading
centre for dried fish. Norway imported cereals, fabrics and other handmanufactured articles
from England, and exported fish and fish by-products, timber, furs and falcons.
6
Only Icelandic copies are extant of
Tristrams saga
,
Ívens saga
,
Möttuls saga
and
Válvers
Þáttr
. As for the Norwegian manuscript tradition of translated
Riddarasögur
, we have some
parchment fragments and the codex de la Gardie 4-7.
252
T
HE
S
AGA AF
T
RISTRAM OK
Í
SODD
:
AN
I
CELANDIC REWORKING OF
T
RISTRAMS SAGA
chronologically removed from the Norwegian translations of the 13
th
cen-
tury, it is not easy to determine how much of the text handed down in these
manuscripts is the actual work of Norwegian translators and how much is
that of Icelandic copyists. The question of omissions
7
must be considered in
light of the fact that Robert’s translation is no longer extant. Indeed, we only
have manuscripts which are later Icelandic copies, so that, compared to the
French originals, omissions and differences may be, in part at least, due to
the taste of Icelanders who were accustomed to the style of the sagas.
The style of the saga form tends towards economy: there is little description
and chiefly action, dialogues are limited in number and concise, narratorial
intervention is scarce and, with regard to subject matter, the psychology of
love is almost absent. The text of
Tristrams saga
, when compared to its
model, appears to have been influenced by these characteristics of the
Íslendingasögur
, which were in fact being copied down in parchment in the
very same years when manuscripts of the translated
Riddarasögur
were be-
ing produced [Boyer (1995: 1520)]. It is also possible that the saga style af-
fected the texts at the moment of their translation in Norway.
In the 14
th
century, the translated
Riddarasögur
in Iceland contributed to the
shaping of the original
Riddarasögur
, which were influenced both by the
chivalric subject matter of the translated works and by stories based on
Scandinavian subjects known as
Fornaldarsögu
r [Weber (1986: 426)].
8
The
original
Riddarasögur
contain a great number of narrative elements bor-
rowed from various sources, both written and oral, rearranged in a new
structure. The influence of translated
Riddarasögur
is remarkable above all
in terms of the setting, which is courtly society.
4.1.
Tristan in the
Saga af Tristram
In the
Saga af Tristram
, Tristram is portrayed as the typical perfect knight.
This portrayal was taken from translated
Riddarasögur
and had become a
7
And the question of additions: for example, the prayer of the dying Ísodd to God in
Tris-
trams saga
.
8
The
Fornaldarsögur
are the ‘sagas of ancient times’ and are also called “mythical-heroic
sagas”. The most remarkable difference compared to
Fornaldarsögur
lies in the courtly influ-
ence which permeates the original
Riddarasögur
; moreover, the atmosphere in the
Fornal-
darsögur
is often tragic, but this is never the case in the original
Riddarasögur.
The
Fornal-
darsögur
hand down a corpus of legendary traditions which has the function of a “legendary
history” of Iceland; this aspect distinguishes them from the original
Riddarasögur
. In any
case, the subject matter of both genres involves marvellous happenings.
253
Plik z chomika:
awamwb
Inne pliki z tego folderu:
De Mayo, The Demonology of William of Auvergne.pdf
(1613 KB)
Emotions and Health, 1200-1700.pdf
(3085 KB)
Janiszewski, Pierwsze polemiki.pdf
(1432 KB)
Michałowski, Działalność Wojciecha w Pradze(1).pdf
(4322 KB)
Kiessling, The Wife of Bath’s Tale.pdf
(321 KB)
Inne foldery tego chomika:
Źródła
Zgłoś jeśli
naruszono regulamin