Sigurðar saga fóts (The Saga of Sigurðr Foot)

MIRATOR 11:1/2010 62Figure 1: the intertextual connections of Sigurðar saga discussed in thisintroductionThe literary context of Sigurðar saga fóts (1): texts influenced by SigurðarsagaAs mentioned above, Sigurðar saga was the basis for Sigurðar rímur fóts okÁsmundar Húnakonungs, which Finnur Jónsson dated to the first half of thefifteenth century: while it is theoretically possible that the saga is based onthe rímur, the saga betrays no hints of transposition from verse, and thiswould in any case be surprising in a text attested this early. 29 Finnur did notexplain his dating, but seems to have been right. The rímur are preserved inKollsbók, dated by Ólafur Halldórsson to 1480–90. 30 There is reason tobelieve that Sigurðar rímur are not among the latest in the manuscript.Ormars rímur and Ektors rímur in particular have some innovative featuresnot found in Sigurðar rímur fóts. The most prominent of these is full rhymebetween y, ý, ey and, respectively, i, í, ei, made possible by a phonologicalmerger which started to gain ground around 1450. 31 The oldest preserved29 Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie, 3 vols, Gad: Copenhagen 1894–1902, accessedfrom , iii 54; Liestøl 1941, 53.30 Kollsbók, Ólafur Halldórsson ed., Reykjavík: Handritastofnun Íslands, 1968, xxxvj.31 Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson, Um afkringingu á /y, ý, ey/ í íslensku, Reykjavík: MálvísindastofnunHáskóla Íslands, 1994.