Rémundar saga keisarasonar: Romance, Epic, and the Legend of Prester John

During the first half of the fourteenth century, a body of fictional prose narratives, set in southern and eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia, began to be written in Iceland. Although sometimes called lygisögur (lying sagas), these works are usually referred to as "independent," "original," or "Icelandic" riddarasögur (sagas of knights), to distinguish them from the "translated" riddarasögur, the translations and adaptations into Old Norse of Old French and Anglo-Norman chivalric romances and chansons de geste which are generally assumed to have been initiated by the commissioning of Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar (from Thomas's Tristan) by the Norwegian king, Hákon Hákonarson "the Old" (r. 1217-63). Among the "translated" riddarasögur are versions of three romances by Chrétien de Troyes—Erex saga (Erec et Enide), Ívens saga (Yvain), Parcevals saga (Li Contes del Graal)—and Karlamagnús saga, a collection of Carolingian chansons de geste which includes the Chanson de Roland (Runzivals þáttr, "the tale of Roncesvalles").¹

The Icelandic riddarasögur owe a substantial debt to the "translated" riddarasögur in terms of subject matter—typically, princes on quests in exotic foreign lands who overcome dragons, giants, Saracens, hostile knights, and massive armies to win wealth, glory, noble brides, and new kingdoms—but not of ethos. Largely absent, for example, is the altruistic ideal which underlines the code of conduct in chivalric romance; nor, contrary to the extensive legacy of French epic in Middle English crusader romance,² does the influence of Karlamagnús saga extend, for the most part, to exhibitions of militant Christianity and fervent narratorial condemnation of the heathen. In, for example, the early-fourteenth-century Icelandic riddarasaga, Bærings saga, a story of patrimony lost and regained and Saracens vanquished, the German knight Bæringr brandishes the sign of the Holy Cross as he charges into battle against the demonic Saracen foe in the defense of Byzantium;³ but here and elsewhere, the Cross itself is never carried onto the field, nor are there holy relics embedded in swords⁴ or battlefield conversions.

Only Rémundar saga keisarasonar, longest of the independent riddarasögur, successfully integrates the values of chivalric romance and crusader epic. As chivalric romance, the narrative enacts the transformation of Rémundr, son of the emperor Ríkarðr of Saxland, from talented but self-absorbed "courtly" knight, who fights his first duel outside the tournament arena in defense of his personal honor against a charge of indecent behavior, to winner of successively greater feats of chivalry on behalf of others, acclaim as the best knight in the world, and marriage to the daughter of the world's most powerful king. Rémundr's outstanding performances in tournaments—in Saxland in the early part of the saga (9:1-10:10)⁵ and in India towards its conclusion (351:11-357:10)—serve as "chivalric" bookends to the narrative. As crusader epic, the saga tracks Rémundr's progress from victor in single combat with a heathen prince of Tartary to divinely ordained champion of Christendom over the massive forces of the king of Tartary and his allies. Throughout, Rémundr and his allies are cheered on—"God preserve the emperor's son!" (Gæti nú guð keisarasonar! 39:11); "God in heaven preserve them!" (Geymi þá nú guð í himinríki! 97:11)—by an intrusive and partisan narrator.

Temporal and ecclesiastical power are closely connected in the structures of rulership in Saxland and India. Rémundr's father, Ríkarðr, is a devout Christian (hann var vel kristinn, 3:5); the capital of his kingdom, later identified as Magdeburg, is the archbishop's seat (erkibiskupsstóll, 3:10); and the archbishop is his brother-in-law (4:2). In India, the figure of the archbishop, kinsman and confidant of the princess Elína, is the driving force of the action. Descriptions of religious ceremony mark key points in the development of the narrative: the magnificent procession and wedding rites of Rémundr's dream early in the saga (13:6-18:16), the service of thanksgiving...