10 THE KING'S MIRROR 



points of resemblance which can hardly have been acci- 

 dental. The Disciplina is a dialog and the part of the 

 son is much the same as in the King's Mirror. In both 

 works the young man expresses a desire to become ac- 

 quainted with the customs of the royal court, inasmuch 

 as he may some day decide to apply for admission to 

 the king's household service.* The description of courtly 

 manners and customs in the earlier dialog, though 

 much briefer than the corresponding discussion in the 

 Norwegian treatise, has some resemblance to the latter 

 which suggests a possible relationship between the two 

 works. 



The Norwegian author may also have used some of 

 the many commentaries on the books of Holy Writ, in 

 the production of which the medieval cloisters were so 

 prolific. Of the influence of Petrus Comestor's Historia 

 Scholastica the writer has found no distinct trace in the 

 King's Mirror; but one can be quite sure that he knew 

 and had used the Elucidarium of Honorius of Autun. 

 The Elucidarium is a manual of medieval theology 

 which was widely read in the later middle ages and was 

 translated into Old Norse, probably before the King's 

 Mirror was written.f But our Norwegian author was 

 not a slavish follower of earlier authorities: in his use 

 and treatment of materials drawn from the Scriptures 

 he shows remarkable independence. Remarkable at 

 least is his ability to make Biblical narratives serve to 



* See Disciplina Clericalis, fabula xxiv: Migne, Patrologia Latina, CLVII, 

 698-700. 



t A fragment of the Elucidarium, comprising, however, the greater part of 

 the work, is published in Annalerfor nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1852 and 1853; in 

 the former volume a Danish translation is given; the latter contains the Ice- 

 landic text. 



