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NOTES: ~ _ 129
Arnljot’s life hitherto. The following interpretation of the allegory is
given in the commentary by J. Morland:
“ Arnljot has grown so weary of his hopeless thought and rending
doubt, that he is tempted to seek refuge in the most unworthy form
of faith, in the horrible, the hiding-place of cowardice, to which one is
hounded by fear, rather than drawn by religious longings. Many take
refuge in this form of belief without having cast aside their wild-beast
nature, or having seriously tested the efficacy of cleansing doubt. In the
meanwhile, Arnljot awakens, and perceives by the stench that he has
fallen into bad company. These wild beasts are like mankind in the
mass representing especially its sectarian differences. They yelp at the
free-thinker, and greet him with guffaws of horse-laughter, thinking
they are crushing him. ... This pitiable cowardice in individuals who
might be mutually helpful is so hateful and bloodthirsty, that it arouses
Arnljot first to laughter, and then to anger. He wishes that he might
have all the foul creatures of the world thus huddled together, as he
heaps up fagots in the cave-entrance, and sets fire to them. Then fol-
lows a powerful description of the death-struggle of these cowardly but
bloodthirsty man-beasts, and we seem to hear an echo from the wars of
religion when we read how,
In throes of death convulsive
Lay they with teeth in each other fastened.
This destruction, which in the case of such a wretched pack seems
quite justifiable, has a liberating effect upon Arnljot. He looks calmly
forth upon the upheaval of nature that has so terrified them, and feels
himself ‘cleansed by the storm.’
“But this feeling of calm satisfaction with a deed of violence done
to these cowardly and miserable fellow-creatures of his is not for long
a source of enjoyment. Although his action was impelled by righteous
anger, it was still the expression of something hard, wild, and cruel in
his nature. If his thought seemed to be set free, in his heart was the old
ice-bound hardness. His feelings were those of his vengeful frenzy in
Iamtland. His ruling passions still hold him in their grasp. The sym-
bolical presentation of this is found in the way in which various earth-
trolls sport with him at their will. He hears hollow moans, and the
earth heaves beneath him. The beasts, so despicable in his eyes, that
he has burned up in the cavern, have also their friends. There is some
one who thinks of them and cares for them also. This finds expression
in the anxious words echoed above him.
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