Ála flekks saga (English: The Saga of Spotted Ali) is a medieval Icelandic Romance saga. It was the basis for three cycles of rímur.
Kalinke and Mitchell summarise the saga thus:
The saga blends motifs from the riddarasögur, the fornaldarsögur, and folk tales. As a baby, Áli flekkr, the son of King Ríkarðr of England, is left exposed in the woods but is rescued by peasants. After he marries Þorbjõrg, a maiden king, a number of misfortunes befall him because he has rejected the love of a female troll. He is temporarily turned into a wolf; in a dream he is wounded and can be cured only by the rejected troll's brothers. Eventually Áli succeeds his father as king of England.
Kalinke and Mitchell identified the following manuscripts of the saga:
Arnamagnæan Institute: AM 181i, fol. (ca. 1670)
AM 181k, fol. (ca. 1650)
AM 181m, fol. (late 17th c)
AM 182, fol. (17th c)
AM 395, fol. (18th c)
AM 571, 4° (16th c), vellum, 3 leaves
AM 588b, 4° (late 17th c)
AM 588c, 4° (late 17th c)
AM 588p, 4° (17th c), defective
AM 589e, 4° (15th c), vellum, defective
AM 592a, 4° (17th c), defective beginning.
Royal Library, Copenhagen: NKS 1144, fol. (18th c), resume
NKS 1160, fol. (late 18th c)
NKS 1717, 4° (late 18th c)
NKS 1718, 4° (late 18th c), fragment
The British Library, London: Add. 4860, fol. (18th c.)
National Library, Reykjavik: Lbs 272, fol. (ca. 1700)
Lbs 840, 4° (1737)
Lbs 980, 4° (1686–87)
Lbs 1499, 4° (1880–1905)
Lbs 1940, 4° (1820)
Lbs 3966, 4° (1869–71)
Lbs 4447, 4° (1868–69), 1 leaf missing
Lbs 4485, 4° (1895–96)
JS 27, fol. (ca. 1670)
JS 634, 4° (17th–19th c)
JS 103, 8° (1788–89)
JS 408, 8° (19th c)
IB 201, 8° (late 17th c)
IB 801, 8° (19th c)
IBR 5, fol. (1680)
IBR 41, 8° (19th c)
IBR 92, 8° (ca. 1800)
National Museum, Reykjavik: Ásbúðarsafn, Sögubók (1795)
Royal Library, Stockholm: Papp. fol. nr 47 (1690–91)
Papp. 4:o nr 5 (ca. 1650)
Papp. 4:o nr 6 (1663)
Editions and translations
Drei lygis̜ogur: Egils saga Einhenda ok Ásmundar Berserkjabana, Ála Flekks saga, Flóres saga konungs ok sona hans, ed. by Åke Lagerholm, Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek, 17 (Halle (Saale): Niemeyer, 1927), pp. 84–120
Riddarasögur, ed. by Bjarni Vilhjálmsson, 6 vols (Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1949–1951), V 123-60 (modernised spelling)
Isländische Märchensagas, Band I: Die Saga von Ali Flekk, Die Saga von Vilmund Vidutan, Die Saga von König Flores und seinen Söhnen, Die Saga von Sigurd Thögli, Die Saga von Damusti, Jürg Glauser, Gert Kreutzer and Herbet Wäckerlin eds. and trans., Diederichs: Munich 1998. (German translation.)
