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Adonias Saga (The Saga of Adonias) is an Icelandic riddarasaga from the late 14th century.

Plot
The plot of this saga is given by Marianne E. Kalinke and P. M. Mitchell as follows:


 * The crux of the tale is the prophecy that the offspring born to the king and queen of Syria will rule the kingdom after the king's death. An evil duke tries to secure the royal throne for his own progeny and turn the prophecy of royal succession to his own advantage. The king is abducted and secreted in the bed of the duke's daughter, while the duke sleeps with the queen. As prophesied, offspring are born to both king and queen. When the king reveals that he knows about the deception practiced on him, he is attacked by the duke and killed. The queen's son, Constancius, ascends the throne. The greater part of the romance relates the attempts of Adonias, the king's son, to gain the throne of Syria. The romance is characterized by extensive battle accounts.

The 71 chapter saga is prolonged with accounts of military preparations, duels, stock banquets, hunting scenes, and also includes hyperbole characteristic of the genre.

One of the main criticisms of this saga is the focus on crude violence and horror for their own sake, as demonstrated by the depiction of Constancius' torture and death as well as detailed accounts of how defeated combatants beg for decapitation from the victors.

Themes
The central focus of the saga is the struggle between the falskonungr, the evil usurper of a throne, and the rightful claimant to the throne. This struggle is portrayed through the falskonungr's use of deception and brute force in an attempt to thwart fate, as opposed to the rightful claimant who relies on trusty allies.

Another central theme of this work is the role of chance in human affairs, as demonstrated multiple times throughout the saga by parallel pairs of simultaneous events. In addition, this theme serves as a device to provide a contrasting double perspective as the narrative shifts from one camp to another.

The saga also touches on the ideas of a powerful monarch and personal loyalty to the king, both common political themes throughout chivalric sagas.

Manuscripts
The saga is authenticated in over 45 manuscripts, the oldest of which is AM 567 VI b 4to, a single-leaf fragment from about 1400. The other manuscripts were evidently written throughout the 15th century.

Editions
—Widding, Ole, ed. "Om Raevestreger. Et kapitel i Adonius saga." Opuscula, I (1960), 331-34. (Bibliotheca Arnamagnasana, XX). AM 593a, 4°.

—Loth, Agnete, ed. "Adonias saga." In >Late Medieval Icelandic Romances, III...(1963). Pp. 66-230. Text: AM 593a, 4°. Variants: AM 570a, 4°; AM 579, 4°; Stockh. Perg. fol. nr 7; Stockh. Papp. 4:o nr 6.—With an English resume.

English Translations
—Late Medieval Icelandic Romances, III.. .(1963), supra.