Note to ǪrvOdd Lv 14^VIII (Ǫrv 47)

[2] Skíðu ‘Skien’: If this, the reading of 343a, is adopted, the stanza refers to Skien (ON Skíða), a place in Telemark, southern Norway, but if Skíði, the reading of 7 and 471 is followed, then the location of the action mentioned here is on the island of Skye (ON Skíð) in the Hebrides. Most mss of the saga text (Ǫrv 1888, 54, 55, 57, 86, 87) support the former reading, in that the p. n. Skíða is mentioned several times, both in the story of Oddr’s encounter with the viking Sóti and in connection with what happens shortly after his dealings with another viking, Skolli, in Northumberland (see Ǫrv 44 Note to [All]). After this, according to 344a, Oddr’s party sailed south to Skien (ok sigldu þaðan suðr til Skíðu, Ǫrv 1888, 86). The reading Skíðu is adopted by Edd. Min. and in Ǫrv 1888 and 1892, as well as in the present edn. On the other hand, it is just possible that an earlier version of the story extended Oddr’s adventures in the British Isles to the island of Skye. Skj B and Skald prefer this view, and read Skíði here.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
5. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
6. Internal references
7. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 44 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Lausavísur 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 857.