Note to FriðÞ Lv 10^VIII (Frið 12)

[7-8]: These lines are difficult to understand in both recensions, but particularly so in the A text. Falk (1890, 75) suggested that the A mss’ varar might be a scribal error for varat ‘was not’, but this would make the line unmetrical. The B mss read var þá ‘was then’, and most eds, including the present one, have adopted this reading, understanding ‘the guardian of the lands of Hálfdan was then very far away’, ‘the guardian of the lands of Hálfdan’ being understood as a reference to one of the two brothers of Ingibjǫrg, who were called away to visit King Hringr, leaving Ingibjǫrg unguarded. An alternative view was expressed by Larsson (Frið 1901, 24 n.) who sees here a reference to the god Baldr in his sanctuary, understanding vilgi in its sense ‘not at all’, rather than as an intensifying adv. ‘very’ (cf. Fritzner: vilgi). This then gives the opposite sense ‘the guardian of the lands of Hálfdan was not far away’, that is, the deity was present in the sanctuary and saw to it that Friðþjófr was punished for breaking the tabu on conducting male-female relations in Baldrshagi. The problem with this interpretation is that the periphrasis ‘the guardian of the lands of Hálfdan’ (whichever Norwegian ruler this is meant to be) must be a ruler-kenning and is rather unlikely to be a kenning for the god Baldr, though in a late text this cannot be completely ruled out.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
3. Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
4. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.