Gestumbl Heiðr 9VIII (Heiðr 56)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 56 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 419.
Hvat ‘What’
(not checked:)
hvat (pron.): what
er ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
þat ‘the’
[1] þat: om. 281ˣ, 597bˣ
undra ‘wonder’
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2. undr (noun n.; °-s; -): wonder, marvel
er ‘that’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
úti ‘outside’
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úti (adv.): out, outdoors, out at sea, abroad
sá ‘saw’
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2. sjá (verb): see
fyrir ‘before’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
[3] fyrir: so 597bˣ, ‘f’ all others
Dellings ‘Dellingr’s’
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Dellingr (noun m.)
[3] Dellings: döglings 281ˣ, 597bˣ, delling R715ˣ
durum ‘doors’
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1. dyrr (noun f.; °gen. dura/dyra, dat. durum/dyrum): door
Ókyrrir ‘unquiet’
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ókyrr (adj.)
[4] Ókyrrir: so 281ˣ, 597bˣ, ókvikvir 2845, ok ókyrrir corrected from ‘oku okirrir’ in the hand of JR R715ˣ
notes
[4] ókyrrir ‘unquiet’: A hap. leg. in poetry. The main ms. has here ókvikvir ‘unliving’, which is an acceptable alternative and favoured by Skj B, Skald, FSGJ and Heiðr 1960. However, the H-redaction texts and R715ˣ are in agreement on the reading chosen here, which is also preferable in terms of sense, referring to the noise made by bellows and creating a more effective riddling paradox with l. 5, in that the object is ‘unquiet’ but andalausir ‘without breath’. This reading is also preferred in Edd. Min. It corresponds less well with the solution given in 2845 (eru þeir dauðir ‘they are dead’), but the argument is circular since the prose in the H-redaction texts and R715ˣ does not specifically state the bellows are dead; indeed the prose in R715ˣ repeats the word ókyrrir (Heiðr 1924, 137) – although this, equally, could be influenced by the verse.
tveir ‘Two’
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tveir (num. cardinal): two
[4] tveir: so 597bˣ, ‘ii’ 2845, 281ˣ, ‘iij’ R715ˣ
andalausir ‘without breath’
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andalauss (adj.): °without breath, lifeless
[5] andalausir: ‘anda L:’ 597bˣ
notes
[5] andalausir ‘without breath’: See Note to Heiðr 54/3. Plays on the fact that the bellows do have ‘breath’, but not of their own; rather only ‘when they are inflated’, as the solution suggests. Skall Lv 2/8V (Eg 3) describes bellows as vindfrekr ‘greedy for wind’.
sára ‘of wounds’
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2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound
kennings
lauk sára.‘a leek of wounds. ’
= SWORD
a leek of wounds. → SWORD
notes
[6] suðu lauk sára ‘cooked a leek of wounds [SWORD]’: I.e. forged a sword. The verb sjóða means both ‘cook, boil’ and ‘forge [weapons]’ (Fritzner, CVC, LP: sjóða), presumably because steel is plunged into water during the tempering process (on this see Davidson 1962, 18-19). In the present contexts there is nice word-play with the idea of cooking juxtaposed with the kenning base-word laukr ‘leek’. The same sword-kenning appears elsewhere, e.g. Anon Liðs 9/6I, and as a cpd (sárlaukr) in Skúli Svǫlðr 2/8III. See also Meissner 152.
lauk ‘a leek’
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laukr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): leek, mast
kennings
lauk sára.‘a leek of wounds. ’
= SWORD
a leek of wounds. → SWORD
notes
[6] suðu lauk sára ‘cooked a leek of wounds [SWORD]’: I.e. forged a sword. The verb sjóða means both ‘cook, boil’ and ‘forge [weapons]’ (Fritzner, CVC, LP: sjóða), presumably because steel is plunged into water during the tempering process (on this see Davidson 1962, 18-19). In the present contexts there is nice word-play with the idea of cooking juxtaposed with the kenning base-word laukr ‘leek’. The same sword-kenning appears elsewhere, e.g. Anon Liðs 9/6I, and as a cpd (sárlaukr) in Skúli Svǫlðr 2/8III. See also Meissner 152.
suðu ‘cooked’
(not checked:)
sjóða (verb): cook
[6] suðu: suðu corrected from ‘sudur’ in another hand 597bˣ
notes
[6] suðu lauk sára ‘cooked a leek of wounds [SWORD]’: I.e. forged a sword. The verb sjóða means both ‘cook, boil’ and ‘forge [weapons]’ (Fritzner, CVC, LP: sjóða), presumably because steel is plunged into water during the tempering process (on this see Davidson 1962, 18-19). In the present contexts there is nice word-play with the idea of cooking juxtaposed with the kenning base-word laukr ‘leek’. The same sword-kenning appears elsewhere, e.g. Anon Liðs 9/6I, and as a cpd (sárlaukr) in Skúli Svǫlðr 2/8III. See also Meissner 152.
Heiðrekr ‘Heiðrekr’
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Heiðrekr (noun m.): Heiðrekr
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ
konungr ‘Kings’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ
hyggðu ‘think’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ
at ‘about’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ
gátu ‘the riddle’
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gáta (noun f.)
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ
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Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 34): þat eru smiðbelgir; þeir hafa engan vind, nema þeim sé blásit, ok eru þeir dauðir sem annat smíði, en fyrir þeim má líkt smíða sverð sem annat ‘those are smith’s bellows; they have no wind, unless they are inflated, and they are dead like other smith-craft [i.e. man-made objects], but because of them one can just as well forge a sword as any other thing’. — In the R redaction this stanza follows Gestumbl Heiðr 4 (Heiðr 51). Although this arrangement does not achieve the grouping of riddles with the same opening formula found in the H redaction and preferred in the present edn, it is a logical placing since both solutions refer to objects used in smith-craft. — [1-3]: See Note to Heiðr 55/1-3. This is the first occurrence of this repeated opening formula in 2845. — [1]: See Note to Heiðr 55/1.
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