Gestumbl Heiðr 9^VIII (Heiðr 56)

Hvat er þat undra,         er ek úti sá
        fyrir Dellings durum?
Ókyrrir tveir         andalausir
        sára lauk suðu.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hvat undra er þat, er ek sá úti fyrir durum Dellings? Ókyrrir tveir andalausir suðu {lauk sára}. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

What is the wonder that I saw outside before Dellingr’s doors? Two unquiet things, without breath, cooked {a leek of wounds} [SWORD]. Kings Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

Mss: 2845(71r), 281ˣ(99v), 597bˣ(49v), R715ˣ(28v) (ll. 1-6) (Heiðr)

Readings: [1] þat: om. 281ˣ, 597bˣ    [3] fyrir: so 597bˣ, ‘f’ all others;    Dellings: döglings 281ˣ, 597bˣ, delling R715ˣ    [4] Ókyrrir: so 281ˣ, 597bˣ, ókvikvir 2845, ok ókyrrir corrected from ‘oku okirrir’ in the hand of JR R715ˣ;    tveir: so 597bˣ, ‘ii’ 2845, 281ˣ, ‘iij’ R715ˣ    [5] andalausir: ‘anda L:’ 597bˣ    [6] suðu: suðu corrected from ‘sudur’ in another hand 597bˣ    [7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k h at’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘h. k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K. h:’ 597bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 222, Skj BII, 241, Skald II, 125; Heiðr 1672, 148, FSN 1, 468, Heiðr 1873, 242, 335, Heiðr 1924, 60-1, 64, 136, FSGJ 2, 39, Heiðr 1960, 34; Edd. Min. 109.

Notes: [All]: 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’. — [All]: 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. — [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. — [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 2/8^V (Eg 3) describes bellows as vindfrekr ‘greedy for wind’. — [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 9/6^I, and as a cpd (sárlaukr) in Skúli Svǫlðr 2/8^III. See also Meissner 152.

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. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. 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.
8. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
9. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
10. 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.
11. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
12. Heiðr 1960 = Tolkien, Christopher, ed. and trans. 1960. Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra / The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. Nelson Icelandic Texts. London etc.: Nelson.
13. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
14. Davidson, H. R. Ellis. 1962. The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature. Oxford: Clarendon.
15. Internal references
16. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 54 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 416.
17. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 51 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 413.
18. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 55 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 417.
19. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Liðsmannaflokkr’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1014. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1023> (accessed 3 May 2024)
20. Kate Heslop 2017, ‘ Skúli Þorsteinsson, Poem about Svǫlðr’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 360. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1371> (accessed 3 May 2024)
21. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 3 (Skallagrímr Kveldúlfsson, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 166.