Gestumbl Heiðr 23^VIII (Heiðr 70)

Hverjar eru þær ekkjur,         er ganga allar saman
        at forvitni föður?
Sjaldan blíðar eru þær         við seggja lið,
        ok eigu í vindi vaka.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hverjar eru þær ekkjur, er ganga allar saman at forvitni föður? Þær eru sjaldan blíðar við lið seggja, ok eigu vaka í vindi. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

Who are those women, who go all together to the curiosity of their father? They are seldom gentle with the host of men, and have to stay awake in the wind. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

Mss: 2845(72r), R715ˣ(27r) (ll. 1-6) (Heiðr)

Readings: [2] allar: margar R715ˣ    [3] föður: so R715ˣ, ‘f’ 2845    [4] Sjaldan: ‘skialldann’ R715ˣ;    blíðar eru þær: ‘bliþir eru þær’ 2845, eru þær blíðar R715ˣ    [6] eigu: eigu þær 2845, skulu R715ˣ;    í: við R715ˣ;    vindi: vind R715ˣ;    vaka: taka R715ˣ    [7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k’ 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 225, Skj BII, 244, Skald II, 126-7, NN §115; Heiðr 1672, 144-5, FSN 1, 479, Heiðr 1873, 252, 341, Heiðr 1924, 76, 132, FSGJ 2, 46, Heiðr 1960, 41; Edd. Min. 115.

Notes: [All]: Heiðrekr’s response reads (Heiðr 1960, 41): Þat eru Ægis ekkjur, svá heita ǫldur ‘They are Ægir’s women, as the waves are called’. The U redaction (Heiðr 1924, 132) has þad eru Ægis dætur; þær ganga iij saman, er vindur vekur þær ‘That is Ægir’s daughters; they go three together, when the wind wakes them’. Elsewhere Ægir is said to have had nine daughters (see Heiðr 68, Note to [All]), but three is also a significant number in Old Norse mythology and trios of supernatural women are found in e.g. Vafþr 48-9, Vsp 8, 20. The text might imply the women go in threes rather than that there are only three of them. Cf. Note to Heiðr 67/1-2. — [All]: Edd. Min. prints this as a separate stanza, but numbers it 22a, following the previous one, numbered 22. — [1] ekkjur ‘women’: In prose ekkja usually means ‘widow’, having originally been used for any unmarried woman (CVC: ekkja), but in poetry it can also be synonymous with ‘woman’ in general (LP, Fritzner, CVC: ekkja). — [4-5]: Very similar in meaning to Heiðr 69/4-5. — [4]: Ms. 2845’s word order is preferable, but its ‘bliþir’ with the standard ‑ir abbreviation is not possible as a f. adj. — [6]: See Heiðr 68, Note to l. 6.

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
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. Internal references
15. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 67 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 432.
16. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 69 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 22)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 435.
17. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 68 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 21)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 433.
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Not published: do not cite ()