Cite as: Wilhelm Heizmann (ed.) 2017, ‘Bósa saga 6 (Busla, Buslubæn 6)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 32.
Ef þú ríðr, raskiz taumar,
heltiz hestar, en hrumiz klárar,
en götur allar ok gagnstígar
troðiz allar í tröllhendr fyrir þér, |
nema þú Bósa bjargir veitir
ok Herrauð heipt upp gefir. |
Ef þú ríðr, raskiz taumar, hestar heltiz, en hrumiz klárar, en allar götur ok allar gagnstígar troðiz fyrir þér í tröllhendr, nema þú veitir Bósa bjargir ok gefir Herrauð upp heipt.
If you ride, may the reins become tangled, the horses limp, the nags become decrepit, and on all roads and through-routes may you be driven into the hands of trolls, unless you grant Bósi freedom and forego your hatred against Herrauðr.
Mss: 586(14v), 577(53v), 510(11r), 340ˣ(271), 361ˣ(11r) (Bós)
Readings: [3] hestar: hestr 510 [6] ok: so 510, ‘[…]’ 586, en 577, 340ˣ, 361ˣ [7] allar: tvéfaldar 577, 361ˣ [8] í tröllhendr: í trölla hendr 510, 340ˣ; fyrir þér: om. 340ˣ [9] Bósa: Bögubósa 577 [10] bjargir veitir: ‘bi vm w̄ vei.’ 577 [12] heipt: ‘hei’ 577, heyptir 340ˣ
Editions: Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], E. 14. Vers af Fornaldarsagaer: Af Bósasaga 6: AII, 331, BII, 352, Skald II, 190; Bós 1666, 19, FSN 3, 204-5, Bós 1893, 17, FSGJ 3, 293, Bós 1996, 14; Edd. Min. 124.
Notes: [All]: This stanza has a number of metrical irregularities. Lines 1 and 11 are hypometrical, while l. 8 in the form of the majority of mss is unmetrical, though the version of 510 and 340ˣ is metrical. — [All]: By means of
this stanza, the king’s opportunities to travel throughout the land on horseback
are intended to be diminished or rendered impossible. — [8] í tröllhendr ‘into the hands of trolls’: In saga literature the etymologically uncertain ON trǫll (AEW: troll/trǫll) often signifies cave-dwelling, anthropomorphic creatures of abnormal size and ugliness who are equipped with magical abilities (cf. Schulz 2004, 45-6; Arnold 2005).
