Cite as: Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 20 (Ketill hœngr, Lausavísur 13)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 570.

Læt ek hér fyrir vinnaz,         hvat er Forað mælir; nauðir mik hvöttu;         nánum er at bjarga.

Hættik eigi         á hólm til sela, ef í eyju         ærnir væri.

Ek læt vinnaz fyrir hér, hvat er Forað mælir; nauðir hvöttu mik; nánum er at bjarga. Hættik eigi á hólm til sela, ef ærnir væri í eyju.

I will provide a sufficiency for myself here, whatever Forað says; necessities incited me; near ones are to be saved. I would not risk it to the islet for seals if there were enough on the island.

Mss: 343a(56v), 471(53v) (Ket)

Readings: [1] Læt ek hér: Hykkat ek 471    [4] er at: átti ek 471    [5] Hættik (‘hettig’): hætta ek 471    [7, 8] ef í eyju ærnir væri: ef heima væri ærnir 471

Editions: Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], E. 8. Vers af Fornaldarsagaer: Af Ketill hœngs saga V 5: AII, 283, BII, 304, Skald II, 161, NN §2392; FSN 2, 128, FSGJ 2, 170, Anderson 1990, 53, 98, 439; Edd. Min. 81.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is a continuation of the theme of the preceding one. The metre is fornyrðislag. — [1-2]: The first long-line appears in the form adopted in this edn from 343a and 340ˣ. Previous eds (Skj B, Skald) adopt the reading of 471: Hykkat ek fyrir vinnaz ‘I don’t think that I will be hindered’ (cf. NN §2392). Heusler and Ranisch (Edd. Min.) as well as Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) emend the wording in 343a to Lætkat ek fyrir vinnaz ‘I don’t let it hinder me’. However it is unnecessary to alter the text of 343a since the reading læt ek hér fyrir vinnaz makes good sense: ‘I will provide a sufficiency for myself here’ (cf. Fritzner: vinna 12 and vinna fyrir 1); the addition of a negative is apparently motivated by the occurrence of the phrase láta fyrir vinnaz ‘let oneself be prevented; give up’ in other texts (see Fritzner: vinna fyrir 2). — [5-8]: These two lines are possibly proverbial. In 471 the passage reads: hætta ek eigi á hólm til sela, | ef heima væri ærnir ‘I would not risk it to the islet for seals, if there were enough at home’. This variant approximates to a single long-line with alliteration on <h>.