Cite as: Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 82 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 12)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 897.
Réðu Bjarmar brátt at verja
haug hermönnum ok hamalt fylkja. |
Létum þegna, áðr þaðan færim,
ófa marga öndu týna. |
Bjarmar réðu brátt at verja haug hermönnum ok fylkja hamalt. Létum ófa marga þegna týna öndu, áðr færim þaðan.
The Permians soon defended the mound with warriors and drew [them] up in a wedge-shaped phalanx. We caused exceedingly many men to lose their lives before we went from there.
Mss: 343a(80v), 471(94r), 173ˣ(61va) (Ǫrv)
Readings: [1] Bjarmar: borgar menn 471, 173ˣ [6] þaðan: om. 471 [7] ófa (‘ova’): so 471, ‘ofrs’ 343a, of‑ 173ˣ; marga: ‑marga mjök 173ˣ
Editions: Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], E. 10. Vers af Fornaldarsagaer: Af Ǫrvar-Oddssaga IX 12: AII, 308, BII, 326, Skald II, 174-5, NN §2603 Anm.; Ǫrv 1888, 199, FSGJ 2, 343-4.
Notes: [4]: On other instances of the phrase fylkja hamalt ‘draw up [an army] in a wedge-shaped phalanx’ see Gísl Magnkv 10/6II and Note there. — [6] færim ‘we went’: With Ǫrv 1888, Skj B and Skald, the mss’ færum has been normalised to the pret. subj. færim after the conj. áðr ‘before’. — [7] ófa marga ‘exceedingly many’: Following the reading of 471, ófa is understood as the gen. pl. (used adverbially) of óf ‘excess’; cf. LP: óf. Ǫrv 1888 prefers 173ˣ’s reading ofmarga mjök ‘much too many [men]’. — [8] týna ‘to lose’: Skj B emends to pret. inf. týnda without ms. support.
