Cite as: Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars sona þáttr 1 (Kráka/Áslaug Sigurðardóttir, Lausavísur 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 780.

Sitja veiðivitjar vals á borgar hálsum; böl er, þat er hefr um hafnat hrafn Sigurðar nafni. Blási nýtinjótar nás í spán at hánum; ofsnemma lét Óðinn álf valmeyjar deyja. Sitja veiðivitjar vals á borgar hálsum; böl er, þat er hefr um hafnat hrafn Sigurðar nafni. Blási nýtinjótar nás í spán at hánum; ofsnemma lét Óðinn álf valmeyjar deyja. Veiðivitjar vals sitja á hálsum borgar; böl er, þat er hrafn hefr um hafnat nafni Sigurðar. Blási nýtinjótar nás í spán at hánum; Óðinn lét álf valmeyjar deyja ofsnemma.

text prose order   {Hunting-visitors of the slain} [RAVENS] sit on the heights of the fortress; it is a misfortune that the raven has forsaken the name of Sigurðr. Let {the devourers of the dead} [RAVENS/EAGLES] whistle for him; Óðinn caused {the elf {of the carnage-maiden}} [VALKYRIE > WARRIOR] to die too early.

context: Áslaug speaks this stanza on hearing from Helgi hvassi ‘the Keen’ of the death of one of her sons by Ragnarr, Sigurðr ormr-í-auga ‘Snake-in-eye’, in a battle against the emperor Ǫrnúlfr.

notes: [3]: As it stands, this line is unmetrical, reading böl er þat hefr um hafnat. It is likely that, in this C14th ms., the rel. particle er after þat has been omitted. In pre-1250 normalisation it would have scanned as a regular A-line, bǫls, þats hefr of hafnat. The rel. particle has been restored here in line with normalisation to the period 1250-1300. — [3-4]: Now that Sigurðr is dead, the raven no longer takes his name into account when wondering who might provide it with sustenance in the shape of the slain in battle. — [7-8]: Óðinn is here seen in his capacity as a god of war (Turville-Petre 1964, 50-5), causing warriors to die in battle as part of the process of selection for admission to Valhǫll (cf. SnE 2005, 21, 30). — [7]: This is the only line in the stanza that lacks an appropriate hending, in this case skothending.

texts: RagnSon 1

editions: Skj Anonyme digte og vers [XIII]: E. 3. Vers af Fornaldarsagaer: Af Ragnarssonaþáttr (Áslaug - AII, 242; BII, 261); Skald II, 136, NN §§182, 1469; RagnSon 1773, 283-4 (ch. 58), FSN 1, 358 (RagnSon ch. 5), RagnSon 1891, 241 (ch. 5), Hb 1892-6, 466 (RagnSon ch. 5), FSGJ 1, 301-2 (RagnSon ch. 5); Rafn 1822, 247-8, CPB II, 352.

sources

AM 371 4° (Hb)

107r - 107r

(RagnSon)