Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 19 (Hjálmþér Ingason, Lausavísur 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 511.
Gakk þú framar hóti, fyrr en þú á seyði dragir
þenna þjóðkonung; þú ert flagð it hraustasta.
Ettu fram járnhrömmum, ef þú afli treystir,
drós in dulrífa, en ek mun dvergasmíði.
Gakk þú hóti framar, fyrr en þú dragir þenna þjóðkonung á seyði; þú ert it hraustasta flagð. Ettu járnhrömmum fram, ef þú treystir afli, in dulrífa drós, en ek mun {dvergasmíði}.
‘Advance a bit further before you drag this mighty king onto the fire; you are the boldest ogress. Unleash your iron claws, if you trust in your strength, wilful woman, and I will [unleash] my dwarfs’ work [SWORD]. ’
Hjálmþér responds immediately to Hergunnr’s challenge in HjǪ 18 with a whetting stanza of his own.
The tone of the stanza is mock heroic, Hjálmþér referring to himself as a þjóðkonungr ‘mighty king’ (l. 3) and his opponent as a confirmed member of the flagð ‘ogress, troll-woman’ species (l. 4). In ll. 5-8, too, the conflict is presented as between the brute strength (afl, l. 6) of the ogress and the more sophisticated reliance of the hero on artefacts, here said to be the work of dwarfs (dvergasmíði, l. 8). A similar opposition is expressed in GrL 5.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Gakk þú framar hót,
fyrr en þú á seyð dragir
þennan þjóðkonung;
þú ert flagðit hrausta .
Ettu fram járnhrömmum,
ef þú afli treystir,
drós in dulrífa,
en ek mun dvergasmíði.
gac þu framar hot | fir enn þu a seyd dragir þennan þiod konvng | þu ert flagdid hrausta ettv fram jarn hra | vmum ef þu afle treystir drosen dvlryfa enn | eg mvn dvergasmijde
(RH)
Gakk þú framar hóti,
fyrr en þú á seyð dragir
þennan þjóðkonung;
þú ert flagð ferligsta .
Ettu fram hrömmum,
ef þú afli treystir,
drós in dulrífa,
en ek mun dvergasmíði.
Gakk þú framar hóti,
fyrr en þú á seyð dragir
þennan þjóðkonung;
þú flagðit hrausta .
Ettu fram járnhrömmum,
ef þú afli treystir,
drós in dulreyfa,
en ek mun dvergasmíði.
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