Gestumbl Heiðr 25^VIII (Heiðr 72)

Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 72 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 25)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 438.

text and translation

notes and context

In the H redaction, before propounding this riddle, Gestumblindi says, in response to Heiðrekr’s comment after the previous riddle (see Heiðr 72, Note to [All]) (Heiðr 1924, 73): tregr em ek þess, en þó væntir mik, at þar komi nú skjótt ‘I am reluctant for that [i.e. submitting to the judgement of the counsellors], but yet I expect that it will now come quickly’. In TGT, ll. 1-3 illustrate the figure of enigma, defined (TGT 1884, 114): Enigma ær myrkt sen vm leynda liking | lvtanna, sem her ‘Enigma is obscure sense on account of the hidden likeness of things, as here’. Following quotation of the riddle we are told (ibid.): þæskonar figvrv kǫllvm ver gátv, ok ær hon iafnan sett í skalldskap ‘this kind of figure we call gáta [‘riddle’], and it is always rendered in poetry’.

Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 37): þar fanntu hest dauðan á ísjaka ok orm dauðan á hestinum, ok rak þat allt saman eptir ánni ‘there you found a dead horse on an ice-floe and a dead snake on the horse, and all together that drifted along the river’ (the ms. reads ǫrn ‘eagle’ for orm ‘snake’, but this is clearly an error). The H redaction reaches the same solution in more words, but both appear to overinterpret the riddle: the jór ‘steed’ is the ice-floe, the means of conveyance for the moldbúi foldar ‘soil-dweller of the earth’, rather than a literal dead horse, and so ‘a dead serpent on an ice-floe’ solves the riddle by itself (Heiðr 1873, 358 n.). The U redaction offers (Heiðr 1924, 137): þar fanstu stein; hann mun hafa leigid i isiaka; steirn er molldbui; þetta muntu hafa rekid [emended to sied reka in Heiðr 1672, 150] allt samann a vatni; þar voru badir blindir og daudir ‘There you found a stone; it must have lain on an ice-floe; a stone is a soil-dweller; this you must have driven [‘seen driven’ with Verelius’ emendation] all together on the water; there were both the blind and the dead’. Though disappointingly mundane compared to the other redactions, this alternative admittedly addresses the description provided in the riddle. — [3]: All mss have two instances of á ‘on’ in this line; the first is likely pleonastic. No other eds have emended or commented on the problem.

readings

• [1] ek sá: so 597bˣ, A, W, ‘ek søg’ 2845, sá ek 281ˣ, er ek sá R715ˣ
• [2] ‑búa: ‘‑kűa’ 281ˣ
• [3] sat nár: so A, sat naðr 2845, 281ˣ, W, sat maðr 597bˣ, ‘satnadar’ R715ˣ
• [3] nái: ná 281ˣ, 597bˣ, A, W, nú R715ˣ
• [4] reið: at R715ˣ
• [5] brim‑: brim‑ corrected from brun‑ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, ‘Bun‑’ with bein‑ written above in another hand R715ˣ
• [5] ‑leiðar: reiðar all
• [5] til: ‘ofda’ with góð hestr written above in another hand R715ˣ
• [6] jór: so all others, þá jór 2845
• [6] var: er 281ˣ, 597bˣ
• [6] vanr: vani 281ˣ, 597bˣ, vani apparently corrected from ‘var̄’ in another hand R715ˣ
• [7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heid: k^r’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K:’ 597bˣ

sources

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.

• GKS 2845 4° (2845) — 71v/1 - 71v/2

  Fara †ek søg†
  foldar moldbúa;
  á sat naðr nái;
  blindr reið blindum
  brimreiðar til;
  þá jór var andar vanr.
  ,
  .

  Fara ek søg folldar molld bua a sat nadr a naí bli | ndr reid blindum brimreiþar til þa íor uar andar uanr h k

  (HB)

  images
Close

• AM 281 4°x (281x) — 100r/27 - 100r/28

  Fara sá ek
  foldar mold†-kűa†;
  á sat naðr ná;
  blindr reið blindum
  brimreiðar til;
  jór er andar vani.
  ,
  .

  Fara s eg folldar molld kűa  sat nadur |  n⸝ blindur reid blindum brimreidar til jor er andar vani heid: k:

  (HB)

  images
Close

• AM 597 b 4°x (597bx) — 50v/12 - 50v/13

  Fara ek sá
  foldar moldbúa;
  á sat maðr ná;
  blindr reið blindum
  brim-reiðar til;
  jór er andar vani.
  ,
  .

  fara eg s folldar molld bűa⸝  sat madur |  ná⸝ blindur reid blindum brim rejdar til⸝ Jőr er andarvane⸝ heidreckur kongur

  (HB)

  images
Close

• UppsUB R 715x (R715x) — 29r/9 - 29r/12 [1-6]

  Fara er ek sá
  foldar moldbúa;
  á †satnadar† nú;
  blindr at blindum
  †Bun-†reiðar †ofda†;
  jór var andar vani.
  Heiðrekr konungr,
  hyggðu at gátu.

  fara er eg sa | folldar molldbua a satnadar a nu | blindur ad blindum Bunreidur ofda ior | var andar vani

  (HB)

  images
Close

• AM 748 I b 4° (A) — 8r/4 - 8r/4 [1-3]

  Fara ek sá
  foldar moldbúa;
  á sat nár ná;
  blindr reið blindum
  brimreiðar til;
  jór var andar vanr.
  Heiðrekr konungr,
  hyggðu at gátu.

  Fara ek sa folldar miolldbva a sat nár a ná .

  (VEÞ)

  images
Close

• AM 242 fol (W) — 110/17 - 110/18 [1-3]

  Fara ek sá
  foldar moldbúa;
  á sat naðr ná;
  blindr reið blindum
  brimreiðar til;
  jór var andar vanr.
  Heiðrekr konungr,
  hyggðu at gátu.

  Fara ek sa folldar | molldbva a sat naðr a na.

  (TW)

  images
Close

• AM 203 folx (203x) — 103v/22 - 103v/27

  images
Close

editions and texts