Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 75 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 28)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 442.
Nær var forðum nösgás vaxin,
barngjörn, sú er bar bútimbr saman.
Hlífðu henni hálms bitskálmir;
þó lá drykkjar drynhraun yfir.
Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
{Nösgás} var forðum nær vaxin, barngjörn, sú er bar saman bútimbr. {Bitskálmir hálms} hlífðu henni; þó lá {drynhraun drykkjar} yfir. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
‘Long ago, a nostrils-goose [DUCK] was nearly grown, child-eager, who brought house-timber together. Biting-swords of straw [OX TEETH] protected her; yet the bellowing lava-field of drink [OX SKULL] lay over. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle. ’
Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 41): Þar hafði ǫnd búit hreiðr sitt í milli nautskjálka, ok lá haussinn ofan yfir ‘There a duck had built its nest between the jaw-bones of an ox, and the skull lay over above’. The H redaction gives (Heiðr 1924, 76): Þá lá ǫnd á eggjum millum nautzkjálka, er þú hálmbitz skálmir kallar, en drynhraun hausinn, en bútimbr hreiðrit ‘There a duck lay on eggs between the jaw-bones of an ox, which you call ‘biting-swords of straw’, and the skull ‘bellowing lava-field’, and the nest ‘house-timber’. — The solution is reminiscent of Judges XIV.8-14, where Samson eats from a honeycomb produced by a swarm of bees inside the skull of a lion, and later propounds the riddle de comedente exivit cibus et de forte est egressa dulcedo ‘Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness’. Life-from-death symbolism could be said to be present in this riddle, although there is no overt Christian context.
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.
míok uar forþum nꜹs gas uaxiɴ barngiorn su er bar butímbr saman hlíf | þu henni halms bít skalmir þo la dryckíar dryn hrꜹn yfir
(HB)
Nær var forðum
nösgás vaxin,
barngjörn, sú er bar
bútimbr saman.
Hlífðu henni
hálm bitsskálmir;
þó lá drykkjar
drynhraun yfir.
,
.
Miok var fordum nos | gsvaxinn⸝ barngiørn su er bar⸝ butimbur saman⸝ hlyfdu henni halm bitz sklmer | þo l drickiar drun raun ӳfer heidr: k:
(HB)
Nær var fyrri forðum
nösgás vaxin,
barngjörn, sú er bar
bútimbr saman.
Hlífðu henni
hálm bitsskálmir;
þó lá drykkjar
†drunraun† yfir.
,
.
Mióg var | fyrre fordum nos gas vaxenn barngiørn su er bar bű timbur saman⸝ | hlyfdu henne halm bits skalmer⸝ þo l dryckjar drun raun yfur heidreckur kongur
(HB)
Nær var forðum
†nanz gras† vaxin,
†Bar ḡgiar†, †sueipar†
bútimbr saman.
Hlífðu henni
hálms bitskálmir;
þó lá †drickiar†
†drin huarn† dýra yfer.
Heiðrekr konungr,
hyggðu at gátu.
nær var fordum na | nz gras vaxinn Bar ggiar sueipar bu | timbur saman hlӳfdu henni halmz bit | skalmir þo la̋ drin huarn dӳra if | er
(HB)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], D. 5. Heiðreks gátur 22: AII, 225, BII, 244, Skald II, 127, NN §2360, 2594; Heiðr 1672, 150, FSN 1, 479-80, Heiðr 1873, 256, 341, Heiðr 1924, 76-7, 138, FSGJ 2, 47, Heiðr 1960, 41; Edd. Min. 116-17.
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