How to use this edition

Margaret Clunies Ross

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Vol. VIII. Poetry in the fornaldarsǫgur 7. Introduction 9. How to use this edition

9. How to use this edition

Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘How to use this edition’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].

SkP is intended for a variety of users: for students and scholars of Old Norse and other medieval European languages and literatures, for scholars in cognate disciplines such as history, archaeology, the history of religion, and comparative literature, and for users whose primary interest is in Old Norse poetry. In view of its likely augmented readership, SkP contains a greater proportion of introductory and explanatory material than most previous editions, certainly in comparison with Skj, where it is minimal. Most of the explanatory material is to be found in the skald Biographies, which appear at the head of the oeuvre of named skalds whose authorship of poetry is known; in the Introductions to poems; in the Context sections, which indicate the wider prose context(s) in which a stanza or set of stanzas have been preserved; and in the Notes to each stanza.

Each poem, single stanza (lausavísa) or fragment has a distinct designation and siglum in SkP, which in many cases is different from that used in Skj and in the list at the beginning of Lexicon Poeticum 1931 (LP). The new sigla are designed to be more consistent and transparent and to reflect reconstructions of poems that differ at some points from those in Skj. In Volumes V and VIII the new sigla for sagas have two parts: there is one part combining the abbreviated saga title (e.g. Heiðr) with the number of a particular stanza in the whole sequence of stanzas in that saga (e.g. Heiðr 80). This is prefaced by abbreviated information conveying the identity of the speaker of the stanza in question, according to the saga, and other information (e.g. whether the stanza is a lausavísa or a part of a named poem and where it comes in the sequence of stanzas attributed to that speaker). Thus Heiðr 80 combines with the more detailed information Gestumblindi Heiðreks gátur 33 to give the full siglum Gestumbl Heiðr 33 (Heiðr 80). Usually when stanzas from Volume VIII sagas are cited in cross-references in this volume (most commonly in Notes), the abbreviated siglum (e.g. Heiðr 80) is given; however, sometimes, where it is important to indicate the identity of the speaker or the name of the poem, the full siglum appears. A comparative table of sigla used in SkP, Skj and LP is included in the prefatory material of this volume, as of each volume of SkP.

The text of each poem, single stanza or fragment has been established by its editor on the foundation of a main or base manuscript, judged by the editor to be the best or (in some cases) the only witness to the probable original. The orthography of the text will have been normalised to the standard appropriate to its probable date of origin. Any emended text, that is, letters or words that have no manuscript attestation, is given in italics. Where editors have omitted letters or words that are present in the manuscript(s), the symbol * appears in the text and prose order. On the matter of emendation, this edition is more conservative than most of its predecessors, avoiding emendation as far as reasonably possible, though previous editors’ conjectures may be mentioned in the Notes. Normalisations are not regarded as emendations, and they are therefore not marked in italics in the printed text.

Since stanzas are written out continuously, as if prose, in medieval (and some post-medieval) manuscripts, the lineation is partly editorial, though normally unproblematic, as are the stanza divisions; any problems are discussed in Introductions and Notes. Stanzas are printed with the two helmingar or half-stanzas side by side, except where the metre is fornyrðislag, ljóðaháttr or málaháttr, in which case the stanzas are printed in long-lines.

Below the stanza is the same text rendered in a prose order, and underneath that is an English translation. The translation provides a version as close as reasonably possible to the sense of the Old Norse text. Unlike most other translations of skaldic poetry, those in SkP give kennings their full sense values, that is, both base-word and determinant are translated and the referent, not being part of the actual text but implicit in it, is given within square brackets, and normally in small capitals (e.g. ‘the stallion of the wave [SHIP]’). Referents of one category of kennings, the so-called sannkenningar and viðkenningar, which both paraphrase individuals, are given in lower case preceded by an = sign, in order to indicate that these referents are literally equivalent to the periphrasis of base-word and determinant within the text. For example, ‘the son of Óðinn’ is designated [= Þórr] and ‘Hjálmarr’s killer’ is [= Tyrfingr]. Angle brackets within the English translation are used to provide the generic sense value of Old Norse mythological and legendary names, such as Hildr <valkyrie> and Hálfr <legendary king>, or alternative poetic names for mythological beings, such as Viðurr <= Óðinn>. In the latter case, an = sign appears to the left of the ‘normal’ name.

The editorial apparatus allows the reader to compare the edited version of the main manuscript with the text in other manuscript witnesses. The Mss listing gives the main manuscript first in bold type, followed by the other manuscript witnesses ordered primarily on the basis of the assumed stemma (if one can be determined), each with folio or page number in round brackets immediately following. Paper manuscripts are distinguished from those of parchment or vellum by having a superscript ˣ after the manuscript siglum. Abbreviated reference to the prose source represented by each group of manuscripts is given in italics within round brackets immediately after the group, and where the stanza is found in more than one prose source the groups of manuscripts are separated by semi-colons.

All significant manuscript variants, but not simple orthographical variants, are given in the Readings line. They are given in normalised orthography unless the non-normalised manuscript reading is ambiguous, difficult to interpret or of particular interest or significance, in which case it is placed within inverted commas. Where variants are given, the lemma (the reading of the text and normally that of the main manuscript) is given first, followed by the readings of the other manuscripts, separated from the lemma by a colon. The lemma is shown in the same normalised form as in the text, and if this differs significantly from the manuscript form, the manuscript spelling is added in round brackets and within inverted commas (e.g. þars (‘þar er’):). In cases where the editor has not followed the main manuscript, the variant reading selected for the text is in first place as the lemma, followed by a colon and the formula ‘so X’, to indicate that the lemma is not the reading of the main manuscript.

The Editions line lists all significant previous editions of the text, beginning with Skj, Skald and (where applicable) NN and/or FF, finishing with Edd. Min., NK and ÍF Edd. (if applicable); the text’s designation in Skj B is specified, comprising the poet’s name (if any) as given there, the title of the poem, stanza or fragment and equivalent stanza number. Editions of prose sources containing the stanza are then listed, and followed by other editions, usually in chronological order, with date of publication and relevant page number. The editions are followed, in round brackets, by abbreviated references to the relevant text or saga within a compilation (if applicable), and by the chapter in which the stanza occurs. Chapter numbers are omitted if chapter divisions are too unstable in the source in question. If a stanza is found in more than one prose source, the editions of the individual prose sources are grouped together and separated by semi-colons. Where there are separate editions of the poem in question, these are listed last.

The Context sections are summaries of the prose context(s) in which a stanza or a set of stanzas have been preserved, those in SkP VIII being drawn mostly from the relevant fornaldarsögur. Sometimes, as is the case with Svart Skauf, there is no prose context. It should be emphasised that the Contexts represent understandings, on the part of medieval authors and compilers, of the stanzas and the circumstances to which they were thought to refer.

The Notes are intended to address significant linguistic, metrical, lexicographical and above all interpretative issues as well as questions of a broader contextual nature. Although the editors do not aim to give a comprehensive history of scholarship and previous editorial practice, significant editorial interpretations and emendations are discussed and evaluated in the Notes.

A sample stanza with graphic explanations of the main features of the edition appears in the endpapers to all SkP volumes. Abbreviated sigla for manuscripts, and sigla for sagas, þættir and compendia are listed and explained in the prefatory material to this volume; see also Section 4 above. Also listed are general abbreviations (aside from standard ones such as e.g. and cf.) and technical terms that may be unfamiliar to the reader. Abbreviated references to all editions and secondary works cited are expanded in the Bibliography at the end of the volume.

References

8. Normalisation

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9. How to use this edition

References

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