Note to Hjálm Lv 3^VIII (Ǫrv 9)

[All]: Once again, this stanza is extant in a different version in two Heiðr mss, 2845 and R715ˣ, from that in Ǫrv, where it is found only in 344a, minus the last two lines, which have been added at the foot of the page in a later hand. In this case, the first helmingr is different in the two saga texts, while the second is similar (but see the second Note to [All] below for the complex situation regarding R715ˣ). In the first helmingr of the Heiðr text, ll. 3-4 are variations on ll. 5-6 of Heiðr’s st. 8 (see above). The first helmingr of the Ǫrv text reads: Hliðum vit fyrir | hjaldrviðum aldri, | þótt okkr | atalt þykki ‘Let us never retreat before battle-trees [WARRIORS], though [the situation] may seem to us terrible’. This text is unmetrical in lines 2, 3 and 4, whereas those of the Heiðr mss are metrical. Ǫrv 1888 and 1892 present the text according to 344a, while Edd. Min. gives a version mainly based on 344a but with some elements from the Heiðr mss. Skj A presents the text of 2845, with the 344a text in the notes, while Skj B has the text of 2845 for the first helmingr, followed by a mixed text in the second, with the 344a text of helmingr 1 in square brackets at the end of the stanza. Skald adopts the same procedure, except that here 344a’s text of helmingr 1 is given separately as st. 5b.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
6. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
7. Internal references
8. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 20 April 2024)
9. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 20 April 2024)