Note to ǪrvOdd Ævdr 41VIII (Ǫrv 111)
[All]: In the saga prosimetrum this stanza follows immediately upon Ǫlvǫr Lv 1 (Ǫrv 4) (q. v.), in which the Irish woman Ǫlvǫr describes how the magic shirt she has woven for Oddr is made up of parts woven in six different locations. In the younger mss, 343a, 471 and 173ˣ, the stanza also appears in the continuous Ævdr. Oddr’s stanza contrasts the feel of the magical silken shirt, which will protect him from several kinds of harm, with the ice-cold sensation of putting on metal armour. Ǫlvǫr has previously assured him that the shirt will prevent him from feeling the cold and hunger pangs, will protect him from fire and fatigue while swimming, and from all weapons, provided he does not run away from fights. These properties are proven in various of Oddr’s adventures later in the saga.
References
- Internal references
- Margaret Clunies Ross (forthcoming), ‘ Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=2999> (accessed 25 April 2024)
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 4 (Ǫlvǫr, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 813.