Note to ǪrvOdd Ævdr 42VIII (Ǫrv 112)
[All]: In the continuous Ævdr according to the younger mss the sequence of events referred to in this stanza is hard to understand. It is necessary to realise that in the saga text Ævdr 38 (Ǫrv 108) is placed immediately before the prose passage that explains why his shipmates accuse Oddr of cowardice. They had been waiting for him at their ships while he had been off in the woods, where Ásmundr had been killed. Ævdr 38 is Oddr’s response to Hjálmarr’s question as to whether he has avenged Ásmundr’s death. Oddr indicates in the stanza that he is overwhelmed by his foster-brother’s death but that he wants to sail away from Ireland immediately, not telling them about his pact with Ǫlvǫr. Because he failed to take vengeance, his shipmates call him a coward, but then seem to be mollified by his acts of further aggression (Ǫrv 1888, 76-9).
References
- Bibliography
- Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
- 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 19 April 2024)
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 108 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 38)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 917.