Note to Gestumbl Heiðr 31^VIII (Heiðr 78)

[All]: Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 82): Hest þann kallar þú línvef, en skeið meri hans, en upp ok ofan skal hrista vefinn ‘You call that stallion linen cloth, and the weaver’s rod his mare, and up and down the web shall be shaken’. Tolkien (Heiðr 1960, 82 n.) points out that the solution ‘is obviously wrong: the “mare” is the web on the loom, which is alternately raised up and pressed down by the rod or slay’. In the prose following the riddle, before giving the solution Heiðrekr invites his courtiers to solve it, but they are unable to. The riddle’s obvious sexual overtones perhaps explain its omission in the R and U redactions and its textual problems in the H-redaction mss.

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Note to Gestumbl Heiðr 31^VIII (Heiðr 78)

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Note to Gestumbl Heiðr 31VIII (Heiðr 78)

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Note to Gestumbl Heiðr 31^VIII (Heiðr 78)