Note to Þórálfr Frag 1^III

[2] sjǫlfum ‘him’: The dat. pron. is the indirect object of sagði ‘declared, told, said’, but beyond that it is difficult to interpret: its reference is unclear and it could be either sg. or pl. (a) Sjǫlfum may function as a 3rd pers. pron. In all the examples in LP: sjalfr ‘self’ the word is attached to a noun or pron., but if the use of sjalfr alone was acceptable as a poetic licence, sjǫlfum in the present instance could be sg. ‘to him’ referring to Hárekr or perhaps his antagonist in the battle, or pl. ‘to them’ referring to Hárekr’s troops. These solutions would involve assuming that a pron. is suppressed or understood: (hánum) sjǫlfum or (þeim) sjǫlfum. Since the troops have been cut down and Óðinn is more likely to communicate with one outstanding leader, the sg. ‘him’ is tentatively assumed here (cf. ‘told the man himself’, Faulkes 1987, 69). (b) The normal reflexive sense ‘himself’ is possible here, again if a suppressed pron. is assumed, i.e. sjǫlfum (sér). In this case Óðinn would be addressing himself, but especially without any context it is impossible to conjecture why this should be. (c) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B translates Odin fortalte dem (ham?) selv ‘Óðinn told them (him?) personally’, but since sjǫlfum is dat. it cannot be taken with the subject.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
4. Faulkes, Anthony, trans. 1987. Snorri Sturluson. Edda. Everyman’s Library. London and Rutland, Vermont: J. M. Dent & Sons and Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. Rpt. with new chronology and synopsis 2005.