Note to Rloð Lv 10^VIII (Ragn 27)

[1-2]: The first two lines of this stanza are listed as an example of a proverb by Finnur Jónsson (1914, 91), as well as by Bjarni Vilhjálmsson and Óskar Halldórsson (1982, 120). Finnur Jónsson (1920, 61) and Bjarni and Óskar (ibid.) also quote the Modern Icelandic proverb Grenja mundi grís ef gölturinn væri drepinn ‘the young pig would squeal if the boar were killed’, referring to Hallgrímur Scheving (1843-7) as their source for it, and Finnur equating it with these lines in Ragn. Sölvi Sveinsson (1995, 188) also quotes it, claiming that it has its origin in these lines. This is questionable, however. Hallgrímur Scheving (1843-7, 26) does indeed record the modern proverb, but also refers to Þórð (ÍF 14, 182), where a variant of it occurs apparently conveying the same idea, though with the roles of young pig and boar reversed: Rýta mun göltrinn, ef gríssinn er drepinn ‘The boar will squeal if the young pig is slaughtered’. This is uttered by Skeggi of Miðfjǫrðr as he reluctantly agrees to join his son in an unpromising fight, though its appropriateness in context is unclear. These lines in Ragn also have a close parallel in Saxo’s account (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 38, pp. 660-3) of Regnerus Lothbrog’s dying words: ‘Si sucule uerris supplicium scissent, haud dubio irruptis haris afflictum absoluere properarent’ ‘If the young pigs had only known the distress of their boar, they’d certainly break into the sty and release him from his suffering without delay’. Although chronologically possible, the influence of Saxo (c.1200) on the earlier of the two redactions of Ragn in which this stanza is preserved (i.e. the X redaction, preserved in 147) is unlikely (Sigurður Nordal 1953b, 206; see now, however, Lassen 2012). While it is not impossible that the stanza was composed early enough to have influenced the statement in Saxo, there is no reason to assume its influence, or that of either Saxo or Ragn, on Þórð, which dates from the mid C14th (ÍF 14, lv). The evidence (and Whiting’s criteria (Whiting 1931, 50) for testing the genuineness of apparent proverbs) cumulatively suggest that a pre-existing proverb underlies Ragn 27/1-2. Beck (1965, 188-89) has discussed these lines in relation to the symbolic association of the boar with princely warriors in Germanic and specifically Scandinavian tradition; cf. also Edzardi (1855-80, III, 312 n.).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Finnur Jónsson. 1914. ‘Oldislandske ordsprog og talemåder’. ANF 30, 61-111 and 170-217.
3. ÍF 14 = Kjalnesinga saga. Ed. Jóhannes Halldórsson. 1959.
4. Finnur Jónsson. 1920. Íslenskt málsháttasafn. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
5. Hallgrímur Scheving. 1843-7. Íslenzkir málshættir safnaðir, útvaldir og í stafrofsrøð færðir. Reykjavík: Boðsrit Bessastaðaskóla.
6. Beck, Heinrich. 1965. Das Ebersignum im Germanischen: Ein Beitrag zur germanischen Tier-Symbolik. Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der germanischen Völker, begründet von Bernhard Ten Brink und Wilhelm Scherer. Neue Folge, herausgegeben von Hermann Kunisch 16 (140). Berlin: de Gruyter.
7. Edzardi, Anton, ed. 1855-80. Altdeutsche und altnordische Helden-Sagen. Uebersetzt von Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen. Stuttgart: Heitz.
8. Sigurður Nordal. 1953b. ‘Sagalitteraturen’. In Sigurður Nordal 1953a, 180-288.
9. Sölvi Sveinsson. 1995. Íslenskir málshættir með skýringum og dæmum. Brian Pilkington teiknaði myndir. Reykjavík: Iðunn.
10. Whiting, Bartlett Jere. 1931. ‘The Origin of the Proverb’. Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, 47-80. Rpt. in Harris 1995, 17-50.
11. Saxo 2015 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2015. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes. Trans. Peter Fisher. Oxford Medieval Texts. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
12. Lassen, Annette, Agneta Ney and Ármann Jakobsson, eds. 2012. The Legendary Sagas. Origins and Development. Reykjavík: University of Iceland Press.
13. Internal references
14. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Þórðar saga hreðu’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1454-1476. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=52> (accessed 4 May 2024)
15. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ragnars saga loðbrókar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 616. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=81> (accessed 4 May 2024)
16. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 27 (Ragnarr loðbrók, Lausavísur 10)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 678.