Note to KrákÁsl Lv 10VIII (Ragn 31)
[1-2]: (a) Lét hrundit ‘caused/allowed to be thrust’ is a standard construction with understood vera ‘be’; the emendation to hrundiz ‘(be) thrust’ adopted by some eds is unnecessary. Gramr ‘the leader’ in l. 2 supplies a subject for lét ‘caused/allowed’ in l. 1, referring either to Hvítserkr’s captor or to himself (see Note to ll. 7-8, below); gramr could alternatively be understood as an adj. used substantivally, meaning ‘the angry one’. Undir may be taken as adverbial, ‘underneath, under (him, Hvítserkr)’. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), Kock (Skald) and Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) emend lét (l. 1) to létu, 3rd pers. pl. pret. of láta ‘let, allow’, and gramr to acc. sg. gram governed by undir ‘under’, hence ‘they (Hvítserkr’s captors) allowed … heads to be thrust under the leader (Hvítserkr)’. (c) Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985) retains lét ‘(he) allowed’ while emending gramr to acc. sg. gram, i.e. Hvítserkr. The unexpressed subject of lét would be one of Hvítserkr’s captors or indeed the heroic Hvítserkr himself.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- Ragn 1985 = Örnólfur Thorsson 1985, 101-53.