Note to Anon (Ragn) 9VIII (Ragn 39)
[1] settu … mik ‘set … me up’: Mik is not present in the ms. The 3rd pers. pl. settu ‘(they) set, placed’, naturally requires an object, and it seems clear from the second half-stanza that the trémaðr is referring to himself here (svarðmerðlingar in l. 2, which is in all probability a pl. form, is probably best taken as the subject of settu, and synir Loðbróku as an appositive parallel to the subject, cf. McTurk 1990, 323). Heusler and Ranisch (Edd. Min. lxxxii), whose emendation to settumk is followed (in adapted form) here, suggest Ár mik settu ‘Long ago they placed me’ as the original wording of l. 1, pointing out that ár ‘long ago’ would fit well with the þá ‘at that time’ of l. 5. They also refer to the suggestion of Edzardi (1855-80, III, 342) that mik ‘me’ may have stood in place of ok ‘and’ in l. 1 in its original form.
References
- Bibliography
- Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
- Edzardi, Anton, ed. 1855-80. Altdeutsche und altnordische Helden-Sagen. Uebersetzt von Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen. Stuttgart: Heitz.
- McTurk, Rory. 1990. ‘The Poetic Edda and the Appositive Style’. In Pàroli 1990, 321-37.