[All]: It is not evident from the prose text that King Alrekr is aware of Geirhildr’s pact with Óðinn, yet the stanza strongly implies his awareness both of the god’s involvement and the ultimate fate of his son, Víkarr, who is elsewhere (notably in the longer version of Gautreks saga) a king of Agder (Agðir), sacrificed to Óðinn by his foster-brother Starkaðr, who hangs him from a tree and pierces him with a reed-stalk that turns into a spear (cf. StarkSt Vík 26 (Gautr 34) and Note to [All]). Both the composer of Hálf and his audience must have known the story of Víkarr’s death, although it is not directly mentioned in either prose or poetry, and his parentage and circumstances are different here from what is given in Gautr.
References
- Internal references
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gautreks saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 241. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=9> (accessed 6 May 2024)
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 303. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=75> (accessed 6 May 2024)
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 34 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 26)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 277.