[1] vandgætt ‘difficult to deal with’: This cpd adj. has only one attested usage in prose, notably in Hallfr (Hallfr 1977, 52-3), where King Óláfr Tryggvason says to Hallfreðr that the sword he is giving him will be vandgætt because it has no sheath. Here Hildibrandr may mean that his fate, of being the killer of his half-brother, is a situation that is difficult to handle.
References
- Bibliography
- Hallfr 1977 = Bjarni Einarsson, ed. 1977. Hallfreðar saga. RSÁM 15. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
- Internal references
- 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Hallfreðar saga’ 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. 873-914. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=63> (accessed 4 May 2024)
- Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 383.