[3-4]: Lit. ‘I have not seen the more monstrous ogress’. Several mss (e.g. 173ˣ, 342ˣ) have the reading ei hefi ek ferligri | flagðkonu litit ‘I have not seen a more monstrous ogress’. The form felligra (cf. 471’s ferligra) is an example of the common assimilation of <r> to the following <l> in the consonant combination <rl> (cf. ANG §272.1). Some previous eds (Skj B, Skald, Edd. Min. and FSGJ) omit the enclitic article ‑it in flagðit (‘the ogress’) in l. 3 in order to reduce the number of syllables. Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) and the eds of Edd. Min. also emend the wording to produce a full-line without a caesura in l. 3 and thus a half-stanza in ljóðaháttr: Leitat ek ferligra flagð ‘I have not seen a more monstrous ogress’.
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.
- ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- 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.