Note to Framarr Lv 2VIII (Ket 35)
[5] vígstari ‘slaughter-starling [RAVEN/EAGLE]’: It is unclear whether papp32ˣ has this form (‘vÿgstare’ as Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir transcribed it for this edn) or vígfari (‘Wygffare’ as Anderson transcribed it, cf. 1990, 301). Other mss have víg- but not -stari, or -stari but not víg-. Most previous eds, who do not mention papp32ˣ, have the form vígstari, although it does not appear as a cpd in the mss they mention. They doubtless regard it as an emendation (cf. Edd Min. 150: vígstari, marked with an † to indicate that it is not found in any mss., Edd. Min. 134). The cpd vígstari would be a kenning for an eagle or raven of a conventional type (Meissner 117-23). The reading of 343a and 471 vífstari ‘woman-starling’ makes no sense in this context. Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 510 n.; cf. Edd. Min. 150) suggested emendation to vígskári ‘battle-gull’, but emendation is not necessary here.
References
- Bibliography
- Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- 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.