Bragi Lv 1b^VIII (Hálf 78)

This stanza, edited here by Margaret Clunies Ross, is extant in three separate prose sources, and is attributed to Bragi skáld ‘Bragi the Poet’ in all three: Ldn, Geir (in Stu), and Hálf. For a summary of the narrative in which the stanza is embedded, see Introduction to Lv 1a^IV.

In all sources this narrative, a version of a folktale type (cf. Boberg 1966, 183, K1921.3; Mitchell 1987; Thompson 1955-8 IV, K1921.1-3; H41.5) in which lower-class infants are substituted for royal or aristocratic ones, serves to give background to the vitae of the twins Geirmundr and Hámundr heljarskinn ‘Dark-skin’, who were both among the most important settlers in Iceland and had many high-ranking descendants. Whereas Ldn and Geir use this narrative to enhance Geirmundr’s status in particular, its function in Hálf is to provide a fitting conclusion to a fornaldarsaga about the brothers’ legendary ancestors.

The Bragi skáld of this narrative has been traditionally identified with Bragi inn gamli ‘the Old’ Boddason (see his Biography in Vol. III). His role (all versions) is that of a seer and moral adviser, and is comparable to that played by seeresses elsewhere in Old Icelandic literature; cf. Vsp and the lítil vǫlva ‘little seeress’ Þorbjǫrg in Eir. There is a particular similarity to an episode in Hrólf in which a vǫlva ‘seeress’ recites verses disclosing the true identity and whereabouts of two brothers whose father has been killed by King Fróði; there are verbal similarities between Bragi’s stanza and Heiðr Lv 1 and 3 (Hrólf 2 and 4). Like a vǫlva, whose name derives from vǫlr ‘wand, switch’, Bragi has a rod (sproti) which he uses to emphasise his message and direct it to the queen. In all versions of the verse text he affirms the royal birth of Hámundr and Geirmundr, while confirming the slave stock of Leifr.

The textual relationship between the three prose sources’ versions of the narrative is complex. It is described in detail in the Introduction to Lv 1a^IV. This edn of Lv 1b is based upon 2845, while the Melabók (Mb) version has been taken as base text for Lv 1a^IV.

Unlike all the other stanzas from Hálf, which have been normalised to the Old Icelandic of the period 1250-1300, it is presumed that Bragi’s stanza belongs to the period pre-1200 and has been normalised accordingly. The metre of the stanza is in a somewhat irregular version of fornyrðislag. There is considerable variation across the versions in ll. 1-2 and, in particular, ll. 7-8. Not all of the versions are regular metrically, and it is difficult to establish a stemma (or stemmata) that will give a basis for the variations of the final two lines, which presumably differ as a result of oral transmission.

Tveir eru inni,         trúik bôðum vel,
Hámundr ok Geirmundr,         Hjǫrvi bornir;
en Leifr þriði,         Loðhattar son;
fœddirat þú         þann mǫg, kona.

Tveir eru inni, trúik bôðum vel, Hámundr ok Geirmundr, bornir Hjǫrvi; en Leifr, son Loðhattar, þriði: fœddirat þú þann mǫg, kona.

There are two inside, I trust both well, Hámundr and Geirmundr, born to Hjǫrr; but Leifr, son of Loðhǫttr [is] the third; you did not give birth to that youth, woman.

Mss: 2845(39v) (Hálf); Mb(2rb), Stˣ(26r), 105ˣ(27r), Skˣ(30v), Þb106ˣ(17v) (Ldn); 114ˣ(4v), 437ˣ(1v), 439ˣ(1r), 440ˣ(1v) (Stu)

Readings: [1] eru inni: so Stˣ, 105ˣ, Skˣ, 114ˣ, 437ˣ, 439ˣ, 440ˣ, eru 2845, ‘roo inní’ Mb, ‘roa inne’ Þb106ˣ;    inni: om. all others    [2] trúik bôðum vel: so all others, ok trúik vel bôðum 2845    [3] Hámundr ok Geirmundr: Hámir ok Geirmir 114ˣ, 437ˣ    [4] bornir: búnir Mb, Þb106ˣ    [6] Loðhattar: ‘lo hattar’ Mb;    son: ‘s.’ Mb, sun 105ˣ, sonr 114ˣ, 437ˣ    [7] fœddirat þú (‘fœddir eigi þú’): fœð hann, kona Mb, fœðat þú þann, kona Stˣ, fœð þann, kona 105ˣ, fœðat þu þann kona with ‘eða: “fædd” eigi þann cona’ added in left margin in scribal hand Skˣ, fœðat þú eigi þann kona with ‘eda fæddir ei þann kona’ added in margin in scribal hand Þb106ˣ, fær þrælum þann 114ˣ, 437ˣ, fátt prýðir þann 439ˣ, fátt fríðir þann 440ˣ    [8] þann mǫg kona: í fjǫrð mun hann verri Mb, fáir munu verri Stˣ, Skˣ, ‘fiordar man hann verri’ 105ˣ, ‘fäer um vere’ with ‘(Landnámabók segir fæd hann kona i fiord mun hann væri.)’ added in scribal hand Þb106ˣ, fár mun in verri 114ˣ, 437ˣ, 439ˣ, 440ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 5, Skj BI, 5, Skald I, 3; H́álf 1981, 198 (Hálf); Ldn 1900, 38, 162, 239, Ldn 1921, 67, ÍF 1, I, 151 (Ldn); Stu 1878 I, 2, Stu1906 I, 1, Stu1946 I, 6, Stu 1988 I, 2 (Stu).

Context: While her husband is away, the wife of King Hjǫrr, son of Hálfr, has exchanged her dark-skinned twin sons for Leifr, the fair son of a slave-woman. Some time later Bragi, on a visit to the court, sees how the twins dominate the slave’s son who has taken their place as a legitimate heir. Bragi discovers the true identity of the boys and reveals it to the queen, who is forced to confess the twins’ identity to their father. See further Introduction to Lv 1a^IV.

Notes: [All]: The version of this stanza in Hálf differs considerably from that in the mss of Ldn and Stu, not only in ll. 7-8, where the greatest variation occurs across the mss, but in ll. 1-2 as well. For a text of the Mb version, and Notes on this and other witnesses, see Bragi Lv 1a^IV. — [1-2]: The first two lines of this stanza in 2845 are clearly unmetrical, while the version of the other mss tveir ró inni, | trúik bôðum vel ‘two are inside, I trust both well’ is superior in sense and regular in metre and has been adopted here. The version of 2845, tveir eru, | ok trúik vel bôðum can be translated ‘there are two, and I trust both well’. — [4] bornir Hjǫrvi ‘born to Hjǫrr’: There may also be a punning subsidiary sense here, ‘born to the sword’ (hjǫrr ‘sword’), that is, born to belong to the warrior class. — [7] fœddirat ‘[you] did not give birth’: The text has been normalised from the ms. ‘fœddir eigi þú’, which is unmetrical, by substituting the suffixed negative particle ‑at for the negative adv. eigi ‘not’. — [7-8] fœddirat þú þann mǫg, kona ‘you did not give birth to that youth, woman’: The text of 2845 is quite different from that of the other witnesses, which differ considerably among themselves as well, although they all convey a similar message, that Leifr could not have been the child of a royal couple. For a discussion of the other versions, see Bragi Lv 1a^IV and Notes.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Boberg, Inger M. 1966. Motif-Index of Early Icelandic Literature. BA 27. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
4. Stu 1988 = Örnólfur Thorsson and Bergljót Kristjánsdóttir, eds. 1988. Sturlunga saga. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu.
5. Stu 1878 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon], ed. 1878. Sturlunga Saga including the Islendinga Saga of Lawman Sturla Thordsson and Other Works Edited with Prolegomena, Appendices, Tables, Indices, and Maps. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
6. Ldn 1900 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1900. Landnámabók I-III. Hauksbók. Sturlubók. Melabók. Udgiven af Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab. Copenhagen: Thiele.
7. Ldn 1921 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1921b. Landnámabók. Melabók AM 106. 112 fol. Copenhagen and Kristiania (Oslo): Gyldendal, Nordisk Forlag.
8. Mitchell, Stephen A. 1987. ‘The Sagaman and Oral Literature: The Icelandic Traditions of Hjörleifr inn kvensami and Geirmundr heljarskinn’. In Foley 1987, 395-423.
9. Thompson, Stith. 1955-8. Motif-Index of Folk Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folk-Tales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediæval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends. 6 vols. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Rev. and enlarged edn. Originally published 1932-6.
10. Internal references
11. Margaret Clunies Ross 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Eiríks saga rauða’ 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. 395-399. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=18> (accessed 19 April 2024)
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Landnámabók’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=25> (accessed 19 April 2024)
13. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hrólfs saga kraka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 539. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=73> (accessed 19 April 2024)
14. 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 19 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Sturlunga saga’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=88> (accessed 19 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Geirmundar þáttr’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=111> (accessed 19 April 2024)
17. Not published: do not cite (Bragi Lv 1a^IV)
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. †Desmond Slay (ed.) 2017, ‘Hrólfs saga kraka 2 (Heiðr vǫlva, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 542.
20. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 1 (Heiðr, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 810.