Anon (LaufE) 7^III

This helmingr (Anon (LaufE) 7) is transmitted in mss 2368ˣ (main ms.) and 743ˣ of LaufE. It was copied from a LaufE ms. in RE 1665(Ff3), which has no independent value. The half-stanza is anonymous in all mss, and it cannot be dated on the basis of metrical and linguistic criteria.

Vát*r kom víst at rétta
vallfinnandi linna
— mærð era mjúklig orðin
mín — Víðblinda svíni.

{Vát*r {linna vall}finnandi} kom víst at rétta {svíni Víðblinda}; mærð mín era orðin mjúklig.

{The wet bestower {of the field of serpents}} [(lit. ‘field-bestower of serpents’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] certainly came to hunt {the swine of Víðblindi <giant>} [WHALE]; my praise did not become smooth.

Mss: 2368ˣ(94), 743ˣ(74r-v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] Vát*r: ‘Vattur’ all;    víst: ‘vest’ all    [2] vall‑: val‑ all    [3] era: er á all;    orðin: so 743ˣ, orðinn 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 150, Skj BII, 160, Skald II, 85; LaufE 1979, 351.

Context: The helmingr is cited to illustrate kennings for ‘whale’ in which the base-word is a term for ‘pig’ and the determinant is the sea-giant Víðblindi.

Notes: [1] vát*r; víst ‘wet; certainly’: Both mss have ‘Vattur’ and ‘vest’, which cannot be construed as Old Norse words, and the emendations are in keeping with earlier eds. — [1] at rétta ‘to hunt’: It is not quite clear what is meant here. Rétta lit. ‘herd’ refers to the herding or gathering of sheep in a fold (rétt) when they come down from the mountains in the autumn. Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. rétta) suggests that the whale was hunted so that it was forced into a place where it was pent up. Alternatively, it could mean to frighten the whale into swimming ashore (so Skj B). — [2] linna vallfinnandi ‘bestower of the field of serpents [(lit. ‘field-bestower of serpents’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: The ms. reading val- ‘slain-’ makes no sense in the context, and the emendation follows Skj B and Skald. — [3] era orðin mjúklig ‘did not become smooth’: This refers to poetry that was metrically irregular or awkward-sounding (see SnE 2007, 28). — [4] Víðblinda ‘of Víðblindi <giant>’: The quantity of the first vowel ([i] or [i:]) cannot be established with certainty. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 63), Víðblindi var jǫtunn ok dró hvali í hafi út sem fiska ‘was a giant and pulled up whales like fish out at sea’. See also HSt Frag 3/2 and Note to Þul Jǫtna I 5/7.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. Internal references
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 23 April 2024)
10. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 715.
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from Laufás Edda 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 644.
12. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Fragments 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 203.
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 23 April 2024)