Refr Ferðv 2^III

Fœrir bjǫrn, þars bára
brestr, undinna festa
opt í ægis kjapta
úrsvǫl Gymis vǫlva.

{Úrsvǫl vǫlva Gymis} fœrir opt {bjǫrn undinna festa} í kjapta ægis, þars bára brestr.

{The spray-cold vǫlva <seeress> of Gymir <sea-giant>} [= Rán] often leads {the bear of twisted moorings} [SHIP] into the jaws of the sea, where the wave breaks.

Mss: R(26v), R(38r), Tˣ(27r), Tˣ(39v), W(57), U(29v), A(13r), B(5r), C(7r-v) (SnE); 2368ˣ(126), 743ˣ(94v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] Fœrir: Fœrisk R(38r), Tˣ(39v), A, C    [2] brestr: brest W, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ;    undinna: ‘vndinan’ Tˣ(27r), ‘vndina’ U    [3] í: og 2368ˣ, 743ˣ;    kjapta: so all others, ‘kiopta’ R(26v)    [4] úr‑: so Tˣ(39v), U, A, út‑ R(26v), R(38r), Tˣ(27r), W, B, C, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ;    Gymis: ýmis U

Editions: Skj AI, 320, Skj BI, 296, Skald I, 151; SnE 1848-87, I, 326-7, 494-7, II, 316, 450, 529, 599, III, 52, SnE 1931, 116, 174, SnE 1998, I, 37, 93; LaufE 1979, 388-9.

Context: This stanza is cited twice in Skm (SnE): once among the examples of sea-kennings and a second time among the examples of sea-heiti. In LaufE it is cited in the passage on sea-kennings and heiti.

Notes: [1-2] þars bára brestr ‘where the wave breaks’: This must refer to the offshore shallows where waves break and ships are in the greatest danger. — [3] í kjapta ægis ‘into the jaws of the sea’: The sea is not depicted as a personified divine force in human shape here, but rather as a ravenous monster. The word ægir could also be the pers. n. Ægir, but there is otherwise no evidence that he was thought of as a monster that devours ships and men. — [4] úrsvǫl vǫlva Gymis ‘the spray-cold vǫlva <seeress> of Gymir <sea-giant> [= Rán]’: Rán is a sea-goddess and the wife of Ægir, the sea-god or sea-giant (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 36, 41, 95). She seems to personify the destructive power of the sea, as becomes clear in this stanza and above all in the eddic Helgi poems (HHund I 29-30; HHj 18) and in Egill St 7/1-2^V (Eg 78). She is said to possess a net with which she fishes for everyone who drowns (see Note to SnH Lv 6/3^II). In prose sources such as Eyrbyggja saga (Eb ch. 54, ÍF 4, 148) there are indications of a notion of a realm of the dead in which those who drown are received by Rán. On Rán, see also Note to Þul Ásynja 2/7. On the motif of the sea as a malevolent, threatening female being, see Clunies Ross (1998a, 166-7). The kenning vǫlva Gymis is formed according to the normal pattern ‘woman of …’ but is unusual in its choice of the base-word vǫlva ‘seeress’. Vǫlva must have negative connotations here, as in a few other instances in eddic and skaldic sources (see Kommentar IV, 292 and LP: vǫlva). The choice of base-word underscores the threatening character of the sea-goddess.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
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. Kommentar = See, Klaus von et al. 1997-2012. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. 7 vols. Heidelberg: Winter.
7. ÍF 4 = Eyrbyggja saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson and Matthías Þórðarson. 1935.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Clunies Ross, Margaret. 1998a. ‘Land-taking and Text-making in Medieval Iceland’. In Tomasch et al. 1998, 159-84.
11. Internal references
12. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
13. Kate Heslop 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Eyrbyggja 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. 409-473. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10> (accessed 19 April 2024)
14. (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 19 April 2024)
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 765.
16. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 78 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Sonatorrek 7)’ 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, p. 305.
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 327-8.
19. (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 19 April 2024)